Materials needed: Bible, 2 long sheets of parchment or butcher
paper, permanent marker, name dictionary or access to websites that
give meanings of names
Before class, make a list of all the names of the children in your
classroom. Then, do some research to find out the meaning of
each person’s name. (Example: My name, which is Carol, means “song
of joy”.) Use one sheet of the paper to create a
matching game for the children to play by listing their names on the
left side of the paper and the meanings of the names on the right side
of the paper. If there are some names for which you were not
able to find a meaning, still list the name and the correct meaning of
the name will just be a question mark. Let the child know that
this does not mean that their name doesn’t mean anything, but that
you simply weren’t able to find the meaning for it. After they
finish this activity, tell them that you want to talk to them about a
name that is above every name. Ask them if they know
what this name is. It is the name of Jesus! Explain that
the name of Jesus means “Jehovah, our Savior”. Tell them
that the Bible has a lot to say about the name of Jesus and why it is
so important. ( At this point, you play the 2nd matching game
using Scripture references that speak about the name of Jesus listed
on the left of the paper and what they are saying on the right.)
Have children look up and read the verses and then try to find the
answer on the right that corresponds to the verse. Below is an
example of how our matching game looked. I have put the correct
Scripture and answers across from each other, so if you use this,
you’ll need to jumble up the answers.
