Trying to find materials and ideas for kids Bible study? You’re in the right place!
Over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern among many families: as tiny children, parents teach their kids Bible study skills by reading stories to them and praying together. But, as the kids grow and become school age, many parents stop reading to their children out loud, including reading Bible stories. By the time kids are in middle school, sometimes no one is monitoring the child’s spiritual life as much as when they were little and the child is left floundering. Shame on us!
As parents, it’s up to us to explicitly teach our kids how to study the scriptures, how to delight in and love the Word, how to love the Father and seek out his wisdom. The question is, how do we do that? How do we instill a life-long love for the Lord?
It’s come down to a 1-2 punch! Family-time kids Bible study and individual Bible study. In this post, we’ll cover family-time kids Bible study. Part 2 will cover how to teach your kids to develop their own individual daily Bible study.
Family-time Kids Bible Study
As parents, with all we have going on, we somehow seem to remember to feed the children every day and sometimes we even manage to plan ahead for their meals (score!). Teaching our kids about God and his word is as vital to their spiritual health as feeding them is to their physical! So, long ago, I decided that the best way to make sure I was getting Bible study into my kids everyday was to pair their spiritual nourishment with their physical nourishment. As a result, you guessed it, we do kids Bible study while they eat!
Meal-time Kids Bible Study
Meal times are perfect because your kids are a captive audience. Their mouths are full but their brains are whirling! They are primed and ready to listen and think.
Since we homeschool, all the kids are home at lunchtime year-round. After a morning of schoolwork, they are ready for a break! They usually get chatty around the lunch table, which is ideal for dialoguing about God’s word and how it looks during our day.
Let’s be honest, sometimes by lunch time, too, tempers have flared and bad attitudes have popped up that destroy the household harmony. Lunch time kids’ Bible study is super helpful to refocus our hearts on the true goals for the day. Spiritual training is more important than academic instruction!
What does a Family Kids Bible study time include?
Nothing fancy! Just prayer, Bible study, and scripture memorization. Sometimes we sing a song that goes along with our material, or play a game, or act something out. But more often than not, we just keep it simple and short.
What materials do you use?
We’ve done different kinds of Bible study through the years, ranging from published materials to stuff we’ve made up on our own. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do kids Bible study. The goal is simply to fill them up with God’s truth throughout the day – when you are sitting, walking, getting up, and lying down (Deut. 11:18-19)
some of the Kids Bible studies we have done in the past few years:
- A study of Proverbs
- Fruit of the Spirit
- My Brother’s Keeper (a study of getting along with and loving siblings)
- How to Be a Good Friend
- Virtue Training Bible
- ABC Memory Verses (a focus on scripture memorization and reading for meaning)
- Sailing on the 7 Cs by Dr. Mac (For this one, we learned the song and spent a week or 2 focusing on each attribute. Each week we dug up and examined scripture to support each “C” in the song. Then, we made lists of how to show it in our lives, and kept score if it happened!) Catch the YouTube version of the song and see the lyrics.
- Cold Case Christianity for Kids: Investigate Jesus With a Real Detective
- Memory Verse Chunks (a focus on memorizing larger chunks of scripture such as Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer, parts of Psalm 119)
- Bible character stories coordinated with Ancient History (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome)
- Memory Verse Flip-charts (This is a list of hand-picked, illustrated memory verses)
Some studies, such as our ABC Memory Verses or the kids Bible study coordinated with Ancient History, were designed to last the entire school year. For others, we just started and went at a pace equal to their appetites, and when we finished, we were done!
My goal for lunchtime homeschool kids Bible study time is to keep it short, sweet, and spot-on to whatever is needed in that moment. It lasts only as long as lunch!
READ: Kids Bible Songs: Over 50 Free Illustrated Songs
Develop a Kids Bible Study Time Today!
More than anything, set time aside in your day to get the Word of God into the hearts of your children! “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 11:55) It’s our job to speak God’s truth to our children and God promises that his powerful word will not return empty!
If you currently don’t have any system set up to teach Bible, start first with a family Bible study time. Your kids will see your heart for the Lord when you pray and when you delight in reading his laws together.
If you already have a good family routine going, then focus on helping each child develop a 10-minute personal Bible study quiet time! Model your own quiet time with God, too! Let them see the value of setting aside moments in your day to read the Bible. This is a skill that will bless them for their entire lives, long after they have left your home.
NEXT UP – Part 2: Bible Story Books for Kids – My 10 Minute Quiet Time with God
What are your favorite ways to make kids Bible study happen everyday in your home? Leave a comment below! Or sign up to join me in your teaching & mothering journey.
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