Acting and Drama Activities
Get kids up and moving with a quick skit. Kinesthetic and extroverted learners really benefit from putting themselves in the characters' shoes.
Act it Out
Have students act out parts in the story. Narration can be done by you, one student, or as choral reading. You don't need lots of props or costumes, and you don't have to do the entire story. One scene done with one prop can have a great impact.
Broadcast it
Do a "TV news" broadcast of a Biblical event with interviews of witnesses, etc.
Variation: publish a newspaper covering events in your lesson.
Charades
Play charades
with Biblical characters or scenes as the subject.
Walk a Mile in their Shoes
Blindfold a student, hand them an object from a bag you've prepared before. See if they can identify it. Give each student a turn. Then discuss what it was like for those Jesus healed.
Biography
Do a "This is Your Life" segment on a character.
Following Orders
Follow the
Leader and Simon Says can teach students about discipleship and obeying God.
Variation: have students follow your directions as you say, for
example, 1) all students wearing blue stand up, 2) all students with brown
eyes, clap your hands, 3) everyone whose name has an S in it, jump up and
down, 4) if you have a dog, raise your hand; etc.
Dolls
Bring action figures or dolls to class with robes to simulate Bible characters. Have the students act out the story with the dolls either while you tell it or afterwards as a review.
Puppets
Puppets can act out a story and interact with the students.
Hand Motion Stories
(Fingerplays)
Make up simple verses with hand
motions to summarize a story.
See examples: Noah, Garden of Eden,
Tower of Babel and Jesus blesses the children!
Skits
Tanis Harms has a web site at with skits arranged by topic and scripture. She even takes requests!