3 Preteen Ministry Ideas That Are Sure to Be Crowd-Pleasers

Looking for new and exciting preteen ministry ideas? Here are three ideas that are sure to be a hit with your fifth and sixth graders.

3 Preteen Ministry Ideas That Are Sure to Be Crowd-Pleasers

1. Valuable Marbles

Use this devotion to talk about how valuable Jesus is.

You’ll need:

• Bibles,
• 16 water balloons,
• food coloring,
• scissors,
• chalk, and
• water.

This is a game you’ll want to play outdoors.

Days beforehand, put several drops of food coloring in each balloon: You’ll make seven balloons of one color, seven of a second color, and two of a third color. Fill the balloons with water, tie them, and freeze them. At the start of the activity, cut the balloons off the frozen “pearls.”

Draw a starting line on the ground, and next to it a 15-foot chalk circle. Divide kids into two teams, and put the pearls in the circle. If you have a very large group, set up a second game.

Have kids play a game with the pearls. Each team claims a color and puts its seven pearls in the circle wherever they want. Teams take turns rolling one of the two pearls of the third color to knock the other team’s pearls out of the circle. Teams get one point for each pearl knocked out. Pearls will break or melt along the way.

Ask:

• Explain whether you took risks to win.
• Explain whether your risks were worth it.

Read aloud Matthew 13:44-46.

Ask:

• What are some “pearls” in your life?
• Which of these break, and which last forever?
• Why might Jesus be a pearl in your life?

Steve Case
Savannah, Georgia

2. God Provides

Use this experience to discuss God’s provision.

You’ll need:

• Bibles,
• a baby pool,
• packing peanuts,
• tape,
• a whiteboard and marker, and
• index cards.

On separate index cards, write things preteens want and need, such as “food” and “iPhone.” Place the cards in the pool under packing peanuts. Write “God” on the whiteboard, and circle it with a large circle.

Read aloud Exodus 7:19-21. Say: The Egyptians needed that water. Among other things, God showed he’s the one who gives—or takes away—what they needed.

Read Exodus 7:24, and then have kids “dig” through the pool. As they find cards, have them read them aloud and tape them in the circle on the whiteboard.

Ask:

• Explain whether you think these things are good or bad.
• What’s happening to “God” in this circle?
• What do you dig for that you think will make you happy?
• What does it mean to trust God with our needs—and our wants?

Shawn Vander Lugt
Johnstown, Colorado

3. Line ‘Em Up

Use this game to discuss perseverance.

You’ll need:

• Bibles and
• four chairs.

Set chairs side by side in the center of your room—two facing one wall and two facing the opposite wall. Form two teams, and have each team stand against one of these walls.

Read aloud Galatians 6:9. Say: Let’s play a game to help us think more about this verse. Explain to kids that the goal is to get all four chairs facing their team’s direction. Teams send one player at a time to the other side. That player can turn each chair only once, but he or she may turn one or all chairs. Then the player runs back to the team and tags the next player. Continue until one team gets all four chairs facing its direction. Play several rounds.

Ask:

• What was frustrating about this game?
• Explain whether you gave up. Why?
• Why do you think Galatians 6:9 says not to give up doing good?
• How does the verse encourage you?

Michael Capps
East Flat Rock, North Carolina