Leader Guide

Straying Game

  • One medium or Sharing-size bag of plain M&Ms
  • Six clear plastic cups or bowls
  • Marker and six labels
  • Table
  • Whiteboard and marker or chalkboard and chalk to keep score
  • Bible or Superbook Bible App

Use the marker to write the name of each color on a label, then place one label on each cup: red, orange, blue, green, brown, and yellow.
Divide the M&Ms into colors and count to make sure that there are equal numbers of each color. You can save the extra M&Ms for a snack for the children after the game is over, but check to make sure that no one is allergic to them.
Place three cups at one end of the table and three cups at the other, with 3 to 5 M&Ms of each color in the center of the table.

The Good Shepherd Comes to Save: Play a game to scatter and gather.


In the Superbook adventure, Chris listened to the young man read Isaiah 53:6 from a scroll:

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all.

This prophecy is talking about Jesus, the Messiah and our Savior. Like sheep, we stray away from God’s path and follow what we want to do instead of obeying God. Jesus died for our sins so we might be saved. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd. In John10:16, Jesus says:

“I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also.”

Point to the different items on the table as you talk. In this game, you are going to take turns being shepherds. Your mission is to bring all the sheep safely to their own homes or sheepfold. The M&Ms represent sheep. The sheepfold, or safe area, is represented by the cups. One player from each team will race to put the M&Ms into the correct cups. Each shepherd is responsible for tracking down all the sheep of three different colors—but you can only pick up one M&M at a time! Show which colors go into which cups.

As you gather the M&M sheep, you must place each color in the correct cup. The first player to do this wins. If you have more than one color in a cup, you will forfeit the win. If you correct the error before the other player completes the race, it will still count—the player who finishes first scores one point for the team.

Divide the children into two equal teams; one child may need to play twice. One player from each team will play at a time. The other players will stand on the other side of the table and cheer their teammates on. If a player is colorblind, another child can act as a coach. 

Players can only pick up one M&M at a time! Players who just completed their turn must mix up the M&Ms again in the middle of the table for the next players. The team with the most points after everyone has played wins. 

Have a sixth-grade helper keep track of the score. Do not allow the children to eat the M&Ms during the game.

Conclusion: Jesus said that He came to seek and save those who are lost. (See Luke 19:10.) Aren’t you glad that He came to find us and bring us safely to Him?

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