Leader Guide

Balloon Game

We are going to play a game about how the Prodigal Son received God’s forgiveness. The Prodigal Son realized that he had made an unwise choice and had sinned against his father and God.  

Read Luke 15:20–21:

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’”

The son’s actions and earlier attitude displayed many forms of sin: disobedience, pride, greed, and selfishness, to name a few. But, on his way home, the son was met by his father who brought love, compassion and forgiveness to his lost son.   

Divide the children into two equal teams. Have the teams make two single file lines, with players standing about an arm’s length behind each other, and leaving several feet of space between the teams—see illustration. Give a “Sin” balloon to the player at the front of each line. Give a “forgiveness” balloon to the player at the back of each line. Start the game. Without turning around, the first player must toss the “sin” balloon backward over his or her head to the player directly behind. The balloon continues to move backward in this way until it is caught by the player at the back of the line. That player keeps the “Sin” balloon in one hand while using the other hand to toss the “Forgiveness” balloon to the player directly ahead. The “Forgiveness” balloon moves forward until it reaches the player at the front of the line. At the end of the round, the entire team immediately turns around to face the opposite end of the room, and the second round begins. The player who was at the back of the line is now at the front of the line. He/she tosses the “sin” balloon overhead and backward to the player directly behind. Continue with the game as it was played in the first round. The first team to complete both rounds wins.   

Note: If a balloon falls to the ground, the player who was to receive the toss must pick it up and continue play from that point.

That looked like a lot of fun! In our game, when we let go of our sin, what did we receive back on the second balloon? Did it say rejection or punishment? No—Forgiveness!

Yes, God is not eagerly waiting to punish us; He is ready to forgive us. It doesn’t matter what the sin is, our loving heavenly Father is ready to meet us with forgiveness like the father in our Superbook story. Our SuperTruth says: “Our heavenly Father is always ready to forgive.”