I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living their lives in the Truth.--3 John 1:4, AMPC

Having served as a teacher for over 30 years in church and other nonprofits, including many years teaching public school, as well as homeschool and private lessons, I've seen many kids get bored even with a beloved movie. A movie is usually a way for the adults to disengage, and I certainly understand that. 

Video games can teach them a few skills, but should not be used to just keep the kids out of our hair. 

So (to start a sentence with a conjunction; please don't tell my ELA students I did this!), why not use that time to sharpen their minds and teach them positive, useful, fun things--especially about God? 

You can use these in your children's church groups--in conjunction with the regular lesson, or as something different. The church library would be best having a stationery place, however, You could teach the kids classification systems for books, and more, and how to choose books pertinent to their levels and higher (for you always want to encourage them to read at least some at levels higher than their current ones!). 

Yes, it does take time and effort to plan activites and get the materials together. True, they are not always appreciated, and some may get bored with your most "engaging" activity, but much less so, usually, if they are enjoying participating.

Most smart kids want to be active, so here are 10 ideas to help you help them--and you'll have fun and may even learn some things yourself! At the least, you'll reinforce your knowledge as you reinforce theirs. 

Maybe it’s the teacher and the reader in me, but I’ve seen kids at church gatherings that went long, and other events get bored with a movie or something docile, even when it's time to settle down and go to sleep, with their jammies on and fave pillow, while waiting for their parents to get out of a conference that is several hours long. They aren't allowed to play video games as a group at church, but they really want stmulation.

These ideas definitely help keep things lively, fulfilling, and positive, to the glory of God, and help the time pass quickly!  My hope is that you can employ some of all of them to the delight and enhanced education of your young ones!

1. Provide a Christian library—lots of materials, from books to magazines to Christian comic books, calendars with Scriptures, and whatever else you can find. As one pastor stated, kids don’t have “junior" Holy Spirit, but The Holy Spirit! There is so much negative junk that kids have access to now, why not put as many positive materials—especially about the LORD Jesus and how much He loves them, and how He's the coolest--THE Awesome God—in front of them?

Even if you have to set the library corner/area up every time, it will be worth it. If you're super-organized (or even if you're not!), you can keep a list and allow the kids to take books home. No worries about most things being too "adult" for them (unless they are books on marriage or addiction, or other truly adult themes).

Some of the most important lessons I've learned came from me reading "adult" leadership books and such, written by God-fearing authors and other positive people (read: no cursing or other vulgarity; no traumatic stories; no witchcraft

Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?--Exodus 15:11, AMPC

After all, God is not just awesome in Vacation Bible School, or on Sunday mornings! We want our kids to know that He is awesome every day, every night, every way--He is right! 

Let me add that these activities do not have to be blatantly about God, but you can let the students know that the LORD is with us always--especially as He indwells us when we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD--and that He cares about every detail of their lives; their educations; their interests; their joys, and every other part of their lives! Hallelujah!

Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and  loving-kindness,--Psalm 33:18, AMPC

Other ideas which I've basically used successfully with various groups and individuals (online and in person) and ages of elementary kids (in public school and otherwise), include:                                   

2. Praise and worship moves, with dance steps, and flags, streamers, and/or praise veil rings. It’s so easy for the kids to praise and worship the LORD with their bodies and these tools, most of which they can make themselves (Which can be yet another idea for meaningful edutainment!

“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”—John 4:23-24, MSG

Several years ago, when I taught 4^th grade English in public school, I bought each of my 48 students small USA flags to wave, as we sang along to the video of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” I told them before we started that they were going to write an essay about how they felt and what they thought during the experience.

I could see how God was working, as His Spirit touched us in that public school classroom. I believe He helped us all realized more deeply to appreciate and honor our beloved USA, which the LORD God moved men to found, so we could freely worship Him and have and promote His Word!

3. Flash cards (“Around the world,” where two students compete to answer the fastest, and the winner goes to the next student; preferably "around the world"--all the way through the group. The others often get excited and want to shout out the answers, but I ask them to think of the answer in their heads, and they can whisper it to a buddy, but not shout it out). You can use facts on the Bible, worship lyrics, English, math, science, and whatever the LORD leads you to. 

4. Funny poetry and animal jokes, tongue twisters--Teach them about poetic techniques, jokes, and alliteration, and help them make up their own.

5. Board games, especially educational (something besides mindless rolling of the dice and counting spaces till they stop, unless they are preschool or K5), are really good. They can team up in pairs or small groups. 

6. Young writers workshop--brainstorming and writing techniques; group stories and poems and songs; encouragement about sharing their work to promote God's purposes, etc,  "And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming.'"---Habakkuk 2:2, MSG

7. Reader’s theater--Kids love this, and just about any God-oriented or other positive story or book or magazine excerpt will work. This is like the reading actors do, where they sit around and read the script before the filming starts. The kids sit or stand, and read the parts. They enjoy adopting funny or more mature-sounding voices to do play the characters in the skit. Some may even want to write their own skits!

8. Indoor competitions--with soft frisbees, balls, etc., but make sure they have room and won't get hurt

9. Online games they can do as a group, if you have a big screen (Kahoot, Quizlet, IXL, even KahnAcademy (which goes all the way to college, and covers every core subject), this is a great way to entertain the group--and let even those not participating hear the correct answers.

10. Read-a-Thon--They can read short texts and talk with buddies, then present the report or other info to the group; they can give clues and have the group guess what they read, etc. 

11. Book character charades--They love this. Buddies or small groups of 4 are best. You can assign them known characters or have them read an excerpt and act it out, try to guess the characters, etc. 

12. Vocabulary treasure hunt--Have them read short texts, especially Bible stories and other Christian works, and find the treasures! Let the older kids create treasure hunts for the rest!

Go for it, enjoy, and may the LORD give you ever more ideas to help your kids in meaningful ways, to His glory! 

Through books, courses, presentations, service, prayer, worship, and more, Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. Her series for girls, P.O.W.E.R. GIRL ADVENTURES, is now out (books I-V), along with LEGACY; YOUR HOLY HEALTH: VISIONS OF THE KING, and more. See the "River Rain Creative" YT channel.