Leader Guide
Shipwreck Game
- Bible or the Superbook Bible App
- Timer—clock/watch with second hand, stopwatch, timer app
- Scrap paper—ten sheets
- Scissors
- Two small mats, rugs, or pieces of cardboard, approximately 2 feet x 2 feet
- Cardstock—one piece
- Optional: brown marker or crayon
- Two number cubes or dice to roll for the game
Place one mat on the floor, representing Malta.
Place the second mat, representing the ship, about 6 feet away from the first mat.
Cut each sheet of paper into four pieces.
Crumple each of the 40 pieces of paper into balls, representing Paul and the crew.
Place all of the paper balls on the “ship” mat.
Cut the cardstock in half. Optional: color each piece brown to simulate wood from the ship.
Note: Size, quantity, distance, and time are not critical; adjust these for your children. Make the game challenging but not impossible to accomplish the mission. Experiment with the setup before class to find what will work best for your class.
Read Acts 27:41–44:
But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape. But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn’t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land. The others held on to planks or debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely to shore.
We have a fun game with a mission for you. Your mission is to help everyone get safely from the ship to the island of Malta. Point to the “ship” mat with the paper balls, then point to the other mat. Are you up for the mission?
Good! To prepare for it, let’s say our SuperTruth together. “I can accomplish God’s mission when I focus on Jesus.”
For this game, you each need to find someone you don’t know very well to be your partner! You will work as a team to score points by getting people safely to shore.
Now, in the Bible verses we read, all who could swim jumped from the ship into the water and swam to shore. These people probably got to the island much faster. So, at the beginning of each team’s turn, each player will roll one number cube. The total number rolled for both cubes is the number of balls—people—your team can roll to the island using your hands.
The verses we read also tell us anyone who could not swim held onto wood planks and items from the ship and floated to shore. This must have taken longer for waves to carry them! So, for the rest of the balls—people—you will use these wood planks to push or scoop them up to carry them safely to Malta. Hold up cardstock pieces. Remember, you can’t use your hands—only this “plank”!
Hand a piece of cardstock to each player of the first team.
You have 30 seconds to complete your mission and help Paul and the crew make it safely to the Island of Malta! Start the clock and say: “Abandon Ship!” Total the balls—people—on the island of Malta after each team has finished or the time has expired and then return them to the “ship” for the next team. The team that moved the most people safely onto the island wins!
When all teams have taken their turns, say: “Great job! Now, we weren’t totally sure we could move all the crew safely with the time limit of our game, but that wasn’t the case in our Bible story. God told Paul that everyone would be saved, even BEFORE the shipwreck!
Optional: read Acts 27:21–26:
No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in His goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as He said. But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”
Even though things looked hopeless, Paul focused on Jesus and the mission, not on the situation! Paul was sure he would not drown and would eventually get to Rome. Why? Because God told him that he must go there to accomplish his mission!