Why Kids Hate Losing Games at Church

I was a new children's pastor leading our summer camp. Now it was the last day of the camp. I had divided the camp into 2 teams and they had been competing all week to earn points for their team through different contests and activities.

And now I was about to announce the "winner" of the week long contest. Both teams leaned in intensely to hear the result.

When I announced the "winning" team, one side of the room jumped up and begin to exclaim their joy for being the winning team.

What I didn't anticipate was the reaction of the "losing" team. They begin to shout out their disappointment with great anguish. Some of the losing team even began crying.

The big takeaway for me was apparent. Kids hate losing games. Even at church. Let's look at why.

Dr Sally Beville, a clinical associate professor of child and family studies at the University of Tennessee, says around age 5, kids start remembering the "rules" for games. Rules are important to kids and it takes all of their mental energy to keep those rules.