Leader Guide
Game
- Index cards—two per child, plus extras
- Pencils—one per child, plus extras
- Four medium-sized boxes or containers
- Shredded paper strips, confetti, or foam packing noodles
- Bible or the Superbook Bible App
- Painter's tape or masking tape
- Whiteboard and marker or chalkboard and chalk
- Print Baptized! Old and New Sign
- See Baptized! Old and New Game Illustration
Write the SuperVerse and the SuperTruth on the board and keep them there for the teaching.
Place the packing material in the boxes.
Write OLD on two of the boxes and NEW on the other two, or print the provided signs.
Place two sets of boxes on the floor near one end of the room.
Place a mark or line about 20 feet from the boxes.
Out With the Old: Play a game to illustrate the SuperVerse.
In Large group you were asked to notice where the children landed, according to Gizmo’s geo-sensors. What’s the answer? Galilee.
Let’s say today’s SuperVerse together: Colossians 2:12:
Give two index cards and a pencil to each child. Have children write their names on the top of both cards. On one card, have the children draw a picture with a sad face and write “OLD” below it; then, on the second card, draw a happy face and write “NEW” below it.
Divide the children into two equal teams. A leader may need to play to make the teams even. If so, the leader should make two cards, like each child.
Now, have the players for each team place ONLY their NEW cards in their team’s NEW box. Then mix and “bury” the cards in the box with the packing material completely covering them. Teams will then make two separate lines behind the mark.
Hold your “OLD” cards up in the air. These cards have sad faces because they represent you before you met Jesus. When we follow Jesus and are baptized, our old lives are buried, and we are raised to a new life in Christ.
That is what this game is about. Both teams will play at the same time in a relay race. On your turn, you will hold your OLD card and go to your team box. Do this with a very sad expression on your face, with your head bowed down, and your shoulders slumped over, and shuffle your feet—which means taking small sliding steps without ever lifting your feet off the floor! Then put your OLD card in your team’s OLD box and completely bury it so it can’t be seen. Next, go to your team’s NEW box, find the NEW card with your name and a happy face on it, then quickly skip back to your team, full of joy. Then the next player immediately takes a turn. The first team to have all of the players exchange their cards wins.
Conclusion: Great job exchanging your old life for a brand-new life in Christ! What did you need to do before you could receive your new life? I had to let go and bury my old life.
Exactly! We cannot try to hold on to both; it won’t work. God wants to give us a fresh start and a brand-new life as we follow and serve Him on the exciting path He has for each of us! Let’s learn more about the brand-new life that Jesus freely gives us in today’s teaching!