Cubbies Q&A: Play Time

What should I know about Play Time?

Play Time is one of the segments of a Cubbies club. It’s an energetic, motion-filled time of games that reinforce the lesson theme, Play Time is still part of your teaching opportunity! Cubbies will be engaged in what they play, and this can provide chances to cement the messages you have communicated from the lesson. This is part of the Cubbies “Total Time Teaching” method, to use all the different parts of your Cubbies program to incorporate the ideas from the lesson. There are great resources to do this in your Teaching Plans, and even additional ideas on the CD that comes with it.

Do you have any extra ideas to use during Play Time?

Preschoolers love to play dress-up so consider having some clothes and accessories connected to the Bible lesson. You could have them take turns acting out the lesson, even if it is you helping them stand where they need to and move at the right times. It’s always good to have a back-up game on hand in case the one you planned goes quickly or doesn’t seem to hold their attention. Think of games preschoolers enjoy playing and see if you can incorporate the Bible verse. For example, play Duck, Duck, Goose, but use the words of the verse. When the last word in the verse is said, the Cubbie touched must run. Play musical chairs, but without taking away chairs. Start with one less chair than Cubbies. When the music stops, instead of eliminating anyone, the one with no chair recites the Bible verse.

Do I need to come up with a new game every week?

You don’t have to choose a totally different game every week! Preschoolers love repetition, and they often need to play a game several times to learn it. Do not be afraid to repeat the same game, or a slightly modified version, for several weeks or in a rotation of a few games. You can usually adapt games to fit each new lesson theme.

I know Play Time is not supposed to be competitive, but what if some of the older Cubbies are competitive?

Before you start, try to remind all the children that the point of the activity is to have fun, not to win. A great way to do this is to play games cooperatively instead of making kids feel like they are playing against each other. You can have them race against the clock. For example, “Let’s see if we all can do this in 3 minutes.” Or you can have them work towards a goal as one group as they play, for example, “Let’s see if our whole group can work together to play this game as kindly/quietly/friendly as we can!” or “Let’s play this whole game as if we were monkeys/mice/robots!”

Do you have any thoughts to share about how you do Play Time with your preschoolers? Share them in the comments!