Scripture: Matthew 10:40
"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.

Supplies:
10 Shopping bags
1 Container of unconsecrated hosts
1 Bible
1 Catechism
1 Stole
1 Crucifix

Rules:
1. The team lines up on side of the field and must make it to the other side of the Field without being tagged.
2. While they are trying to make it to the other side without being tag they each carry a brown bag with them.
3. It is up to the team to decide what is in the bag. They can put something in each bag or go to the other extreme and put everything in one bag.
4. The object is to get all or the religious items across the field with in three tries.
5. If they are tagged and have an object that object has to return to the start.
6. If an item makes it all the way across. It stays there but the team lines up again on the other side and tries to get the rest of the items across.

This easy game is designed to help remind players of the ultimate Christmas gift – Jesus.

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. The Shepherds and the Angels And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Supplies:
12 Gift Boxes with lids that can be removed.
Nativity Set or pictures of the figures of a standard nativity set.
Wooden X’s or paper X’s

Rules:
The team must select 6 boxes without opening them to put the nativity set together. Each box is labeled with a picture of a nativity figure and either or a true or false fact about the figure.

Nativity Figure	True Question	False Questions
	The Blessed Virgin Mary did not commit any sins.	The Blessed Virgin Mary committed sins like you and me.
	Joseph is an image of God for us because he adopted Jesus like God adopts us.	Joseph is not an image of God for us because he reluctantly followed God’s will.
	Jesus is true God and true Man	Jesus is part God and part Man
	The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the Mother of God	The angel Michael announced to Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.
	King Herod befriended the magi because he wished to kill the baby Jesus	King Herod befriend the magi because he wished to worship the baby Jesus
	The magi were Gentiles	The magi were Jews
	The magi went back to their lands by a different route	The magi went back to their lands by retracing their steps.
	The Angels sang “Gloria” to the shepherds.	The Angels sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” to the shepherds.
	Jesus was placed in a manger to symbolize that He would be “food” for the world	Jesus was placed in a manger to symbolize that He would be the ruler of the world
	Jesus was born in Bethlehem	Jesus was born in Nazareth.

This game uses the fun and simplicity of the game bingo to help players learn more about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Supplies:
O Mary Cards
You will need one card for each player. You may photo copy the cards from the back of the book or create your own. To create your own write down all the different titles of Mary on index cards - one title for each card. Divide the cards into five groups. Now create a bingo card but instead of writing “bingo” across the top write “O Mary” across the top. Take your first pile. These will now be your “o”’s. Make sure to write O on each card and then shuffle. Write down the first five titles in the pile to the corresponding space on your bingo card. Repeat with each column on the bingo card and as many times as you need to create as many cards as you may need.

O Mary Drawing Cards
Instead of drawing balls with numbers on it from a bucket; you will need to put all the Marian titles in a bucket on individual sheets of paper. You can either photo copy the O Mary Drawing Cards from the appendix or cut them up or you can write down the titles on individual index cards.

Rules:
The OMARY Game is played like bingo. Players cover the spot on their cards as the caller calls out the different titles of Mary. The caller him or herself can determine whether one is playing a “regular” O MARY Game where four corners, straight across, diagonal or vertical line wins or a special game. Throughout the game, the caller should take time to explain some of the different titles of Blessed Virgin Mary. Below you will see some options for playing.

Scripture: Mathew 7:6
"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Supplies:
50 Golf balls
Rope & Stakes (to define boundary)

Rules:
Spread out 50 golf balls in a large area. Give them five minutes to collect as many golf balls as possible without being tagged by one of the moderators. Team must collect 40 of the golf balls before all their team is tagged out

Scripture: Mathew 13:44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Supplies:
20 Plastic Cups
10 White Golf Balls
1 Odd Colored Golf Ball
2 cones

Rules:
At one end of the playing field there are 20 cups some of which have underneath them golf balls. 2 members of the team cross the field and they each pick up a cup. If there is the odd color golf ball then they win. If there is no golf ball then they get a free pass back to their side of the field. If there is a white golf ball they must make it back to their side of the field without being tagged by the moderator.

Supplies: Photos of random people that the group does not know.
Rules:
1. Players are challenged to write as much about what they think the people are like
2. Explain to the players who the people are. The fun is just how much they do not know about a person.

Supplies:
Seven Day Pill Boxes (1 for each group)
Little Slips of Paper with different tasks written on them

The Rules:
1. Divide your players into at least two groups with no more than seven in a group.
2. Set up your room for a relay race with the starting area on one side of the room and a table with the pill boxes on the other side.
3. On the word “go” the first player from each team runs to the other side of the room and opens the pill box marked “Sunday” and removes the piece of paper with the task on it. He or she then performs the tasks and runs back to the other side and tags the second person in line. Who repeats what the first person did except this time opens the pill box mark “Monday.”
4. This continues until in the same way until all of the days on the pill box are open, all tasks complete and the last person crosses the starting line.
* Suggested Tasks to have them complete
Say an Our Father Say a Hail Mary Say an Act of Contrition
5 Jump & Jacks 5 Push Ups 5 Squat Thrusts
Sing the Hokey Pokey Sing I am a Little Tea Pot Do the Chicken Dance
Bark Like A Dog Roar Like a Lion Cluck like a Chicken
Sing Happy Birthday Quack like a Duck Hop Up & Down on 1 Leg 3x
Genuflect 3 times Make Sign of Cross 3 times Pretend to be a karate fighter

Supplies:
Piñata
Candy
Blindfold
Bat
Rope

Rules:
1. Fill the Piñata with candy and hang it in a way in which you can move it up and down and/or swing it around.
2. Blindfold one person so that he or she cannot see.
3. Appoint another person to be the eyes of the blindfolded person.
4. Explain to everyone that the appointed person is to help the blindfolded person swing at the Piñata.
5. The game continues until someone breaks open the Piñata.

The Teaching:
The Piñata was created by Mexican people to teach the faith to their children. The Pinata which is often shaped as a donkey or a monster represents evil. The Pinata is colorful because evil is tempting. The person is blindfolded because it is often hard to see where evil is coming from. Everyone is in a battle with evil and this is represented by the stick which symbolizes a sword. The people helping the person fight evil represent the Church. In a special way the person chosen by the instructor represents a priest – a person chosen from his peers by a higher authority to help us in our spiritual journey.

This game combines elements of freeze tag and dodge ball in order to teach the players the importance of prayer.

Supplies:

4 Prayer Balls: Take four similar looking play ground balls or foam soccer balls and write on each one one of the four types of prayers. The four types of prayers are 1) Adoration/Praise 2) Contrition/Sorrow 3) Thanksgiving/Gratitude and 4) Petition/Supplication.
7 Sin Balls: These balls should be similar in size and color but different from the Prayer Balls. There should be one for each of the seven deadly sins. You may label them if you wish. The Seven Deadly Sins are 1) Pride/Vanity, 2) Envy/Jealousy 3) Gluttony/Over Indulgence, 4) Wrath/Anger, 5) Greed/Selfishness, 6) Sloth/Laziness, and 7) Lust/Obsession
1 God’s Love Ball: The biggest ball that you can find.
1 Whistle or Bell

Rules:
1. Choose 3 to 4 players to start the game as “demons”. The task of the demon is to take the sin balls and throw them at the other players in the hopes of hitting them. If a player is hit by a sin ball, he or she is frozen.
2. The non-demon players must run around the court avoiding the demons and their sin balls. If a player is hit by a sin ball he or she is frozen.
3. When a player is frozen he or she can only become unfrozen by catching a prayer ball and praying that type of prayer out loud. For example if a frozen player catches the Thanksgiving Prayer Ball he or she must pray a prayer out loud thanking God for something. It is important to note that if a player is hit with a sin ball while holding onto the prayer ball the player is frozen and must pass the prayer ball away and wait to catch it or another prayer ball before he or she can say the prayer and become unfrozen.
4. The moderator at his or her discretion can blow his or her whistle to start “Sacrament Time”. During Sacrament Time the non-demon players can pick up “God’s Love Ball” and use it to hit a demon. If a demon is hit by God’s love ball he or she is frozen. Sacrament Time lasts as long as the moderator wishes and ends when the moderator blows his or her whistle for a second time. At this time the “God’s Love Ball” must be returned to the center of the court where it is kept until the next Sacrament Time.
5. If a demon is frozen, the moderator comes and tells the frozen demon that he or she is no longer a demon and is now a regular player who must avoid being touched by the sin balls. The moderator should then choose a regular player who has not been a demon to now be a demon.

Teaching Points:
1. Before beginning the game start by talking about the four types of prayer using the Acronym ACTS:
A=Adoration (Praising God for His Goodness)
C=Contrition (Asking God’s forgiveness)
T=Thanksgiving (Showing God gratitude)
S=Supplication (Asking God for something)
2. Follow up your talk on prayer with a discussion about the Seven Deadly Sins
Pride Lust
Envy Wrath
Gluttony Sloth
Greed
3. After the game sit down and discuss the discussion questions

Discussion Questions
Q1: How long did anyone person stay frozen? What would have helped speed up the unfreezing of people?
A1. If we had more prayer balls, then we would have been able to free people faster. This is true in a way the more prayers we say the more we will be able to overcome sin in our lives.
A2. Some people were frozen on the outskirts of the field. This symbolizes the fact that those on the margins, the outcasts, etc. are sometimes forgotten about. This should remind us as Christians to go out and look for the lost sheep.

Q2: What happened to the people who stayed almost exclusively around the God’s Love ball?
A1 They were often frozen because the “demons” were in the same area. This is a sign for us that we need not only to pray but also to go out into the world. If we spend too much time in Church and not enough time doing Christian service we can end up falling victim to sin.

Q3: What did you think of “Sacrament Time”?
A1 It was too short or did not happen often enough. This was to teach us that we need to prevail ourselves frequently to the sacraments especially Eucharist and Reconciliation.
A2 The God’s Love Ball was too big. The reason why the ball was so big is that it suppose to teach us that we need to work together to bring God’s love to the world. The children probably would have been able to freeze more “demons” if they passed the ball to one another.

Q4: Are there any other analogies that you can draw from this game?