The Bible Games

“Put the Books in Order”
You can choose any of the activities you want to help the kids learn the order of the books of the Bible – Old Testament and New Testament.

‘Bible Dominos’ (See 52 Games that Teach the Bible – Rainbow Publishers 2007)

o It’s just a game for fun, there is no ‘winner’ – we are all winners in Christ.

Books of the Bible ‘Balloon Pop’
Supplies: Balloons, tape/sticky tack hooks, markers, Bible, push pin to pop the balloons

• Fill one wall with 39 blown up balloons taped to the wall or on stick tack hooks.
• Fill another wall with 27 blown up balloons taped to the wall
• Carefully write the Books of the Old Testament on one wall and New Testament on the other with a sharpie marker – not in order.
• Have the first child pop the balloon that has the first book of the Old Testament on it. (Pop ‘Genesis’)
• The second child finds the next book and pops that balloon (Pop ‘Exodus’)
• Continue until all Old Testament balloons are popped.
• Pick up the pieces and tape/sticky tack hooks
  o Go to the New Testament wall of balloons and repeat.
• Be careful that the marker doesn’t get on clothing, hands or the floor.

Flash Cards

• Put the flash cards of the Old Testament in order. Form 2 teams, with 2 sets of flash cards.
• Use the table, floor, or sticky tack on the wall.
• Then do the same with the New Testament.

Bible Book Bounce (Adapted from 52 Games that Teach the Bible – Rainbow Publishers 2007 page 41 and 59)

Books of the Bible Flash Cards

Use the following list to make two sets of “flash cards” for the Books of the Bible. Write ‘OT’ on the back of one set of the Old Testament cards, ‘OT-2’ on the back of the second, then ‘NT or NT-2’ for the New Testament for easier sorting after class. Best if they are laminated.
Use different colors to coordinate the different sections. Such as…

• Old Testament
  o (Green) Pentateuch/Torah
  • Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
  
  o (Orange) History
  • Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
  
  o (Blue) Poetry & Wisdom
  • Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon
  
  o (Red) Prophets
  • Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
  • Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
  
  
• New Testament
  o History
  o (Red) Gospels
  • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  
  o (Orange) Acts
  
  o (Yellow) The Letters
  • Romans, I&II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I&II Thessalonians, I&II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, I&II Peter, I, II, &III John, Jude
  
  o (Green) Revelations – an Apocalypse

Put a ‘color’ border around those books that have been written by the same person. (Authors taken from the “Quest Study Bible - NIV” from Zondervan) – Example: The main, inside color for John is red (Gospel) and I John is yellow (The Letters) with a blue border signifying John wrote both.

• (Orange) Moses, - wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
• David, king, is connected to 73 of the psalms – other writers Asaph, Sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses and others
• (Green) Solomon, wise king – wrote Proverbs (along with Agur & Lemuel), probably Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
• Isaiah, prophet – wrote Isaiah,
• (Yellow) Jeremiah, priest & prophet – wrote Jeremiah, Lamentations,
• Ezekiel, a priest, taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon – wrote Ezekiel,
• Daniel, was taken captive to Babylon - wrote Daniel
• Hosea, a prophet – wrote Hosea,
• Joel, a prophet – wrote Joel,
• Amos, a shepherd – wrote Amos,
• Obadiah, a prophet – wrote Obadiah,
• Jonah, a prophet – wrote Jonah
• Micah, a prophet – wrote Micah
• Nahum, a prophet – wrote Nahum
• Habakkuk, a prophet – wrote Habakkuk
• Zephaniah, a prophet – wrote Zephaniah
• Haggai, - wrote Haggai
• Zechariah, a prophet & priest, born in exile – wrote Zechariah
• Matthew, tax collector, one of twelve disciple – wrote Matthew,
• John Mark, son of a Jerusalem widow whose home was a meeting place for early believers, most likely recorded the events heard firsthand from the disciple Peter – wrote Mark,
• (Green) Luke, companion of Paul the apostle, probably a Gentile and medical doctor – wrote Luke, Acts,
• (Blue) John, the apostle, one of the twelve disciples – wrote John, I, II & III John, probably Revelations
• (Red) Paul, an apostle – wrote Romans, I&II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I&II Thessalonians, I&II Timothy, Titus, Philemon,
• (Orange) Peter, the apostle – wrote I&II Peter
• Jude, Half brother of Jesus – wrote Jude
• Unknown
  o Joshua (? Joshua, Eleazar & Phinehas), Judges (? Samuel), Ruth (? Samuel), I&II Samuel, I&II Kings (? Jeremiah), I&II Chronicles (? Ezra), Ezra (? Ezra), Nehemiah (? Ezra), Esther (? Ezra, Nehemiah, Mordecai), Malachi (? Malachi or another prophet)
  o Hebrews (? Paul, Barnabas, Luke or Apollos), James (? James, Jesus’ half brother)
• Philippians – written while under house arrest, Paul wrote to believers in the city of Philippi, in northeastern Greece
• Colossians – written while under house arrest, Paul wrote to believers in the town of Colosse, in southwest interior of Turkey.
• I&II Thessalonians – Paul wrote to the believers in the church at Thessalonica.
• I&II Timothy – Paul wrote to Timothy with advice on how to better lead the church at Ephesus.
• Titus – Paul wrote to Titus, a close friend, after his first release from a Roman prison.
• Philemon – While in prison, Paul wrote to Philemon, a wealthy Christian in the church at Colosse

A lesson written by Rachel Haugland

Reference: Big Book of Bible Facts and Fun – 2005 Gospel Light, 52 Games that Teach the Bible – Rainbow Publishers 2007

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