Kids too wiggly to listen to a long Bible story?
TRY THE PLAY WAY.
The secret to helping kids age 2-6 get to know God and the Bible is to help them engage with it in small, play-based and interactive ways.
Instead of sitting and reading a long chunk of text, each day you’ll do one small thing that helps your child get to know the Bible and what it means! You and your child will play, pray, talk and adventure your way through the entire Bible, just a few minutes at a time.
The Bible is clear that our little ones can know the Scripture from early childhood, and that it will make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Isn’t that beautiful?
But the question is, how do we teach our 2- to 6-year-olds the content of this amazing but rather overwhelming book?
Usually, we resort to children’s picture Bibles, right? I love a good children’s picture Bible and have many on my shelf at home, but if all we ever read are picture Bibles, we are missing a whole lot of amazing Scripture that is completely relevant to our toddlers and preschoolers.
When we paraphrase Scripture and blast through a new story every day, we miss out on so many amazing details that can spark their faith and imaginations.
So how do you do it?
You use a book that is essentially a simple, interactive, fun Bible study for little kids!
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Meet the Author: Christie Thomas
My own boys grew up on this book. In fact, when my eldest went to kindergarten at a Christian school, his teacher was surprised at how much more of the Bible he knew and understood than the many other Christian kids she’d taught over the years.
The reason? It wasn’t his supreme intelligence (although I, like most other parents, think my son is quite smart)! Rather, it was our small habit of engaging our sons in God’s Word just a few minutes a day, five days per week.
It wasn’t always easy. They did their fair share of squirming and giving silly answers to serious questions. But we also made incredible memories, week after week.
Our bunk beds became boats and caves, our closet became the tomb where Jesus was buried, and our children experienced the heart-pounding joy of jumping out at their parents and yelling “Jesus is alive” while we pretended to pass out in shock.
The best part is that as they grew, God was embedding his love and words deep into their hearts and minds, allowing each of them to become “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”.
I pray that this little book will help your children to become wise for salvation at an early age, and become strong Christian leaders as a result.
And while that is happening, I hope you have an absolute blast experiencing the joy and wonder of the Bible through little eyes!
🌱 Growing with you, Christie
What Makes This Book Unique?
Here’s what you’ll find inside this book:
1) A single Bible passage per week
Focusing on a single passage each week has many benefits:
- If your child is squirmy one day, you know you have four other days to help them connect!
- You can go deeper into each passage without it feeling overwhelming to you or your child.
- It takes less time each day but adds up to more total time learning that single passage.
- If you want to, you can pair your weekly Sunday School lesson with this book.
2) A variety of learning styles
In general, young children learn through participatory movement and imaginative interaction. To that end, I have incorporated a large array of learning styles into my devotionals. Children will experience God’s Word through art, dance, music, Bible memory, Bible reading, object lessons, and more.
For example, instead of just reading about Joshua and the battle of Jericho, you’re going to pull out your imaginary trumpet and march around the room seven times. (That’s what my kids did with their grandparents, and guess who won’t ever forget that lesson?)
That may sound complicated, but keep reading, because the next point is key.
3) Simple lessons
About 75% of the devotions require no supplies, and those that do only involve accessible items like crayons and paper or stuffed animals. When we use this book as a family, we read it in our child’s bedroom because they contain stuffed animals, which are hugely useful when acting out Bible stories. If you put a little box of crayons and a blank journal on your child’s dresser, you’ll have everything you need for about 99% of the devotions.
None of the devotions require preparation by the parent. They can be done at bedtime, after supper, in a small group setting or one-on-one with the child.
4) A focus on reading from the actual Bible
I know this is daunting, but hear me out!
I wanted preschoolers to learn straight from the Bible, so they would hear the actual Scripture instead of just my paraphrase. While there is a child-friendly paraphrase included in each lesson, most weeks also include having a parent read a short Bible passage.
Usually while this is happening, I have included a small art activity to help children focus. I recommend buying a blank journal that your child can draw in each week. When the journal is full, you will have a beautiful keepsake of your child’s spiritual adventure!