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The Banana Game

The inspiration for this game came from the Attention Grabber (Old Monkey) of Lesson 7 :: Hands-On Bible Curriculum :: Grades 1 & 2, Fall 2006 

This game is great fun. When I played this game with the children (Primary 1) in my Sunday School class, they enjoyed it so much that they want to play it again.

This game can be used to teach kids about kindness ... that we have a choice to be kind even when people are mean to us. The object of this game is to get three bananas of the SAME colour and not to have a monkey!
INTRODUCE THE BANANA GAME
  • Game Pieces - Introduce one stack of cards: 4 different coloured bananas + 1 monkey. Each stack is a horizontal row (of the Game Sheet) ... cut up and stapled together (see full-size Game Sheet). 

Bananas are of EIGHT different colours:
red, green, blue, yellow, black, white, purple and brown. 

  • Game Objective - To obtain three bananas of the same colour and not to have a monkey. The first one to accomplish this goal must shout "Ba-na-na-na!"  Have the children practise shouting "Ba-na-na-na!" 

    Suggested (minimum) number of players: 10 children. Distribute one stack of (5) cards per child.
  • Game Play - To play the game, ask another player for a banana that is a colour you want (i.e., one that is the same colour as one of your coloured bananas).

    e.g., Ask, "May I have a RED banana?" 
If you are the other player then you may respond in one of the following ways (depending on what you have in your hands) ...
  1. If you have a red banana + monkey
    then give either one; it is your choice.
  2. If you have a red banana + no monkey
    then you MUST give the red banana to the person.
  3. If you DON'T have a red banana
    then say, "Sorry! Go climb a tree."
Then it is the other person's turn to ask; you can ask for any coloured banana but NOT the same colour as the one you had just given away.
Note: If the children are shy then you may want to stipulate an additional rule: "You cannot ask the same person again and again. Ask one or two other (different) persons before you can ask the same person again."

For (3) above, the requestor (the child who asked for the red banana) then has to go and high five a designated adult ... that is climb a "pretend" tree. After which, the adult will give you (the child) a card of his (adult's) choice.
Play the Banana Game - Play the game until there are several children who had achieved the goal. Prepare a small snack/toy for each of the winners.

DEBRIEF: Ask the children
  1. Who has no monkey?
  2. Why did you give away your monkey?
  3. How many of you have more than one monkey?
  4. How do you feel when your friend gave you a monkey?
  5. How do you feel when someone is mean to you (e.g., pushes you)? 
  6. What do you feel like doing?
    Cry, shout at him, push back, etc
    But God tells us to be kind to each other (Eph 4:32) – memory verse
    Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute (hurt) you." 
  7. Explain that they always have a choice as to what to do.
    And with God's help, they can do the right thing. 
  8. How many of you have 2, 3, 4 monkeys? 
  9. Why didn’t you give away your monkeys?
    Note: You may want to award a prize to the one who did not give away any monkey because "it is NOT nice to give a monkey to others".

© July 2007; Revised March 2016 by Alan S.L. Wong