Download the Top 12 VBS game ideas to try this summer
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Summertime is fast approaching, and that means Vacation Bible School (VBS) is almost here! While there’s tons of fun to be had, the heart of any program is to help kids deepen their faith. You’ll need an assortment of VBS game ideas that are engaging, easy to set up, and full of biblical truths.
These activities aren’t just about keeping kids busy during summer break. This is an opportunity to share Jesus, build connections, and teach the youth of your church and local community about the importance of fellowship.
To help you create an exciting and educational experience, we’ve compiled a list of activities and game ideas for VBS that center on the Bible. Let’s dive in!
Bible Bingo
People of all ages enjoy a good game of bingo! If your VBS has a theme, create a bingo card with pictures or words related to that topic. Or, you can put together a game of bingo that revisits the stories kids have been learning about in Sunday school all year.
What’s great about bingo is that you can easily adjust the level of difficulty for each age group. Use images for an elementary-friendly version, and themes, verses, or characters for older kids.
Creation Collage
Bring out the art supplies and let your VBS students get creative while learning about the days of Creation. Provide some construction paper, fabric scraps, stickers, yarn, and markers, and let their imaginations run wild.
Read the Genesis creation story out loud so the kids can learn about the significance of each day while they build their collages. They’ll use their crafting materials to create unique collages of the heavens, the earth, plants, animals, and people.
Bible Trivia Quiz
Are your students ready to apply everything they’ve learned at VBS? Then it’s time to host a friendly trivia challenge to test their Bible knowledge.
Prepare a list of age-appropriate questions for each age group that cover common biblical themes and those you’ve specifically taught at VBS. Divide the children into teams, ask a question, and have them submit their answers. The team with the highest score wins a prize!
Bible Story Charades
This next game is an active—and often hilarious—way of bringing Bible stories to life. The classic game of charades now has a VBS twist, as kids will be tasked with acting out stories from the Bible. This is a fun way to help them internalize each story and remember what they’ve learned.
Write down different Bible stories on small slips of paper and place them in a bowl. Participants take turns drawing a slip and acting out the story without using words while everyone else tries to guess.
Parable Puppet Show
Another great way to engage your VBS students and help them retain information is by putting on a puppet show! Kids will get to create their own puppet using paper bags, socks, or popsicle sticks and paper.
You can help the puppeteers write a simple script based on one of Jesus’ parables and let them use their imagination to create the characters. Set up a stage by draping a sheet over a table and have the kids take turns acting out the story and watching the show.
Worship Musical Chairs
Musical chairs—but make it worship! If you ever need to bring the VBS games indoors, musical chairs will keep the kids moving to burn off some of that boundless energy. Your students’ listening skills will be put to the test as they battle to keep their seat.
Create a playlist of worship songs and set your circle of chairs up in the center of the room. For an extra element of fun, have them hop on one foot or pretend to be an animal as they make their way around the circle.
Jonah & the Whale Tag
Adding to our lineup of active VBS game ideas is this quick variation of “Sharks & Minnows.” To start, one player is assigned the “whale” while everyone else is a “Jonah.” Place the whale in the center of the space and line the other children up on one side of the play area.
When you’re ready to begin, shout, “Storm!” Then, all the kids try to run across to the other side of the play area without being tagged by the whale. If anyone is tagged, they become a whale and join the team in the middle. The game continues until there’s only one Jonah left.
Bible Verse Relay Race
Reinforce scripture memory and teamwork with a challenging relay race. Select a Bible verse, write down the words on different sets of colored notecards, and place them around the play area. Then, divide the children into groups and assign them a color.
Read the Bible verse aloud and tell the teams to get ready, set, and go! They’ll race to collect the notecards in their team’s color and arrange them in the correct order. The first to finish must then accurately recite the verse to win.
Miriam’s Tambourine Dance Party
Taking inspiration from Miriam’s song of victory in Exodus, have your own outdoor tambourine dance party. The kids will love using their outside voices to make a joyful noise to the Lord! Share the importance of taking time to praise God in our victories by showing gratitude through singing and dancing.
You can provide real tambourines or have a craft time where the children can make their own. To build a tambourine, staple together two paper plates or both ends of a toilet paper tube and fill them with dried rice or beans.
Armor of God Dress Up Race
This armor of God VBS game is inspired by Ephesians 6:11, where believers are encouraged to put on the whole armor of God. Start by creating a paper playing cube that has a piece of armor on each side, or you can use a digital picker wheel.
Place enough dress-up armor for each child in the center of the play area. When they roll or spin, they take the piece of armor they landed on from the pile and put it on. If they land on a piece they already have, they skip a turn. Whoever is able to “put on the full armor of God” first, wins!
Bless You, Bless You, Amen
Instead of “Duck, Duck, Goose,” try playing “Bless You, Bless You, Amen.” Just like the classic game, everyone sits in a circle while one child who is “it” walks around the outside of the circle tapping others on the head, saying, “Bless you.” When they’re ready to choose someone, they tap their head and say, “Amen,” and the race is on to get around the circle into the open spot.
Nature Scripture Scavenger Hunt
Ready for an outdoor adventure? Lead the children outside with a sheet of Bible verses describing God’s creation. For example, consider the verse, "The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12).
Have students find these natural features and draw what they see. Discuss what they find, making a connection between the Bible and the world around them. This will help encourage kids to look for God and the evidence of his presence in their everyday life.
Learning through play is a great way to engage young hearts and minds. As kids create, act, and dance, they’ll have fun while taking in the biblical truths you’re sharing. We hope you’ll try out some of these VBS game ideas as you get ready to impart the love of Jesus to the kids in your community.
VBS takes a lot of work, planning, and organization. A tool like Subsplash Events can help you simplify and streamline all of your summer programs. With features designed to do things like manage registration and coordinate volunteers, Subsplash makes it easier to focus on what matters most—creating fun and faith-filled memories.
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