The kids love to play this game! It is a great way to review a lesson and have lots of fun at the same time!
I used colored cardstock. Sometimes I leave the cardstock blank. Other times I put a different picture on each color of cardstock. You will need one of each color of cardstock for each child. The number of colors I use depends on how many pictures I want to use. I rarely go over 8 colors. Taping 8 pieces of cardstock to the floor for each child isn’t hard when there are only a few kids, but if you have a lot of kids, it can be quite a job. (Clean up is easy because the kids love to help take up the pictures!)
Once you have your cardstock ready, make a game board path by taping the cardstock to the floor. I make it so the game board is circular — with lots of curves — so that the children can keep going around and around the game board.
The children start throughout the game board with each child standing on different squares that are the same color (for example, all the children are on a red square.)
I then ask the children a question. They answer. I give the correct answer and then tell them to move forward to a certain color of cardstock (i.e., red). After we have been playing the game for awhile, I like to have the children move backwards sometimes. I also sometimes have them move forward (or backward) a certain number of spaces (i.e., 3).
If there are pictures on the cardstock, I may have the children move to a color of cardstock and tell me what the picture is OR I may say the name of the item and the children then move to a picture of that item. If one of the children is struggling to get to the right picture, just say the color of the cardstock and everyone is then able to find the picture.
Sometimes I put a happy face and a sad face on two of the colors of cardstock. I then add some questions about behavior in Mass. The children move to the happy face if the behavior is something we do during Mass (i.e., stand when everyone else stands) or to the sad face if the behavior is something we don’t do during Mass (i.e., talk loudly).
These are some possible Mass behavior questions:
- Do we talk to our friends and family during Mass? (sad face)
- Should we sit still in Mass? (happy face)
- Should you kick the pew in front of you during Mass? (sad face)
- Should you listen to the readings at Mass? (happy face)
- Should we run up and down the pews? (sad face)
- Should you make the Sign of the Cross after dipping your fingers in holy water? (happy face)
- Should we play in the holy water? (sad face)
- Should we go to the bathroom before Mass begins? (happy face – then you won’t have to leave during Mass)
- Is it okay to run in church? (sad face)
- Should we be quiet in church so people can pray? (happy face)
- Should we pray in church? (happy face)
- Should we kneel when everyone else kneels? (happy face)
- Should we sit when everyone else is standing? (sad face)
- Should we talk while others are singing in church? (sad face)
If you don’t have a large space for the game board, tape the cardstock on the walls of the room with painter’s tape. The children can walk around the room and stand in front of the cardstock (instead of standing on it) when playing the game.
If you have a large space and don’t want to tape down each individual piece of cardstock, tape two pieces of cardstock together. The ones in the picture are laminated but I don’t always laminate. — just depends on if I have time. Then slip the cardstock over a cone. I use these cones. The children stand by the cone when playing the game. This is the option I use when I have a larger group of children because it takes less time to set up. (Note: my favorite way of making a game board is by taping the cardstock to the floor because the children do not have trouble following the path. With the cones, some children can get off the “path”.)
These are lessons where I use the life-size game board. You will find questions or pictures to use with the life-size game board in these lessons.
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