Recommended For: Stage Game with 2-4 Contestants + Crowd Participation
🧩 Game Objective:
Kids race across the stage riding inflatable donkeys (or stick horses), while the crowd waves palm branches (pool noodles) and freezes when the music stops. First to the finish line wins!
📝 You’ll Need:
• Start and finish line (tape, cones, or clear markers)
• Optional: Crown or prize for the winner
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🎤 How to Play:
1. Choose your racers! Select 2 to 4 kids to be your riders. Explain that they’ll be racing across the stage on their donkeys, just like Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
2. Get the crowd involved! Give every kid in the audience a pool noodle to use as a palm branch. Let them know they’ll wave their “branches” when the music plays and freeze like statues when it stops.
3. Start the race! When the music starts, racers hop or run across the stage on their donkeys while the crowd waves their pool noodle branches and cheers them on.
4. Freeze time! Randomly pause the music. When the music stops: • Racers must freeze in place (no moving forward) • The crowd must freeze too – no more waving branches! Anyone who moves gets a playful warning or has to take a small step back!
5. Resume the fun! Start the music again and keep going. Do this several times until one rider crosses the finish line.
6. Celebrate the winner! Give a cheer and optional crown or prize to the winner. Remind the kids: “On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem as a King — but He came humbly, riding on a donkey!”
🗣️ Stage Host Tips:
• Use lots of energy and enthusiasm to hype up the crowd.
• Use phrases like: “Wave those palm branches!” “FREEZE!” “He’s riding like the King is coming!”
• Emphasize the message: Jesus didn’t ride a war horse — He rode a donkey to show His peace and humility.
