Type: Active Listening & Self-Control Game
Time: 10 minutes
Group Size: Any
Materials:

• Something to act as the “walls” in the center of the room (e.g., a stack of cardboard boxes, a few chairs, or a small table).

Purpose

To help children practice self-control and experience the tension the Israelites felt marching silently, finishing with a fun, loud release.

Setup

Place the “walls” (boxes or chairs) in the center of the room. Clear a safe path for the children to walk in a circle around the center.

Exact Instructions

1. Explain the rules: “We are going to march around the city of Jericho. But there is one very strict rule: NO TALKING. NO GIGGLING. NO WHISPERING. You must be completely silent. If you make a sound, you have to go sit down at the side of the room.”
2. Have the children line up. The teacher leads the line.
3. Begin marching around the “city” in a circle. Make sure the children are practicing extreme self-control to stay quiet.
4. Count the laps out loud (e.g., “That’s lap one… keep marching… that’s lap two…”).
5. On the seventh lap, tell the children to stop and face the walls.
6. Tell the children: “When I say go, I want you to shout as loud as you possibly can, and we are going to knock down the walls!”
7. Say: “One, two, three… SHOUT!”
8. Let the children shout, and (if using boxes) let them knock the boxes over.

Discussion

Ask: “Was it hard to stay perfectly quiet while we were marching?” “Imagine doing that every day for a week while the people in the city were probably laughing at you. Would you feel silly?”

Connection Back to the Bible Story

Explain: “God’s plan for Joshua didn’t make any sense to an army. Soldiers don’t win battles by walking silently! But God was testing their obedience. He wanted them to know that they didn’t knock the walls down with their own strength—God knocked the walls down because they trusted Him.”