A Reformation Day Scavenger Hunt
If you would like to teach your kids more about the Reformation, try this scavenger hunt activity on October 31st.
For several years now, our family has celebrated Reformation Day. Our family doesn’t celebrate Halloween, and as Protestant Christians, Reformation Day (October 31) has become a fun tradition for us in the month of October instead.
Over the years, we have done different Reformation Day crafts, various foods and snack, and read alot of great books - so many fun things that I am sure I will get around to sharing here eventually. While we could do the same things each year and my kids would be perfectly happy, I like to change things up a little to keep the day interesting for them.
I haven’t come up with fresh ideas for Reformation Day for this year yet, so instead I’ll share what we did last year to mark the day. This whole idea came together in just 24 hours. The night before Reformation Day, I locked myself in my room and threw together a spur-of-the-moment plan.
I had been mulling over our options all day, and the idea for this scavenger hunt just came to me. Everything in this post I threw together in an hour, and I was a little unsure if it would come together, but my kids loved it and it also led to some good conversations about theology and the gospel.
Organizing The Scavenger Hunt
For this scavenger hunt, I hid a series of clues that when put together spell out the word "REFORMATION". On each slip of paper I wrote a household scavenger hunt clue adapted from this website, but any household clue hints will do! Hints led the kids from clue to clue, but in between searching for each clue we would pause and do activities related to the corresponding letter in the acronym REFORMATION.
The activités for each letter of the acronym are listed below. I also created a printable of all this information which you can download below, but keep in mind you may want to get all the links opened in your browser ahead of time so you have them ready before your kids start finding the clues.
Resources You Will Need
1. Reformation ABCs. In addition to the printables above, you will need the book Reformation ABCs by Stephen Nichols. I centered the scavenger around this book and you will need to read the corresponding pages in the book for several of the acronym letters. If you are willing to put a little work in to research some of these topics yourself, you could make do without buying the book, but it is a fun one to have around!
2. Optional: Another book or video about Martin Luther. For another book option, you can also get a book about Martin Luther to read to your kids so they have more background information about this central figure of the Reformation. We read this Martin Luther pop-up book, because I think it is a great one to introduce Luther and the Reformation to my littler kids in a way they can more easily understand. You may also consider watching the Torchlighters Martin Luther episode, which is a great introduction for kids!
3. Optional: Printed Music For Hymns. I included three hymn options in this scavenger hunt, and I have the lyrics included in the printable I created, but it's sometimes nice to have the sheet music. I recommend downloading "Hymns To The Living God", which is a free hymnal from G3. All three of the hymns are included, and you can print out the corresponding pages by referencing the index at the end of the hymnal. You'll need:
-A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
-O Worship The King
-O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing
4. My Reformation Day Scavenger Hunt Printable. This document includes all the information below which you can print as your parent "cheat sheet", the REFORMATION acronym that you can cut into strips and hide for the clues, and lyric sheets for the hymns.
5. Optional: Supplies for the fortress craft. I was excited to find this great craft (originally recommended to me in this blog post). You'll want to get the supplies for that ready ahead of time if you choose to use it. One significant item is toilet paper rolls, so start collecting those before Reformation Day!
6. Candy or another easy snack reward. To keep my kids excited about the scavenger hunt, I built in some small snack moments. We used candy, because why not, but any quick snack food will do!
7. Dirt/worm pudding, or another Reformation Day treat. There are lots of ideas out there, but worm pudding is a favorite of our family! You could also do marshmallow hammers, or door-shaped cookies, etc. This is a fun final reward to wrap up the scavenger hunt!
All the rest of the information for the scavenger hunt is included below, or once again, you can download the printable that includes all this information here!
R is for the Rhine River
-Read “R is for Rhine River” from Reformation ABCs.
-Locate the Rhine River in an atlas and see which countries it runs through.
-Eat one candy from the reward bowl!
E is for Erasmus
-Read this: Erasmus published a version of the New Testament translated into Greek and Latin directly from old manuscripts, because of a movement called “ad fontes”, which means “back to the sources”. This was an idea popular at the time of Luther - many thought to get the most accurate information, they should go as close to the original source as possible, especially regarding ancient documents. This movement eventually led to the reformers searching for the truth about what was going on in the church by going back to THE source - God’s Word! Erasmus unintentionally influenced Luther and the Reformation.
F is for Fortress
-Luther wrote the great hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”. Let’s do a fortress craft together! Younger kids may also enjoy this coloring sheet.
-Read Psalm 46 and talk about how God is our fortress in times of trouble.
O is for Oxford Martyrs
-Read “O is For Oxford Martyrs” from Reformation ABCs.
-Read Acts 5, and take note of Acts 5:41. Why do you think the disciples, and later on the Reformers, rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus?
R is for Reformation
-Look up the word "Reformation" in the Websters 1828 dictionary.
-Now read about the Five Solas of the Reformation on Got Questions.org. How did the Five Solas address different problems in the Roman Catholic Church?
-Luther hoped to reform the Catholic Church and bring it back to God’s Word. Was he successful? Do you think there are any things in Christian churches today that need “reformation” to be more in line with God’s word?
-Eat a candy from the reward bowl!
M is for Martin Luther
-Read “M is for Martin The Monk” from Reformation ABCs.
-Optional: Read another book about Martin Luther or watch this Torchlighters Martin Luther episode.
-Eat a candy from the bowl!
A is for “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
-Let’s sing Luther’s great hymn!
-Eat a candy from the reward bowl!
T is for Tyndale
-Read “T is for Tyndale” from Reformation ABCs
-Eat a candy from the bowl!
I is for Indulgences
-Read “I is for Indulgences” from Reformation ABCs.
-One of the major complaints Luther had for the Catholic Church was regarding indulgences. He rightly thought it was disgraceful that the clergy were telling the people they could purchase a proverbial “ticket to Heaven” (ie: less time in Purgatory) with money. Read the Five Solas again if necessary, and discuss the what the gospel is. How are we truly forgiven and saved? In light of that, can you see why indulgences were such a terrible distortion of the true gospel?
O is for “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing” or “O Worship The King”
-Let’s sing one (or both) of these hymns together!
-Read about some of the ways that Luther changed church music (scroll down to where it says “Church Music”). Talk about how we have some wonderful hymns, like the one we just sang, because of the reforms Luther made in music.
-Watch a video about how Luther changed the way we sing in church.
N is for “No Other”
-One of the greatest moments of the Reformation was the Diet Of Worms, when Luther declared:
I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.
Let’s discuss that quote - what did Luther mean when he said “Here I stand, I can do no other?” (As some versions of the quote are rendered). What was he standing on?
-Read the “B is for Bible” page of Reformation ABC’s. How is the Bible like a treasure map? And what (or who) is the great treasure it’s meant to lead us to?
-Let’s pray and thank God for His word, for how the Reformers bravely stood on the Word of God and recovered the gospel. And let’s thank God for saving us by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone!
-Finish up with our Diet Of Worms treat (or other special Reformation-themed snack)!
You can download a printable with all this information here. You could even spread this scavenger hunt out over the week before Reformation Day, or anytime you want to study the Reformation with your kids! Come back here and let me know how it goes.
This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing, Callie!
I love this idea, Callie! I'd like to do this with my kids this year!