Many hundreds of years ago when men were busy trying to change the Sabbath to Sunday, one of their ways of bringing this change was to make the Sabbath a day people would not like. Then they made Sunday a fun day so the people would like Sunday better than Sabbath. They told the people they should fast every Sabbath, which meant they should not eat on the Sabbath. And then they told them they could eat lots of nice food on Sunday. So people started to hate the Sabbath but they liked Sunday. This was one of the ways how they slowly made people change to keeping Sunday instead of Sabbath.

Now that you have learned about keeping the Seventh-Day Sabbath* (if you haven’t already learned this please read our study on this at https://lightindarkness.site/pocket-studies/the-sabbath-pocket-study/ or scan the QR code), you may be wondering what all you can actually do on Sabbath. The Bible is clear that we are not to do any work (Exodus 20:8-11), or speak our own words, or do our own pleasure (Isaiah 58:13) on the Sabbath. But the same verse that tells us we cannot do worldly things on Sabbath also tells us that we are to “call the sabbath a delight.” (Isaiah 58:13) The Bible tells us we are to see the Sabbath as a very special day and we should enjoy it.

But especially for little children it can be hard for them to find the Sabbath a day of joy if the parents don’t know what good things the children can do on Sabbath. Children will not find it a happy day if they must sit all the day and only read the Bible. But Sabbath is not just for adults. It is also for children. The fourth commandment says the Sabbath is for the son and daughter as well as the servants, animals, and even the strangers that are visiting (Exodus 20:10). But parents must do the right things if their children are going to enjoy Sabbath. If the Sabbath is properly kept it will be a special day for children when they get to spend the time with their parents doing special Sabbath activities.

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A Few Ideas For Making The Sabbath A Delight

• Make a special food on Friday to eat on Sabbath. It doesn’t have to be fancy just something different and special that everyone likes. Maybe it is a dessert they don’t get every day, or a special fruit, or something.

• Read Christian character building, missionary, or Bible stories. For small children have a special book that they can only read on Sabbath. It will make it more special if it is their “special Sabbath book.”

• Spend lots time outside studying God’s creation if you are able. God has lessons we can learn from what He has created (Psalm 19:1; Job 12:7-8). Go for a walk. What animals can you see? What lessons can you learn from the plants or bugs? For example, almost everywhere in the world you can find ants. Find some ants and watch what they are doing with your children. Talk to the children about lessons they can learn from the ants. You can read Proverbs 6:6-8 and Proverbs 30:25 to get a few ideas. Even if you are in town where there are not big animals you will still be able to find small ones like spiders, bees, etc.

• Do missionary work and help others. Sabbath is not just about ourselves. Jesus helped other people on Sabbath. Children (and adults) can make nice little bookmarks or cards with colored paper and Bible promises to give to sick or lonely people. You can go visit and sing Bible songs and pray with sick or lonely people. There are many ways to spend Sabbath sharing Jesus’ love with those around you.

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Some Other Activities For Sabbath

(for Children and Youth)

Diamond Trail

One of my favorite Sabbath activities when I was growing up was called a “Diamond Trail.” It is like a treasure hunt except the clues are found in Bible verses. For some children you can hide something at the end (maybe the dessert for lunch or some special pretty cards with Bible verses or whatever you think the children will like). Or you can just put a paper saying “The End.” Some children enjoy finding the clues and don’t need to find something special at the end. The clues are written on diamond-shaped paper but you can use any shape of paper. Here is an example of how it is done.

• Clue one (you give this paper to the child). The paper says: “2 Corinthians 2:12″
• The child finds 2 Corinthians 2:12 in their Bible. It says, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,“ So now he knows to look at the door for the next clue.
• At the door he finds the next piece of paper that says “Mark 13:28.”  He reads, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:” and then goes to the fig tree for the next clue.
• This goes on for however long you made the diamond trail. 

At the end of this book there is a list of a few common objects with Bible verses for them. But you can find your own Bible texts as well. You can do this activity inside and outside the house.

Special Walks in God’s Creation

Rainbow Walk

As you walk in nature have the children look for things God made for all the colors of the rainbow.

Example:

Red–a red berry

Orange–an orange flower

Yellow– yellow on a bee

Green–green grass

Blue–blue sky or water

Purple–a purple flower

Alphabet Walk

This you can do with older children who can read. The children find something God made that starts with every letter of the alphabet starting with A and ending with Z. If it is too hard you might have to leave out some of the harder letters like X.

Bible Twenty Questions

  The goal of the game is to guess who the Bible person is that the other player has thought of. But you can only ask 20 or less questions and they must be yes or no questions. Whatever player guesses the right person is the next one to think of someone to guess. (You could also do Bible animals or Bible places).

Here is an example:

Person 1 has thought of Daniel.

Person 2 asks: “Is the person in the Old Testament?”[Question 1]

Person 1 answers, “Yes.” (Now everyone knows it is someone in the Old Testament).

Person 3: “Are they a female?” [Question 2]

Person 1: “No!” (Now everyone knows it is a man in the Old Testament)

Person 2: “Was it an evil man?”[Question 3]

Person 1: “No.”  (So now everyone knows it was a good man in the Old Testament).

Person 3: Was he a prophet? [Question 4]

Person 1: “Yes.”

Person 2 “Is it Daniel?” [Question 5]

Person 1: “Yes.”

The questions will keep being asked until someone guesses the name of the right Bible person. In the example Person 2 guessed the name Daniel. Now Person 2 has to think of a Bible person for the people to guess. But if no one guesses the right Bible person and 20 questions have been asked then Person 1 will have to think of another Bible person for the others players to guess.

Bible Scavenger Hunt

Give everyone a list of things they should gather and large bags or baskets to put the things in. After everyone has found everything on the list everyone should meet together. One by one the people should tell about the things they’ve found and what Bible stories they go with and why they chose them.

A Short Example List

• Two things Jesus talked about in His parables (Example of things they might find: rocks, seeds, coin, candle, net)
• One thing to represent a job talked about in the Bible (Example: a staff or rod for a Shepherd; money for a tax collector/publican; a net or toy fish for a fisherman)
• Two things used to represent Jesus in the Bible
• One thing from the story of an Old Testament prophet
• One thing talked about in a miracle of Jesus

Guess Bible Stories

You can draw pictures of Bible stories on a white board or paper, or make pictures in the sand with sticks, rocks and leaves. Then have the other people guess what the Bible story is you made.

What is in the Bag?

Gather a bag full of things ahead of time. Then have each child pull something out of the bag one by one. As they pull it out see how many Bible stories everyone can come up with that have that thing in it.

Example:

Toy lion–Daniel and the lions, Samson and the honey,

Stone–David and Goliath, The stoning of Stephan, Jesus in the tomb

Coin/Money–Lost coin, Joseph puts money in brothers’ sacks, Ananias and Sapphira

Recite Memory Verses

Go around the room with everyone saying a Bible verse until no one can think of anymore Bible verses they have memorized. You can also make this harder by saying a Bible verse that begins with the letters of the alphabet (see below for an example) or starting with Genesis and trying to say a verse for every book of the Bible until Revelation.

Alphabet Example

A “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22 

B “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 

C “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Psalm 143:8 

D “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4 

 … and on with the rest of the alphabet.

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These are just a few ideas to help you get started with making Sabbath a day you and your children will enjoy. There are many things that will help both you and your children to “call the Sabbath a delight.” And if you don’t have any more ideas then ask God to give you His wisdom to create more ideas. He has promised wisdom to all those who ask Him in faith (James 1:5-6).

Remember with God there is “fulness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

Diamond Trail Object List

Bed (Psalm 41:3) 

Bricks (Exodus 5:8)

Bucket (Isaiah 40:15) 

Cart (1 Chronicles 13:7) 

Corn (Psalm 78:24) 

Door (2 Corinthians 2:12)

Ditch (Luke 6:39)

Fig Tree (Mark 13:28) 

Flowers (Song of Solomon 2:12) 

Gate (Psalm 118:20) 

Grass (Mark 6:39) 

Ladder (Genesis 28:12)

Lamp (Proverbs 6:23) 

Olive Tree (Zechariah 4:11)

Oven (Psalm 21:9) 

Pomegranate Tree (1 Samuel 14:2)

Pots (Psalm 81:6) 

Rock (Exodus 33:21) 

Rope/Cords (Isaiah 5:18)

Seat (Job 23:3)

Shoes (Deuteronomy 33:25) 

Stones (Ecclesiastes 3:5)

Stairs (Acts 21:40) 

Stump (Daniel 4:26) 

Table (John 13:28)

Tree (Proverbs 3:18)

Vine (Psalm 80:8) 

Well (Borehole) (John 4:6) 

Wheel (Ezekiel 1:16)

Window (1 Samuel 19:12) 

(c) Light in Darkness