Divide children into teams and have them stand in single file lines. Give each team a ping-pong ball (representing the paralyzed man) and a small pillow. Set the ball in the center of the pillow. On “Go” the first child in each line must pass the pillow between his legs to the person behind him. The children continue to pass the pillow in this way until it reaches the end of the line. It is then returned to the front by passing over the children’s heads to the person in front of them. If the ball drops, the team must start over. The first team to get the “man” back to the front wins. Remind children that the paralyzed man’s friends carried him to Jesus to be healed.

Have children link arms with a partner. Choose one pair to disconnect. One of the “disconnected” kids is “It” and tries to tag the other child. To avoid being tagged, the runner can link onto one of the connected pairs. When he links onto a pair, the child on the opposite side of the link is now the runner. If a child is tagged, she becomes “It.” If the leader calls “Find a new friend,” all pairs must break apart and make new pairs. Anytime the children are not connected, they can be tagged and become “It.” Remind children that the paralyzed man had friends who brought him to Jesus. Continue play as time allows.

Divide children into teams and have them stand in single file lines. Give each team a ping-pong ball (representing the paralyzed man) and a small pillow. Set the ball in the center of the pillow. On “Go” the first child in each line must pass the pillow between his legs to the person behind him. The children continue to pass the pillow in this way until it reaches the end of the line. It is then returned to the front by passing over the children’s heads to the person in front of them. If the ball drops, the team must start over. The first team to get the “man” back to the front wins. Remind children that the paralyzed man’s friends carried him to Jesus to be healed.

Divide children into teams of six or less and give each team two shoeboxes. On “Go” the first person on each team slips his feet into the boxes, walks to the other side of the room, then returns to his team to give the boxes to the next person. The first team to race all their members wins. Remind children that the ability to walk is a gift and that the paralyzed man struggled to get around.