Is there any benefit in learning the days of creation in order? The goal should never be enabling someone to spout off the information just so they can say they memorized it. However, we can learn some lessons from studying God’s creation activities:
- God has a plan and does things in an orderly fashion. Days 1 through 3 prepared for days 4 through 6. The sun, moon, and stars (day 4) shine the light (day 1); the birds and fish (day 5) live in the skies and oceans (day 2); and the animals and people (day 6) live on the land (day 3).
- People are God’s highest creation. God created human beings last and put them in charge of everything else that he had made (Genesis 1:27-28).
- God rested on the seventh day to set an example for us. God referred to this when he gave the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11).
This game can help children understand God’s plans and actions during creation. If they have more than 5 or 6 children they should divide them into groups to play the game. (since they have to wait for each other to take a turn)
- Print one game board for each player and one sheet of cards for every two players on card stock or heavy paper, and cut the cards apart. (picture 1)
- Shuffle the small cards and put them face down. Give each player a game board.
- Players take turns taking a small card.
- If the player needs the card, he/she places it on the correct space on the game board. (picture 2)
- Otherwise, the card is placed in a discard pile.
- A player who has collected all the pictures for the first six days gets to rest, just as God did on the seventh day, and watch the other players finish the game. (picture 3)
- Prizes are not necessary; kids love learning and playing games just for the fun of it.
Variation: With older kids and if you have lots of time, you might try requiring players to collect the cards in the correct order – Day 1, then Day 2, etc.
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This was just what I needed for teaching children the days of Creation at our midweek Bible study! It is simple, yet colorful and easy to understand. I gave the children the sheet of cards (uncut) because it had the days of Creation week numbered in order and pictures to illustrate each. The children used it as a reference sheet to create their own sticker story page about Creation. Thank you so much!