God's Protective Gear
Group Activities

Sermon Title: "The Armor of God"

Scripture Reading:Ephesians 6:11-17

ARMOR RACING:

At the blow of the whistle, let children run around a designated area and find the various types of armor pictures that the teacher has hidden. Children will then come back to the table area and tape that piece of armor to their clothing, in the correct spot. Last one to come back and tape the armor is out. The teacher can then put all the armor pictures in a basket and the children will once again race to get a piece of armor and tape it to their clothing again. Continue to play as time allows.

PASS THE SWORD:

Have children sit in a circle and play "musical sword". As the music plays, the children will pass the sword and when the music stops, the child holding the sword, will read the Bible verse and then will sit out and then remove one chair and continue the game.

ARMOR PINNING:

Let children pin a picture of a piece of armor to another classmate (or to the teacher ... children will enjoy this alot), who has been chosen to be the 'soldier'. All the children can take turns to pin a piece of armor and if time allows, do the game again and let another child be the one to have the armor pinned on him/her.

ARMOR VIDEO:

After today's lesson has been shared with the children, let each child choose a picture of a piece of armor and tape it to their clothing. Take a video of the children talking about the armor and our lesson today. Show the children the video as time allows.

ALUMINUM FOIL SOLDIER:

Give children some foil and a certain amount of time to form a soldier. This will be similar to using play dough. Display their soldiers in the middle of the class table today.

ARMOR DISPLAY BOARD:

Let children reach into a bag or basket and take out one picture of the armor in today's lesson. Children can then tape their piece of armor in the correct place to the "soldier" that the teacher has drawn on a large piece of poster board.

PUP TENT RELAY:

If a small pup tent is available, the class can be divided into 2 teams and the teams will run a relay to the tent, jump inside and grab a piece of candy or another snack of teacher's choice and run back to their team to continue the relay.

FOR THE FOLLOWING 6 CRAFTS, CHILDREN COULD BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE ONE if time doesn't allow children to do all of the following:

BELT OF TRUTH:

Give children supplies to make a construction paper belt with strips of paper hanging down and taped to the belt. (Reinforce the belt with postage tape or clear contact paper). Strips of paper will have a Bible verse written on each piece.

BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:

Give children a paper bag and cut out a place for the head and arms to slip into. Decorate the bag with CHOOSE TO DO WHAT GOD SAYS IS RIGHT, etc.

FEET FITTED WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE:

Provide children with a piece of foam to cut in the shape of their foot and laces to attach to the foam (hole punched) and lace up their ankle and leg.

SHIELD OF FAITH:

Provide children with a piece of cardboard to decorate as a shield and tape a handle (strip of wide paper) to the back so the shield can be held in front of child.

HELMET OF SALVATION:

Give each child a paper plate to form in the way that they choose, to be a helmet. Color and write HELMET OF SALVATION, etc.

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT:

Provide each child with a long strip of poster board and foil to cover the "sword" and Bible stickers to decorate their sword. Give each child another small piece of poster board to form as the handle and color and tape to the sword.

SING A SONG:

Do an army cadence if desired such as: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, I AM IN GOD'S ARMY TOO (I am in God's army too); HE'S MY KING AND THAT IS TRUE (He's my King and that is true); I'LL WEAR THE ARMOR OF MY GOD (I'll wear the armor of my God); AND DO ALL THAT HE SAYS TO DO (and do all that He says to do).... etc teacher desires.

Song: "I'm in the Lord's Army"

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Song: "What a Mighty God We Serve

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MP3 Accompaniment Track (right click to save to your computer)

This song is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded and reproduced for religious or educational use by churches, schools, home schoolers, and other non-profit organizations.