As they learn about weird ocean creatures kids will love learning about God’s creatures and building their faith in our amazing Creator God!
I know mine all did! In fact, my youngest (who will be graduating as an engineer next year) used to spend hours with his nonfiction animal encyclopedias, a measuring tape, and a journal. He would spread his books out on the floor, measure how long and wide each of God’s creatures was, and take notes on each one. It was an activity he adored.
Your kids will love this puzzle-based Bible study for 8-12 year olds. Grab a sample here!
Weird Ocean Creatures for Kids
I was delighted this week to read a book about God’s amazing ocean creatures that not only teaches kids the facts about five weird (and wonderful) ocean animals, it points to amazing truths about our Creator God that will build your kids’ faith and trust in him.
Wonders of the Ocean Realm is a unique book by Tricia Goyer and Sherri Seligson (Tyndale Kids, 2024). Beautifully illustrated as a travel journal by Vlad Stankovic, your children will love the layout and pictures.
The book tells the stories of five different ocean creatures in exciting narrative that highlights the challenges and dangers to each animal. Your kids will learn about:
- Astrid, the multicolor sea star
- Maximus, the peacock mantis shrimp
- Dexter, the mimic octopus
- Wendell, the humpback whale
- Luna, the deep-sea anglerfish
Each story is exciting, with dangers and challenges for each sea creature. Most of the ocean animals comes into contact with humans in some way. None of the stories are frightening, nor do they overly emphasize the harsh undersea world. Goyer and Seligson did a great job balancing a fun story arc for each animal with teaching for even sensitive animal lovers.
Your kids will learn about each animal’s life cycle, God-given instincts and habits, and environments. The sidebars are full of amazing facts middle grade children will love (I dropped my jaw a couple times!), and they will learn about God’s intentional and special design for each creature.
God’s Creatures | Building Kids’ Faith
My favorite part of the book is the last part of each sea creature’s travel journal. After the story and fact-finding sidebars for each creature, kids will read a roughly six-page devotional. The devotional starts with an overview of the sea animal, focusing on their hidden strengths. Then, it moves into an application for your child, with a biblical focus on a verse. There are about three discussion questions, and a takeaway statement at the end.
For the mantis shrimp (a truly wonderful and weird sea creature), the focus verse is 1 Samuel 16:7:
The Lord does not look and the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
And for the takeaway:
God often uses the least likely people to do great things with our hidden strengths.
Wonders of the Ocean Realm is a fun, unique book that combines several genres–story, nonfiction, and devotional–to give your 8-12 year olds a wonderful, 165-page tour through the marvels of the wild, focusing on God’s creation.
Purchase Wonders of the Ocean Realm by Tricia Goyer and Sherri Seligson
Be sure to grab a copy of this fabulous book for your middle grade creature lovers!
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Puzzle-Based Independent Bible Study for Kids!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2, ESV
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- Observe: They pay attention to what they’re reading.
- Interpret: They figure out what the Bible means in that section.
- Apply: They decide how the truth of God’s Word impacts their life today.
There are a great many truths in life to be found—some interesting, some boring, and some that really matter. You can be the kind of investigator who spends time puzzling out important truth so that you can know all the knowable knowledge that God has given us. That’s right. God, the Creator of the Universe, gave you a great big letter from him to explore and study so that you can discover the truths that really matter to your life!”
Bible Investigators: Creation, (The Good Book Company, 2024), page 7
The Bible Investigators: Creation Bible study for kids, written by Danika Cooley and published by The Good Book Company, is 272-pages of learning, puzzles, and fun activities designed to help your kids become amazing independent Bible investigators–observing, interpreting, and applying God’s Word as they learn what the Bible teaches on a particular subject.
Bible Puzzles for Kids
Middle grade kids, aged 8-12, love puzzles. After all, their brains are just built for figuring things out and memorizing facts. Puzzles are a wonderful way to help kids develop logic skills and retain important information. And, the book is written in a fun, conversational tone your children are sure to love!
What types of puzzles and activities will you find in Bible Investigators?
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- Word Searches
- Crosswords
- Rebus Puzzles
- Dot-to-Dots
- Logic Puzzles
- Missing Letter Puzzles
- Cryptograms
- Word Sudoku
- Mazes
- How-to-Draw Pages
- Matching Pairs
- Word Scrambles
- Journal Pages
Every child is sure to find activities they’ll love!
Elementary-aged kids need hands-on middle grade resources that engage them and equip them to process important truths.
Bible Investigators is the perfect resource to teach your kids about an important biblical doctrine, while helping them apply God’s Word to their lives today.
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