Leader Guide

Relay Game


  • Two XL men’s short-sleeve shirts that button up the front. Optional: use wrist bands, gloves, and/or extra-large slippers instead of, or in addition to, the shirts
  • Ideally, one of each pair of items should look old, stained, and torn; the other should look new (If not, use self-stick name tags to label them “OLD” and “NEW”)
  • Timer, such as a watch with a second hand, or a timer app
  • See Zacchaeus Putting On Relay Game illustration

If the clothing items are not obviously OLD and NEW, use self-stick name tags to label them as such.
If the class has more than twelve children, double the items and play as two teams.
Clear the game path of any tables, chairs, or obstacles so children can safely walk backward.

You’re Putting Me on: Play a game with “changes.”

We have been learning about the changes that took place in Zacchaeus’s life after he began to follow Jesus. Today, when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, He begins to change our lives and make them new. The old life is gone, and a new life begins.

This is the exciting news that today’s SuperVerse tells us. Let’s say it together: 2 Corinthians 5:17:

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Another verse compares our new life to something we often do. Our game is based on it. Galatians 3:27 says:

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

What do you think it means to put on Christ? Children answer.

It means to fully submit or surrender our lives to Him so people should see Him through our lives. Jesus changes us on the inside, and people should begin to see changes on the outside. What are some ways that people can see we are different on the outside? Our attitudes, words, actions.

In this game, you are going to take off the old and put on the new!

Divide the class in half and have them stand on opposite sides of the room.
Put the OLD clothes in front of one group and the NEW clothes in front of the other group.
Begin the game and start the timer.
The first player near the OLD clothes will put them on—representing the old life—and walk backward to the other side.
The player will then remove those clothes and give them to the next player in line, then quickly put on the NEW clothes to represent putting on Christ.
The player will then quickly hop, skip, or jump—full of joy—back to the other side.
The person putting on the OLD clothes may not start walking backward until the person wearing the NEW clothes reaches the other side.
Continue the game as players go back and forth between sides, exchanging clothing.
When the last player is finished, stop the timer.
Play again to beat the first time.

Conclusion: When our new lives begin, people should start to notice a difference in us. As we choose more and more to put on Christ, people will see more of Him and less of us!

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