The Books of the Bible Clothespin Game for Kids

Easily memorize the books of the Bible with a fun hands-on activity! This unique books of the Bible clothespin game makes learning the books of the Bible a breeze for kids and teens–perfect for teaching in your Sunday School, children’s ministry, homeschool, or family devotions. For the books of the Bible clothespin game instructions (plus a free printable for the books of the Bible!) scroll down now.

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The books of the Bible

66 is a lot.

So it’s not surprising that people have a hard time remembering the books of the Bible.

Plus, a good third of the books of the Bible have weird names like “Nahum” and “Haggai.”

No wonder kids struggle to learn the books of the Bible.

And the mothers, Sunday School teachers, and children’s church volunteers who are supposed to teach the books of the Bible struggle too.

Learning the books of the Bible doesn’t have to be hard

There are a couple of tricks for teaching kids the books of the Bible.

One is using multi-sensory, hands-on activities like this super-easy books of the Bible bookmark craft for kids. The more your kids get to move and do, the more they’ll remember.

So get your kids’ hands dirty. Get them moving. And you’ll find that it’s remarkably easier to teach them the books of the Bible.

Related Posts:

• 6 Fun Activities for Learning the Books of the Bible
• Books of the Bible Craft for Kids
• FREE Books of the Bible Printable

The books of the Bible clothespin game for kids

In this post, you’ll find instructions for a fun, easy game that will help your kids learn the books of the Bible.

Your kids will enjoy making the simple supplies needed for this game. And they’ll love how tactile and active the actual game is.

And because your kids get the opportunity to physically sort and order the books of the Bible, it’s almost guaranteed that they will find it easier to remember them.

Do you like the idea of teaching the books of the Bible in a way that’s easy, interactive, and fun?

Then you’ll want to play the books of the Bible clothespin game with your kids. 😉

Objectives of the books of the Bible clothespin game

1. Give children the chance to physically handle the “list” of books.
2. Teach kids the categories of the books in the Bible.
3. Help kids learn the order of the books of the Bible.

Bonus: Take some stress off yourself and teach the books of the Bible the EASY way! 😉

Supplies needed for the books of the Bible clothespin game

• Clothespins – Plastic clothespins simply won’t work for this. You definitely want wooden clothespins like these ones for this activity.
• Markers – It’s important that you have very specific colors. To ensure that you have all the colors needed for this activity, I recommend this particular pack of markers.
• Sharpies – You can use a regular black marker, but using a Sharpie makes it easier to write the books of the Bible in clear, dark text.
• Books of the Bible flashcard set – You can make your own from index cards if you’d like, but I highly recommend this set of flashcards from Answers in Genesis. Not only do they have gorgeous full-color illustrations, but the back of each card includes key facts and a summary for each book. They’re not expensive, and they’re totally worth the cost. They’ll be useful for far more than just this activity, and your kids will gather a lot of useful info from the backs of the flashcards.
• Books of the Bible poster – You can find several handy posters online, but I recommend this books of the Bible poster because the books are color-coded by category, which is important for this activity. Plus, it’s free! Click here to get your free books of the Bible printable.
• “Clothesline” – this can simply be a string or a cord strung up between two posts or pinned up on the wall.

Activity prep

You can do this prep yourself. If you have time, though, I encourage you to let your kids color the clothespins. Referencing the books of the Bible poster while they color will help them learn which books go in each category.

1. Print out the books of the Bible poster.

2. Lay out 66 clothespins next to the poster.

3. Pull out markers that correspond to the colors on the poster (teal, fuchsia, yellow, baby blue, light pink, light blue, dark blue, dark pink, dark purple, light purple).

4. Color the clothespins. You don’t have to color the entire clothespin. Simply coloring the tip will be enough.

• Color 5 clothespins teal.
• Color 12 clothespins fuchsia.
• Color 5 clothespins yellow.
• Color 5 clothespins baby blue.
• Color 12 clothespins light pink.
• Color 4 clothespins light blue.
• Color 1 clothespin dark blue.
• Color 13 clothespins dark pink.
• Color 8 clothespins dark purple.
• Color 1 clothespin light purple.

5. Write the books of the Bible on the clothespins. Using the Sharpie, write the book title on the correct colored clothespin.

• Teal – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
• Fuschia – Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
• Yellow – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
• Baby blue – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
• Light pink – Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
• Light blue – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
• Dark blue – Acts
• Dark pink – Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
• Dark purple – Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
• Light purple – Revelation

Books of the Bible clothespin game instructions

Set up the game area

Lay the flashcards out in a random order on one side of the room. Lay the color-coded clothespins in a pile on another side of the room. Hang the “clothesline” on a third side of the room.

Instruct your kids to stand along the fourth wall of the room.

How to play the books of the Bible clothespin game (4 easy steps)

Step 1: Grab a flashcard. You can instruct the kids to go in order (so Genesis would be the first flashcard grabbed). Or, they can grab any card now, and then get the cards in order when they hang them on the clothesline.

Step 2: Grab the correct color-coded clothespin. The child must figure out which category the book he grabbed belongs in, then run to the clothespins and find a clothespin that is the correct category color.

You can choose to leave the books of the Bible poster in sight, for reference. Or, for older kids (or children who are more familiar with the books of the Bible) you can hide the poster and make them categorize from memory.

Step 3: Hang the book flashcard on the “clothesline.” Now, the child must run to the clothesline and hang the flashcard in the correct place using the color-coded clothespin.

Step 4: Run back to the starting wall. If you have multiple children playing, you can do this game like a relay. So when the first child comes back to the starting wall, he should tag the next child, who will then run to the flashcard pile. If you only have one child playing, he may run to the flashcard pile as soon as he’s tagged the starting wall.

The game ends when your children have hung all the books of the Bible on the “clothesline” using the correct color-coded clothespins.

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Variations on the books of the Bible clothespin game

The version of the books of the Bible clothespin game described above will probably work best with elementary-junior high kids. If you can persuade high schoolers to do it, this game will help them plenty as well! 😉

If you have young kids, you can drop from 66 books down to just one Testament (39 for the Old Testament or 27 for the New Testament).

If your kids don’t have a good grasp on the categories yet, you can skip the color-coding at first, and simply focus on hanging the flashcards in the correct order on the “clothesline,” without worrying about which color clothespin is holding which book.

Benefits of the books of the Bible clothespin game

1. Moving from wall to wall will truly help the books of the Bible to stick in your kids’ minds.
2. The color matching will help kids remember how the books are categorized.
3. And hanging the flashcards on the “clothesline” will help kids memorize the order of the books.

There are other benefits, but these 3 are the biggest ones for your kids. The benefit for you is that this is an easy, almost painless way to teach the books of the Bible!

So enjoy doing this activity with your kids. Have fun watching them solidify the books of the Bible in their minds, too.

And revel in the satisfaction that you’ve successfully helped your kids become a little more familiar with God’s precious Word!