You can play a number of different games with each pack of Testament Trumps.  Having fun is the best way to engage with children and help them to:

1. learn the best known bible heroes, find out when they were alive and who they were related to
2. look for clues to their story in the pictures
3. learn a life lesson from someone who’s been there, seen it and done it
4. Remember important scripture references

Top Trumps – How to play

Bible Trump of Stephen

How To Play: Minimum of 2 players.

1. Shuffle & deal the cards amongst the players
2. Each player puts their cards in a pile & holds them looking at the top card only.
3. The first player reads out any category on their top card (e.g. Courage- 15)
4. The other players read out their card score on the same category & the highest number wins all the cards from that round.
5. The winner places all the top cards at the bottom of their pile, takes control of the game & calls out a category score on their next card.
6. The player with all the cards at the end is the winner.
7. If 2 or more cards share the highest score, these players enter a ‘memory verse round’.  The remaining opponents tell the player to their left the name of the character in their hand & ask them to quote the ‘Memory Verse’ at the bottom of the card.
8. Any of the players who can’t do this lose their card & are out of the memory round. If only one player remains, they win the round, take all the cards & the game continues with all players.
9. If 2 or more players can remember the memory verses, all the cards from that round go into the middle & the remaining players take their next card & play a ‘mini round’.  The next winning player takes all the losing cards & the game commences with all players.
10. Golden Cards are Trump cards & can be played by Any player before the winner of the previous round takes all the cards.  Challenge a winner to accurately remember what is on the Golden Card.  If they get it wrong then the Golden Card player keeps all the winning cards & takes control of the game.  If they get it right, the Golden Card is theirs as well & they keep control of the game.

Lastly, remember you never lose at Testament Trumps because everyone is a winner with God.

Pairs

Adam and Eve would be a pair

1. Shuffle the cards and turn them all upside down on a flat surface (floor, table etc)
2. The first person turns over two cards and tries to find a link between them e.g they are related, they both got angry, appear in the same story, one prophesies about another etc
3. If they find a link, take the two cards away and choose two more – try and find another  link
4. If they are unable to find a link, turn the two cards back over in the same position – it’s the next persons turn
5. Repeat stages 2 and 3 until all the cards are gone or there are no apparent links left
6. Count the cards each player has, the one with the most cards is the winner

Find the Hidden Character

Hidden in each image is a hidden character.  See if you can find it?

1. The Old Testament – Abrahams pet sheep Trojan (he’s a great hider!)
2. The New Testament – The Holy Spirit dove

When did they appear in the bible – The Old Testament

Years BC order Left to right from top

1. Ask the children to put the characters in date order with the oldest character at the top and the youngest character at the bottom – like a family tree.  Use the Years BC category to help.
2. See if they can put the cards into either family groups or story groups as they go – e’g Jacobs will be next to Rachel with Judah and Joseph below or alternatively Ahab and Jezebel will be linked to Elijah and Elisha
3. Look for clues in each picture for things that relate to other characters – Moses as a baby in Miriam’s card for example

Three of the 12 Disciples

Find the Disciple – New Testament

1. Give the children a pack of New Testament Cards and ask them to find the 12 disciples from the pack
2. After a few minutes, check the cards and tell them that each Disciple has a Testament Trumps logo on them – the logos are different colours so they need to look carefully
3. Ask them if they got any of wrong and ask why they thought they were disciples
4. Pick up the cards and read out one memory verse – ask the children which Disciple they think it relates to and to explain why!