Every week I like to work with our K-5th graders teaching them the books of the bible. I believe having a general idea of where to find the books in the bible is a good idea! For the younger grades, we simply sing the books of the bible songs each week, then play a game where they tell me if a book is in the Old or New Testament. There are lots of ways to make this fun, but today we are focusing on a game for the older kids. For the older grades, we take things a step further and search for the books in our bibles. This weeks game is a version of “Go Fish” using books of the bible and call bells. The bells are optional, but make it more fun for the kids. If they get to make noise, it’s got to be fun, right?
First, I selected 20 books from the bible, a mix of Old and New Testament books. (I used cards I found at: https://ministry-to-children.com/books-of-the-bible-games-cards/). Just choose 20 books at a time, depending on how many kids you have. The original version of “Go Fish” has 52 cards, 13 sets of four. I have 20 sets of three giving me a total of 60 cards. As kids arrive, pass out five cards per person and a bell (some can share one bell between them). If they have a set of three already, have them pull that set out and collect three more cards. They get to go first! 
Now, they choose a player to ask if they have a card that is in their own hand. So, if I have in my hand: (1) Ezra, (1) Matthew, (2) Psalms and (1) Acts, I’d ask, “Billy, do you have Psalms?” If Billy has Psalms, he has to give all the Psalms he has to me. If he does not, he says, “Go Fish” and I draw a card from the stack. If by either way I end up with another Psalms, that makes three, a complete set. I quickly ring the bell, lay out my Psalms on the table for everyone to see and we ALL race to find that book in our bibles. Whoever finds it first gets to go next. Yes, some players may miss their turn. This is part of the fun. Continue clockwise until time is up or until all cards are matched in sets of three.
What are some ways fun games you like to play? I am always looking for new ideas!
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