~ Religion Fillers and Games ~
~ Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ~
KLA: Religion
Time: Ten Minutes
Stage: One, two and three
Outcome: The children with familiarise themselves with the Gospel writers in a fun and unique way. It also teaches children to react quickly, be on-task and alert.
Resources: NIL.
Procedure: The children sit in a circle. All are on the ground however, four children are seated together in chairs, but
are still included in the circle. The first child in the chair is Matthew, the second is Mark, the third is Luke and the
fourth is John. The other children on the ground, are allocated a number, from one to however many children there
are in the circle, excluding those in the chairs. The game starts with John. The child who is John states who he is, in
this case ‘John’ and then says a number of someone in the circle or a name of someone in a chair, for example, “John,
14”. The child, who is number fourteen then says their number, “14” and then another number or a name, for
example, “14, 7” or “14, Luke”. If they say it correctly, the game continues. However, if the child who is number 14
fails to respond in time, or forgets what number they are, they move to the beginning of the circle and are now
number one. Each children will consequently move up one number due to the shift, so the child with number one, is
now number two and so on. The children in the seats remain the same. The game continues with the child who is John
saying who they are, and the number of someone or name of someone in the circle, for example “John, 19”. The child
who is number 19 says, “19, 11”. The child who is number 11 says, “11, Matthew”, the child who is Matthew must
say, “Matthew” and then a number or name, such as, “Matthew, 2”. If Matthew fails to respond or makes a mistake,
the child in the seat, who is Matthew, moves to the beginning of the circle and is now number one. The child who is
number one is now number two and so on. The child who is next to the now vacant chair, sits in the chair and takes
on the role of Matthew. The game continues until the time runs out. Did the children who were originally in the chairs
of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John remain there or were they moved into the circle due to making an error? Who is in
the chairs at the end of the game?
Considerations: The instructions are best outlined through example. Start the game and explain the rules to the
children as the game progresses. Show them physically the shifts in positions when they make mistakes and explain
the aims of the game.
