Worship Walk Backpack
Before you go on a worship walk, pack a bag full of things you will need. Include water, snacks, your Bible, paper for drawing and writing, and pens or pencils. Bring a camera if you don’t have one on your phone so you can take pictures of things that fill you with wonder. You might like to include nature books so you can identify plants, birds, and animals along the way and a magnifying glass to help you look closely at God’s creation. Take small bags or containers for collecting nuts and berries or items you would like to take home. You could also include art materials for stone painting or chalk for writing encouraging messages.
I Spy God!
Play an “I spy!” game choosing things God has made. One person spots a natural object and tells the others, “I spy with my little eye, something God made that is . . .” They name the color, shape, or texture of the object without saying what they’ve chosen. When someone guesses what the object is, each person describes something about that object that fills them with wonder and praise to God for making it.
Kindness Stones
You will need paint for the stones, permanent marker pens, paintbrushes, and a jar or cup for water. You will also need quick-drying sealant to protect the designs. Diluted white glue (PVA) can seal the paint and make it waterproof. Gather large, smooth stones on your walk, paint them, and let them dry in the sun. Use pens to write encouraging messages or Bible verses on the stones. Then brush a coat of sealant over the design.
Leave the stones slightly hidden so they can easily be discovered by people. Pray that the messages will bring them joy!
Guess My Story!
Encourage everyone to gather up natural things that have fallen to the ground. Leave everything else safe to grow. Use the things you have found to create a picture from a Bible story, laying the objects on the ground to illustrate the scene. Then try to guess the story that each person has created.
Bible Bag Games
Take a cloth bag on your walk, or a plastic bag that is not see-through. Gather different fallen objects that might be mentioned in Bible stories, such as a stone, seeds, leaves, fruit, sheep’s wool (to represent sheep), feathers (to represent birds), scraps of cloth, coins, an eggshell, and other objects. Invite each person to take an object out of the bag and think of a Bible story that mentions the item. Or ask each person in the group to describe different Bible stories that include the object.
Sharing Walk
Pack some sharing snacks to take on your walk and give to others along the way. It is a good way to be kind and show them God’s love.
Rainbow Search
Hunt for fallen natural objects in each color of the rainbow. Or take photos of them if you have a camera. Praise God for all the different objects and their colors!
Leave a Message
Write an encouraging message in the dirt along the path, or use found items, such as small twigs or stones, to create the letters for your message or to make a smile or a heart.
Picture This!
Find something God has made and draw it on a piece of paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Look at the little details of the shell, leaf, or flower that you found. Use your art materials to add some color to the picture. Include a Bible verse. Hang your pictures up when you get home or send them to a loved one as a gift.
Leaf Art
Flowers need to be left for insect food and pollination, but in many places leaves can be collected and used for arts and crafts. Collect colored leaves in the fall to make pictures and patterns on the ground. Or turn a leaf upside down, lay paper on top, and use waxed crayons to make leaf rubbings. Or make a leaf crown. To do that, cut 2-inch wide strips of card stock that are long enough to wrap around a head and make a crown.
Lay them flat, place double-sided sticky tape along the length of the strip, and attach different colored leaves, or pressed and dried leaves, along the strip to form a leaf crown. Remember that you are all princesses and princes in God’s kingdom. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25.
Pray Along the Way
As you walk, look for all kinds of things to pray about. Take turns finding things to praise God for and to thank Him for. Tell Him your concerns about a difficult situation you find, like lots of garbage on the ground or not enough rain. Pray for the people you meet along the way, and ask God questions about the things He has made.
Guided Obstacle Race
Work with your family to make a simple obstacle course outside with logs, stones, and bushes to walk around and step over. Ask a grown-up to blindfold your eyes, hold your hand, and guide you around the obstacles by telling you which way to move and how high to raise your feet. Then talk about how God and His Holy Spirit guide us through the obstacles of life. How does God help us to find our way in a dark world without falling over? Remember, if we do fall over, He will always pick us up again. Read Psalm 37:24 and Psalm 116:8.
Lost Sheep
Take a toy sheep with you on your walk, or just a ball of wool. Ask an adult to hide it along the path. See if you can find it. Or ask an adult to hide nearby and cry “Baa!” until you find the “lost sheep.” If you are in a safe place, you could hide and be found too! Read Luke 15:3-7 together.
Creation Collection
Give each person a cardboard egg carton with six sections. Ask them to find something to represent each day of creation: perhaps a white-and-black object for day one; something blue for day two; grass, leaves, or a petal for day three; a flower like a sun or star for day four; a feather for day five; and something from an animal for day six. Show your displays to each other as you rest and remember day seven (see Genesis 1).
