Sweet and special, Valentine’s Day offers the prepared teacher the ideal opportunity for teaching kids about God’s love and loving others. From television shows to poor in-home examples, kids see many wrong or, at best, shallow ideas about what love truly is. Bring kids back to the truth by presenting easy to remember love-related scriptures they will treasure all their lives.
It’s okay for kids to have some fun while learning so I’ve provided you with two Valentine’s Day games and activities for the kids in your class or ministry. As always, you can “tweak” them to suit your specific needs just by replacing the verse I’ve suggested. Show your kids how much you love them by pointing them toward a big God of Love.
Musical Hearts: Before class begins cut out a large heart from red poster board. The ideal paper heart for this game is large enough to be held with both hands. In big letters, write John 3:16 on one side of the heart, and write the verse out on the other side. This way, kids will see the verse and John 3:16 as the heart is passed around. Like musical chairs, the group stands in a circle, only facing one another. Once the music begins, the heart is passed, with both hands to the person to the right who accepts it with both hands. The heart continues around the circle stopping when the music stops. When the music stops the person to the left of the one holding the heart is out. Continue to play this Valentine’s Day game until you have one person left.
Hide the Hearts: Cut out 10 or more paper hearts, at least 3-inches wide before the class. It’s good to have one heart per child. Hide them around the room then begin your regular lesson. Throughout the lesson, stop and send a child to search for a heart. You can give clues by saying “You’re hot,” when the child is close to a heart or “You’re cold,” when a child is far away from one. Place a verse of scripture on each heart to make them a special, personal valentine to take home. Another good idea is to put one word on each heart, kind of like a puzzle. When all the hearts are found, the class can assemble them together to read the message.
The most important mission of the day is to show kids unconditional love and loving guidance. Anyone can have fun with a class but it takes a special teacher to bring kids closer to understanding the true nature of God.
Read Mimi’s latest book, “The Prophet’s Code,” a resource for children and teens interested in Biblical prophecy.