Leader Guide
Game
- Paper plates, one per child plus 20 extras
- Cross Page
- Cardstock, one sheet per four children
- Children’s scissors
- Pencils, one per child
- Medium-size box
- Shredded paper strips or foam packing noodles
- Bible or the Superbook Bible App
Copy the Cross Page: one copy for every four children, so each child can have a cross, plus extras. Cut the four cross squares from each page.
Cut out the crosses from each square or have the children cut them out in class.
Place the packing material in the box.
If you cut the crosses from the squares, mix them with the packing material in the box.
Place the box on the floor near one end of the room.
Make a mark about 20 feet from the box.
Let’s say the SuperTruth together. “I will follow Jesus.”
Give a plate and pencil to each child. Have children draw a picture of themselves on the plate and write their name on it. If they are cutting out their own crosses, give a pair of scissors to each child and a cross pattern. Have children cut out the crosses, then mix the crosses in the box with the packing material.
After Jesus had healed the blind man in Bethsaida, He began to tell people what it really means to follow Him.
Read Mark 8:34–35:
34 Then, calling the crowd to join His disciples, He said, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”
Hold your plates in the air. These plates represent your lives.
According to the verses we just read, how can we save our lives? By giving them up for the sake of Jesus and the Good News.
That is what this game represents. On your turn, you will play the game with one hand behind your back. Players will take their plates to the other end of the room and lay it down beside the box. Then they will find a cross in the box and bring it back. This represents laying your life down and picking up your cross to live for Jesus.
Divide the children into two equal teams. One child may need to play twice. If so, have the player make a second plate with his/her name on it and place another cross in the box.
Teams will make two separate lines behind the mark.
Are you ready to follow Jesus? Oh, just a minute, this seems a little too easy. Gather all of the plates and mix them up with the twenty extra plates on the floor, midway between the box and the starting mark.
There, that’s better; on your turn, you will need to find yourself first! When I say go, the first player on each team will walk quickly to the pile and find your own plate. You will travel to the box, lay your plate down, find any cross in the box, and carry it back to the starting mark. The next player then takes a turn. The first team to finish wins.
Optional play: announce different ways for players to travel back and forth, such as tip-toeing, marching, walking sideways, going backward, hopping, etc.
Conclusion: Great job laying down your lives and picking up your crosses. We’ll talk more about the game as we discuss what it really means to follow Jesus.