This children’s game could be used with any group of kids.  There is no real Bible theme but the kids at our mid-week program loved it.  Maybe you could tie in the story of Gideon facing incredible odds against him.  Or, maybe Paul and Silas’ escape from prison.

This is your basic dodgeball with a twist to keep the kids thinking.

Game Setup

You will need:
     Masking Tape
     6 plastic bowling pins
     20 or so Foam Balls

Note: We like the Foam Balls (instead of rubber or plastic) because they are much less likely to do any damage to your church walls or the children themselves!  The foam balls may be a little slower but for a game to be played in church or other church type of setting that’s just fine.

Mark a line to divide the room in half using the masking tape.  Also, mark off two opposing corners, these are the jails.  Each corner should be large enough to hold an entire team.  Make an X on the floor with the tape where each bowling pin will be placed and place a bowling pin on each one.  Distribute the balls evenly between the children’s two teams.

Game Play

Divide the children into two teams.

Each team tries to get the other team members “out” by hitting them with a thrown ball.  You can play that the thrower is out if the person they threw the ball at catches it.  It’s up to you.  I usually don’t because it seems to lead to more arguments.

A player cannot cross the middle line unless they are going to Jail.

When you are hit and “out” then you go to your Jail.  Your jail is located in a back corner of the opposing team’s play area.

When a player is in jail they are not allowed to handle the balls in any way (throwing, kicking, hiding...) except to simply place the ball across the jail boundary line if one happens to enter the jail.

Whenever team A’s bowling pin gets knocked down for any reason (a B team player knocks it down with a ball or someone on the A team simply trips on it) all jailed B team members are instantly released from jail and can immediately rejoin their team in play.  And vice versa for the B team’s bowling pin getting knocked down.  Of course, when a player is hit again then, it’s off to jail with them again.  Where they will wait until another bowling pin is knocked down or someone wins the game.

Once a bowling pin is down (regardless of the reason) then it stays down for the remainder of the games.

Winning the game

There are two ways to win:

1) Knock out all of the opposing teams players.

2) Knock down all of the opposing teams bowling pins.

That’s about all there is to it.  Let me know how it goes!