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Preparation
Download, print and cut up the Books of the Bible Cards.
There are 66 cards, corresponding to the 66 Books of the Bible.
We suggest printing 1 set for every 2-5 players.
You may also like to download and print the following optional resources for your reference during the game or for your discussion thereafter.
Bible Slot and Sort Solution
Sections of the Bible Overview
How to Play
You may want to play this game on the floor as a fairly large playing area is required.
Play in teams comprising 2-5 players. (Teams can be larger, but smaller teams allow everyone to be involved.)
The objective of the game is for each team to work together to arrange their set of Books of the Bible Cards in a grid in the correct order, as illustrated in the Bible Slot and Sort Solution.
The 10 columns are arranged according to the order of the 10 sections of the Bible.
Within each column, the first book of each section of the Bible should be placed at the top, followed by the next book, and so forth.
We suggest a target completion time of 10 to 15 minutes for this game.
Give each team 1 set of Books of the Bible Cards.
Shuffle the cards and place them neatly in one stack: this forms the draw pile.
Players take turns to play, starting with the youngest player.
The first player draws 3 cards from the draw pile and places them on the table/floor in the correct order.
Example: If you drew “Genesis”, “Isaiah” and “Mark”, you should place them like this:
The turn passes to the next player.
The next player draws another 3 cards from the draw pile, and slots them into position accordingly.
Example: If you drew “Leviticus”, “Judges” and “1 Corinthians”, you should slot them in like this:
During your turn, you may also change the positions of any card(s) in the grid if you feel there were errors made previously.
The turn passes to the next player, and so forth.
During each player’s turn, the other players should avoid giving directions.
You may give clues if the player asks for help but try to allow each player time and space to think and move the cards around.
After all 66 cards have been placed in the grid, players can discuss and make changes to the grid.
Once all teams are ready, or when the time is up, review the grids.
Scoring:
Award 1 point for every card in the correct position.
Perfect score: 66 points.
Variation 1: Play with Fewer Cards
Playing with the full set of 66 cards can be challenging and perhaps discouraging for some players.
Consider playing with Old Testament and New Testament cards separately:
In one session, you can play with only the 39 Old Testament cards.
In another separate session, play with only the 27 New Testament cards.
Variation 2: Play with Even Fewer Cards
For younger children, you may like to play with even fewer cards.
For each session of play, you can play with cards belonging to only one or more of these sections of the Bible:
1. Old Testament: Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)
2. Old Testament: History (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther)
3. Old Testament: Poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs)
4. Old Testament: Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel)
5. Old Testament: Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi)
6. New Testament: Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)
7. New Testament: History (Acts)
8. New Testament: Letters from Paul (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon)
9. New Testament: General Letters (Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John and Jude)
10. New Testament: Prophecy (Revelation)
Instead of drawing 3 cards per turn, draw only 1 card per turn.
Bible Lesson – Books and Sections of the Bible
Discuss
1. Did you enjoy this game?
2. Was it easy to place the Books of the Bible Cards in the grid? What was a quick way to know which column to place the cards in?
Say
In addition to an image and the name of the book, each Books of the Bible Card states which section of the Bible the book belongs to. This helps players know that these cards belong to the same column in the grid.
Let’s play a different game right now.
Instead of placing the Books of the Bible Cards in a grid, we will look for a specific Bible passage in our Bibles.
(Ensure that everyone has a hardcopy Bible.)
Let’s see who can be the first to locate 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in the Bible…
Discuss
3. (Ask the fastest person.) Tell us how you managed to find these verses so quickly?
4. (Ask a volunteer who struggled to locate these verses.) What can help you find these verses quicker the next time?
Say
The Bible is not one single book, but a collection of 66 smaller books that tell one unified story.
Just like the Books of the Bible Cards can be arranged in 10 columns in the grid, these 66 books of the Bible are organized into sections.
Being familiar with how the Bible is organized helps us quickly find specific passages in the Bible.
Discuss
5. The Bible is divided into two main parts. What are the names of these parts?
6. What are some differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament?
7. How are the 39 books of the Old Testament organized?
8. What are the 5 sections of the Old Testament called?
9. How would you describe each of these 5 sections?
10. How are the 27 books of the New Testament organized?
11. What are these 5 sections called?
12. How would you describe each of these 5 sections?
13. How important is it for us to know the organization of the Bible into the various sections that we have just discussed?
Conclude
Being familiar with the 66 books of the Bible and how they are organized helps us more quickly locate specific passages in the Bible. More importantly, knowing which section of the Bible a passage is taken from gives us an idea of its genre and helps us understand the passage better.
