Material

• Cards
• Markers
• Tape

 
Steps

• Write down biblical characters (Esther, Mordi, Moses, David, Jonah, Paul etc)
• Without seeing the name, tape a card to each child’s back.
• The children mingle and ask “yes” or “no” questions to figure out which biblical character they’ve been assigned.
• The game ends when everyone has had a chance to guess their character or figured out their identity.

Lesson
Reflect on the importance of Esther revealing her identity at the right time.

Purim Mask making

Material

• Paper plates
• Cardboards
• Jewels
• Pom-poms
• Elastics band
• Scissors
• Glue
• Crafts supplies

 
Steps

• Masks are typical feature of Purim celebrations (often representing the hidden and revealed themes of the Esther story)
• Ask each child to create their own masks using the crafts materials.
• Cut eye holes
  
  

Discuss the themes of what is the Purim, the identity, concealment, and revelation in the Esther story and in our lives.

Material

• Soft ball
• Empty two-liters
• Timer

 
Steps

• Divide the students into two or more teams.
• Give each team a soft ball and set an empty two-liter in front of each team.
• Set a timer for 5 minutes.
• When you say “GO” the first child from each team rolls their ball toward their two-liter.
• The trick is that one or more leaders pace from one side of the to the other, walking between the children and their two-liners.
• Children must time their rolls when the leader isn’t in front of them to block them.
• After they roll, they run to retrieve their ball and hand it off to the next student.
• Children score a point for their team each time they knock over their bottle.
• The team with the most points after 5 minutes wins.

After the game
Discuss 

• When was the best time to roll their ball? (When the leader wasn’t walking in front of them.) 
• When you saw when it was the right time, when you had an opportunity, and went for it!
• We learn about a women who God made queen during a certain time so that she would have the opportunity to do something very important.

Royal Banquet Relay

Material

• Table
• Table napkins
• Napkins
• Plates
• Glasses
• Juice
• Cupcakes

Steps

• Divide the group into two teams
• On one end of the playing area, place the items required to set a “royal blanket” table
• On the word “GO”, the first person from each team races to the other end to set a place at the royal table by placing one item.
• After setting their item, they race back to tag the next team member.
• The relay continues until one team has all its members seated behind their fully set places.

Reflect on Esther’s brave decision to his a banquet to reveal her identity and Haman’s plan.

To demonstrate how God protected Esther, Queen Esther “Floating Jewels”

Material

• Two clear cups
• Water
• Salt
• Acrylic gems (or small stones)
• Stirrer
• Coin in an ice cube

Steps

• Fill both cups with water.
• Add a large amount of salt to one cup and stir until dissolved to make it dense.
• Drop gems into both cups.
• Observation: The gems will sink in the regular water but float (or sink much slower) in the salt water.

Lesson
Just as the salt made the water dense enough to hold up the jewels, God provided strength for Esther to stand out and survive her dangerous mission.