This adaptation of the game What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf? encourages kids to flee from unrighteousness. You will need a home-free base (such as a blanket) and a large open space where your children can run.

Begin by sitting on the ground with your children standing a “safe” distance from you. The home-free base should be placed about 5-10 metres away from all of you. As your children cautiously approach you, encourage them to ask, “What are you doing today, Mr. Snake?” Playing the part of the “snake,” you reply, “Today I am ________.” (List an action that is either sinful or not sinful).

When the snake calls out an action that is not a sin, the questioning continues. When the snake calls out an action that is a sin, he/she then gets up and chases the others, trying to tag someone before they get to home base. Sample replies that do not involve chasing could be, “Today I am being kind,” “Today I am listening to my parents,” and “Today I am using self-control.” Sample replies requiring the snake to give chase include, “Today I am losing my temper,” “Today I am being selfish,” and “Today I am disobeying my parents!” Give each child a turn as the snake. After playing the game, debrief using the discussion questions.

Questions for discussion

• Why do you think the chaser was called Mr. Snake?
• What animal is Satan sometimes compared to in the Bible?
• How do you think Satan tries to cause you to sin?
• What does the Bible say we are to flee from?
• What should we pursue instead?
•  In the game, you were free from Mr. Snake when you reached home base. What do you think the home-free base could be in real life?
• How do you “run to God” when you need help getting away from sin?

Key concepts

The chaser was called Mr. Snake because Satan is often referred to as a serpent in the Bible. Satan likes to cause people to choose to sin, because that is “his work” (1 John 3:8). Any time we sin, it makes Satan happy and it makes God sad. When Satan is chasing us, God is our “home-free base.” We can run to God in prayer, asking for help any time we are tempted. We can also read the Bible or repeat memory verses. This is what Jesus did when Satan tempted Him to sin. (You will find this story in the self-control lesson, in the Bible story entitled “Jesus fights temptation” (Luke 4:1-13). Close by praying together. Ask God to send His Holy Spirit to help you be wise and strong when Satan is tempting you to sin.

Relevant Scripture

1 Timothy 6:10-12 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

1 John 3:7-10 “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

Revelation 20:1-2 “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”