It’s back to rainbows for the theme of this St. Patrick’s game, which will teach students about God’s gifts to us as they try to collect the colors of the rainbow. They’ll also learn about ROYGBIV, the word containing the first letter of all the colors in the rainbow.

Materials

  • Three or four pieces of card stock paper
  • Scissors
  • Pen

Objective

Possess two copies of the rainbow-color letters first.

Preparation

  1. Using the card stock paper, cut out 28 squares that are all of the same size. The acronym ROYGBIV (also remembered as Roy G. Biv) contains the letters that start each color that is found in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Write one letter on each square and repeat four times so you have four copies of each word.
  2. Shuffle the cards and lay them on the table in four rows of seven.
  3. Write out the acronym ROYGBIV.

Introduction

There are a few prominent symbols that represent Saint Patrick’s Day. One is the rainbow! Rainbows are so delicate and beautiful and if we really look at them, we’ll see a message from God. Now we’re going to play a game where we will be making our own rainbows!

Instructions

  1. Show students the acronym and lay it on the table where students can refer to it.
  2. Create two teams of equal ability and have them sit across from each other at the table. Lay the acronym sideways between the teams so neither has a better view.
  3. When you say “Go!” the first team will flip over two cards looking for a match of letter colors.
  4. If they find two of the same letter, they will pull them off the playing area. If they are not the same, they will flip them back over and leave them alone.
  5. The first team to get a pair of the ROYGBIV color letters wins.
  6. Repeat after switching up team members

Conclusion

Sometimes God’s messages to us are not easy to see or hear. St. Patrick used the rainbow to teach about watching for signs from God that will bring us into his goodness. Just like we were vigilant in the game to find the matches, let’s be always on the lookout for God’s directions to us.