Type: Active Roleplay Game
Time: 10 minutes
Group Size: 5+
Materials:
- A pile of fake coins (or poker chips, or crumpled paper wads).
- A small bag for the “Tax Collector.”
Purpose
To help children physically experience the unfairness of having their things taken away by a greedy tax collector, making Zacchaeus’s repentance and repayment (giving back 4x as much) feel incredibly satisfying.
Setup
Give every child exactly 5 coins (or chips). Tell them they need to protect their money. Choose one child (or the teacher) to be the “Tax Collector” and give them the bag.
Exact Instructions
- Explain the rules: “The Tax Collector is going to walk around the room. If he points at you, you HAVE to give him some of your coins. Because he is cheating you, he can take however many he wants!”
- Let the Tax Collector walk around for 2-3 minutes. Have them point to kids and take 2 coins from one person, 4 coins from someone else, etc.
- Make sure the children feel the mild frustration of losing their coins to the “cheater.”
- Call everyone back to the center and have the Tax Collector stand in the middle with the heavy bag of stolen coins.
- Say: “Zacchaeus was a tax collector just like this, except real! He stole real money from real people. Nobody liked him. But then, Zacchaeus met Jesus.”
- Tell the Tax Collector: “Zacchaeus realized he was wrong, and he wanted to fix it. He didn’t just give the money back. He gave back FOUR TIMES as much!”
- Have the Tax Collector walk around and give out handfuls of coins to the people he stole from, making sure they get way more than they started with.
Discussion
Ask: “How did it feel when the Tax Collector took your coins?” (Unfair, made me mad). “How did it feel when he gave you back way more than he took?” (Surprising, happy).
Connection Back to the Bible Story
Explain: “When someone truly meets Jesus, their heart changes. Zacchaeus didn’t have to give the money back; he WANTED to give the money back because Jesus’ love had completely changed him from the inside out.”