Commandment Match

To reinforce with the children what it means to follow each of the commandments

The children will explain that God gave us the Ten Commandments to help us follow the moral law.

• Commandment cards with one commandment per card
• Situation cards with one example per card of a person following each commandment, for example,

Johnny knew that the ball at the end of his driveway belonged to Jason down the street and returned it to him. (Respect what belongs to others.)
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Christina wanted to continue jumping rope with her friends, but her father told her to be home by dinner. She told her friends that she had to leave and began walking home. (Honor and obey your parents.)
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Mike really wanted the latest video game even though he got several games for Christmas. When his birthday came, he decided not to ask for the new game. (Be happy with what you have.)
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Samantha's parents asked her to take care of her little brother. She forgot to watch him for a few minutes, and he skinned his knee playing outside. When her parents asked what happened, Samantha admitted that she forgot to watch her brother, even though she knew that her parents would not be happy. (Tell the truth.)

• Tell the children that this activity will help them learn the Ten Commandments and understand what it means to follow each of them.
• Give each child a commandment card or a situation card. Invite the children to go on a silent search to find a match. Tell them their goal is to find the situation that is an example of their commandment or the commandment that is being obeyed in their situation.
• Children should move around the room silently, reading each other's cards and shaking hands when they agree that they have a match.
• When all children are in pairs or threesomes, call time and check together by reading the matching cards aloud.
• Remind the children that God gave us these special rules to guide our actions toward him and others.

Logic/Math Smart, People Smart

Prepare duplicate situations if there are more than 20 children in the group.

Color-coding the cards with one color for the commandments and another for the situations will help children limit the number of cards they have to consider.