Go beyond Bible stories for your kids. Make God’s Word fun and approachable for your family. Find out how!
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Beyond Bible Stories for Kids
When I first was saved in Christ from my sins, my journey to understand God began in Scripture.
I had been raised in the church, and I’d read sections of Scripture, but I’d never read the Bible cover-to-cover. I was convicted that God’s Word was important to know, so I read it–in 88 days. Then, I did it again. In fact, I read the Bible in 3 months every summer for a number of years.
I wanted my kids to know God’s Word well by the time they left home as adults. After all, the Bible is where God speaks to us.
He:
- Tells us who he is
- Tells us who we are and why we need a Savior
- Details his great plan for our salvation
- Outlines the commands for followers of Jesus
The Bible is really, really important. Our kids need to know God’s Word for themselves. We have to go beyond Bible stories for our kids.
Make God’s Word Fun and Approachable
Check out this video, in which I spend time talking about my background in helping parents teach the Bible to their kids, two ways you can make God’s Word fun and approachable, and three objections people run into while deciding to read the Bible with their kids (and the biblical arguments against those objections)!
(Find more videos on teaching the Bible to your kids over at my YouTube channel!)
Two Ways to Approach God’s Words with Kids
God has created our kids individually, with particular personalities, skills, and ways of seeing the world. We can use our understanding of our children to teach them God’s Word in ways they can process and understand it. In fact, my book Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible has a whole section on how to do that! It’s
It’s also helpful to have an open-and-go Bible resource that can guide your time together, like Bible Road Trip™ — your three-year adventure through God’s Word.
Here are two simple ways to make the Bible more fun and accessible for your kids:
1) Read the Bible together consistently and with enthusiasm.
You are a big part of making your child’s time in the Bible fun and exciting.
There’s a big difference between a monotone, tired reading of a chapter of the Bible and an exited narrative reading. Both are valuable, and God’s Word always accomplishes the purpose for which God sends it forth (Isaiah 55:10-11), so on the days when we just muscle through a chapter, God will use that.
But if we can put some enthusiasm into our voices, use a puppet to narrate, or even use different voices for narration, it will catch our children’s attention.
2) Make the Bible fun and approachable by pulling it into your kids’ daily lives.
There are so many ways you can include the Bible in your daily lives, like: crafts, snacks, activities, prayer, conversation, and Bible lapbooks.
God’s Word is an adventure, and by treating it as such, we give our kids the best gift on earth!
Learn more about Help Your Kids Learn & Love the Bible and get your FREE Bible Study Resources here.
Three Objections to Going Beyond Basic Bible Stories
There are three objections to teaching the Bible that I encounter most often. Let’s take a quick look at them:
1) God’s Word is too hard for kids.
The Bible is not too hard for kids. God tells us to share his Word with our children continually. Timothy’s mother and grandmother faithfully shared God’s Word with him from the time he was young. In the Old Testament, children were included in the assembly for the reading of God’s Word.
2) I haven’t read God’s Word or I don’t know how to teach it.
Every time we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit illuminates it for us. It teaches us, corrects us, rebukes us, and fits us for righteousness. We learn alongside our kids.
3) I can’t be consistent in reading God’s Word with my kids.
You just need a strategy and tactics that work. You also need a plan for days you truly can’t show up. After all, the only predictable thing about kids is that they’re unpredictable. You’ll find strategy, tactics, and a plan in Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible. Bible Road Trip™ will help you implement your plan!
God’s Word is just right for our kids. We can go beyond Bible stories and make God’s Word fun and approachable for our kids at the same time!
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible
You want your kids to learn and love the Bible.
You want to teach the Bible…
As parents, we deeply desire the best for our kids. We look for the right schools, we make them eat right and exercise, and we get them involved in extracurricular activities. We take our job as parents seriously.
But are we also putting our time and energy into
teaching them the Bible? Giving them the life-changing, soul-nourishing words of Scripture is not only doable, it’s an essential part of parenting kids for Jesus. And the good news is, studying God’s Word as a family doesn’t have to be difficult!
2 Timothy 2:15, ESV, says:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Our job, as parents who love Jesus, is to help our kids become approved workers, unashamed and rightly handling the word of truth.
The good news? Teaching the Bible isn’t hard. Your family can learn the Bible together.
…and you can!
A Crash Course in Teaching the Bible to Your Kids
Danika Cooley’s book, Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible, will give you the tools and confidence to study the Bible as a family. It will help you identify and overcome your objections and fears, give you a crash course in what the Bible is all about and how to teach it, and provide the guidance you need to set up a family Bible study habit.
You will finish this book feeling encouraged and empowered to initiate and strengthen your child’s relationship with the Lord through His Word.
Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible will equip you with everything you need to know to teach the Bible to your kids!
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