Bible I-Spy Game

 Continuing my summer of creating fun Bible games for Sparks - here is another:

Bible I-Spy

I collected a bunch of random little objects and came up with verses to go with each. The box I cut down into about an inch and a half height.  The plastic on the top is from a box of Christmas ornaments.  I duct taped it together REALLY well to withstand 5-7 year olds shaking it around.  The filler is just rice :) The cards I made by printing onto full sheet sticker labels, cutting them out, and attaching to blank playing cards.  Several kids can play at once.  Someone draws a card, everyone looks together, and whoever spies the item first gets to claim the card.  We probably won't make it super competitive though - the fun is in searching together.

HERE is the google drive document of the cards I made if that helps you in creating your own Bible I-Spy game.  It was really kind of fun and stretching for me to try and find Bible verses for some of the random items I found (although I tried to use Gospel Wheel & Sparks verses as much as possible).

Hi Ho Cherry-O: Fruit of the Spirit Edition

 Another game idea for Sparks.  I loved the idea of Hi Ho Cherry-O, but all those little cherries sounded like such a mess!  I had a bunch of 1" porcupine balls that are very fruity colored so I thought a fruit of the spirit version of the game was in order.

I mod-podged the trees onto dollar store foam board and then used my husband's band saw to cut them out.  I also cut out inside the circles so the balls can sit into them.  I made up the spinner & borrowed some small colored cups from another game & it's ready to go!  Good practice taking turns, following directions, and hopefully learning some fruits of the spirit too :) My favorite part is the sharing space on the spinner where a kid not only gets a fruit ball from their tree, but they also get to share one with a friend too. Unlike the original game that is only four players, my version is for six kids since the tree boards just slip into the bag with all the pieces when done.

Noah's Ark Fling

 Summer is the perfect time to plan new stuff for Sparks!  This fall I am going to try having a set of games per team that I will rotate each week so all the kids will get to play them once a month or so.  I am hoping to have 3-4 games per team so I am on the lookout for fun new games!  I had an idea for a couple that I couldn't find being made commercially so I made my own.

Noah's Ark Fling: a six player game where each kid has a bowl of 12 little animals that they are trying to catapult into the "ark" at the same time.  First one to get all their animals (or just a set of 2 depending on the ability level of the team) into the ark wins!  You could make a cardboard ark or use a toy, but I wanted mine to store pretty flat so I modified one of those fabric collapsible storage bins into an ark.  I made the catapults out of popsicle sticks using this pin as instructions.

Hopefully the pictures help somewhat or inspire you to create your own game!

Sparks Rank Help

 The first six verses in every level of Sparks are the rank verses that follow the letters SPARKS.  Because each kid learns in a different way, I like to have a variety of activities that will help them learn these verses.

First, here is a coloring page I made based on a pin I saw on Pinterest.  I've used it a couple years now and it has definitely helped some of the more visual-learning five-year-olds remember their verses.

Second, I saw the super cool VBS verse-a-day craft on Oriental Trading and thought that would make an AWESOME craft for Sparks!

I printed all the verses on this clear sticker paper I got from Amazon with a 2nd sheet on top because the ink wouldn't quit smudging.  The top piece and Sparky guys are all printed on regular paper and attached with glue dots.

I cut craft foam into 2.75" squares for the top diamond and 1.5"x 4.5" rectangles for each verse.  I will put the glue dots on the back of each paper piece and make individual kits in ziploc bags for each kid.

Here is a view of the back - I just used dot stickers to attach the curly ribbon for hanging.

I expect this will be a pretty leader heavy craft as the kids will likely need help organizing the verses into the right order.  However, they should be able to do all the stickers themselves and the result is a pretty large (approximately 18" assembled) craft they can hang up at home to help them learn their Spark rank verses.

Want to make some with your Sparks?  I linked the Spark stickers (which I collected from around the web) and the verse sheet (to print onto the clear sticker paper) below.

Spark Rank Craft Verses

Spark Rank Craft Stickers

Dress Up Sparky Game

 I'm always on the lookout for more creative, cooperative, fun games for Sparks.  This year I saw a game on Oriental Trading for dressing up a character in the armor of God and thought, that would make a great Sparks game!

Several hours of work later and here it is - the Dress Up Sparky Game!

The concept is pretty simple - each kid gets a Sparky guy card, on their turn they roll to discover the category they will pick from to add a costume piece to their card.  If they roll a category they already have, they have the choice of swapping it out or keeping what they've got.  The game ends when all of them have dressed their Sparky guy.  I'm hoping it will be a hit.

Since I have a pretty large club, I made enough for 10 kids to play at a time on each team.  If you have a smaller club you won't have to print or laminate as much as I did.  I printed these from my local UPS store and it only cost me $5 per team, which I thought was pretty good.  I cut out, laminated, and cut out again for everything so it should last for years of play.

Want a set for your Sparks?  All the files I made are linked below :)

Sparky Guy Cards

Sparky Dress Up Outfits

Game Spinner