The "Beatitudes Match Game" is free in English or Spanish at A Kids Heart online. This game presents the first part of the sentences. Children drag and drop the second half of the Beatitudes into the correct fields, finding the perfect matches. Kids can also enjoy free jigsaw and slider Beatitude puzzles at A Kid's Heart.
Kids can enjoy a Beatitudes memory puzzle at Rainbow Castle online. Children read each puzzle piece and simply say the rest of the Beatitude out loud. They then click on the puzzle piece, which will flip over, giving the rest of the sentence and allowing players to see if they were right.
Enrichment activities can get to the heart of a Beatitudes lesson and drive the meaning home. Give each child a cup filled with juice. Ask him to drink it until it is empty and discuss the meaning of "getting empty." Present other empty items to the kids, such as an empty box, an empty bottle and an empty bag. Discuss being empty versus being poor. Jesus states in Beatitudes the importance of being "poor in spirit," meaning being empty, or lost without Jesus. Discuss how being poor or empty is not a bad thing but what Jesus wants and describes in the Beatitudes. Fill the cups up with juice again as an illustration of God filling a heart full of his love.
Instruct children to draw a picture on poster board of what it may have looked like the day Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes. Instruct children to draw eight people, each representing a Beatitude. Ask them to place a number beneath the person representing the Beatitude and match it correctly to the Beatitude list on the back of the poster board. When they present their finished posters, kids can guess which number represents which Beatitude. Those who guess correctly win rewards such as gum or candy.
For younger children, coloring Beatitude pages, dot-to-dots and word searches are always hits. Children always enjoy coloring Jesus as he preaches to his disciples. You can find and print coloring pages at various online websites. A Kid's Heart offers a free word search for printing.
Divide kids into two teams. Give both teams the first Beatitude with important words left out. Choose an age-appropriate amount of time to allow the children to fill in the blanks. When a team fills in all the blanks, turn off the timer. If the timer goes off without a team filling in the blanks, move on to the second sentence. The team with the most correct sentences wins.