Leader Guide
Match Game
- Perfect Match Pattern
- No Match Pattern
- Marker
- Cardstock
- Scissors
- Optional: painters tape
- Bibles or the Superbook Bible App
Make six copies of the Perfect Match Pattern.
Make two copies of the No Match Pattern.
Cut apart all of the cards and shuffle them.
Using a small piece of painters tape along the bottom edge of each card, tape the cards face-down on the wall in rows and columns. When you flip a card up, the words should be right-side-up.
On the blank side of each card (facing out), write a different number from 1–32.
Optional: instead of using tape, place the cards face-down on a table or floor in rows and columns, then number each card.
Read Nehemiah 8:9–10:
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
The word dejected means to be depressed. Nehemiah told the people not to cry or be sad. Instead, he told them to celebrate because the joy of the Lord was their strength!
Joy and strength go hand in hand; you could say they are a perfect match! That is what our game is all about. When you are filled with the joy of the Lord, you have strength! This is a matching game that has joy and strength cards. There are also cards that say depression, weeping, sadness, and mourning. What does mourning mean? Grieving, as if someone has died.
You will take turns to try to match a joy card with a strength card. The other cards do not belong with joy—only strength cards do!
Divide the children into two teams; they do not need to be even. Have teams sit together so everyone can see the cards on display. Teams alternate turns. A turn consists of a player making two guesses. A player chooses a card number. The leader flips that card up along its taped edge to reveal the hidden word for all to see. The same player then selects a second card number to try to match a joy card with a strength card.
- If the cards are a perfect match (joy and strength) they are removed and given to the team.
- If player chooses two joys, two strengths, or one or two “No Match” cards, the cards are flipped down again.
- If two exact “No Match” cards are chosen (e.g. weeping, weeping) they are removed but do not count as a perfect match. However, it does benefit both teams by clearing the board.
- Play continues with the other team taking a turn.
- Play until all the Joy and Strength cards are matched.
- The team with the most perfect matches wins.
Conclusion: When we are filled with joy, we can be strong and overcome challenges and opposition in our lives. No one can take our joy from us!