How to Get Your Child Excited About the Bible (Even When They Don’t Like to Read)

If your child doesn’t like to read there are still some great solutions for getting them excited about the Bible! I cover five of them in this post!

My first two children are voracious readers….but my third born (who is 8) would rather play sports or watch a football game. He wrestles with books: pronunciation and reading aloud are two of his biggest struggles.

I want all my kids enjoy the gift of reading, especially the Bible! But yet I don’t want it to seem like a chore. 

If you’ve got a child like mine you may wonder the same–how to get them excited about God’s Word if they’re not fond of reading. 

Here’s how to encourage your kids to see Bible reading as a delight instead of something to avoid. 

Get them engaged with unique “presentation” of the Bible!

One day on Amazon, two Bible Infographics books popped up in my “suggested items”. 

Infographics are short on words, and a very visual way to grasp information, which is great for kids who learn that way (but really fun for everyone!).  

These books are published by Harvest House and currently there are two volumes.

The first is a general overview of Old and New Testaments. The second is topical (angels and demons–don’t worry, no scary pics!, heroes and villains, feats of God and failures of men, etc). 

Here are some pics of the inside, there’s even a fun board game that you can play in the middle:

Bible Infographics help your kids experience Scripture using a combination of fun facts and really engaging visuals!

My 8 year old absolutely LOVES these! As do my other children, but for him it’s most important to have these books. Then when we read for family devotions or he needs to read verses for school, he relates better because he’s previously been exposed to these fun truths in Bible Infographics!

>>> Find them on Amazon: Click for Volume 1 and Volume 2

**Prefer not to shop Amazon? You can find these books at Christian Book Distributors online! Just click the links below:

Bible Infographics for Kids: Giants, Ninja Skills, a Talking Donkey, and What’s the Deal with the Tabernacle

Bible Infographics for Kids, Volume 2: Light and Dark, Heroes and Villains, and Mind-Blowing Bible Facts

Drawing through the Bible.

I am not artistic but my son who doesn’t like to read actually does enjoy drawing! 

Try choosing a Bible story and reading it out loud to your child and then have them draw a picture representing the story (you can definitely help!).

Examples would be drawing fruit for Galatians 5:22-23 (Fruit of the Spirit), drawing sheep and a shepherd for Psalm 23, drawing Jesus and his disciples eating at the Last Supper, or painting a picture of Joseph and his colorful coat after reading the story in Genesis.

Need inspiration? Susan Evans has a whole set of free lessons for 31 Days of Drawing Through the Bible, over on her blog! 

Act out Bible stories. 

My kids have done this many times before, but I can’t find a picture of it to show you! But you get the idea: choose a Biblical account and read it to your kids, then encourage them to act it out. Have fun with this!

If you want, you can write out a few lines from the story to have your child read as they act out the story (make it brief for the child who doesn’t care to read aloud). Or maybe one of your other kids can act as the narrator to take the pressure off.

Watch some great Christian kids’ videos about Bible stories.

Obviously, we don’t want to replace reading with TV. But this is what we do is reward diligent efforts at reading, in order to reinforce what the kids have learned about the Bible.

For example we’ll read the Bible passage together (in our Jesus Storybook Bible or ESV Following Jesus Bible) about Joshua and Jericho in Joshua chapter 6. I’ll have my struggling reader read a few sentences and then I’ll read the rest. Then we watch the 5 Minute Family Devotion on Minno Kids about “Heroes of the Bible: Joshua”.

If you haven’t heard of it, Minno Kids is a streaming service for Christian families with videos, TV shows, and devotions that will point them to God and His Word! Super engaging and they teach so much biblical truth to equip your kids for a stronger faith!

You can try it free for 7 days!

You can read all about how our family uses Minno Kids by clicking here or just start your 7 day free trial right now!

Answer their big questions about faith and God and find books to help.

Does your child ask a lot of questions? Around ages 5-9, kids tend to be asking a ton of questions about faith-related things. I think this is a great time of life to capitalize on their curiosity and instill a love for God’s Word in your child!

Use the concept of “strewing” to get your kids excited about reading the Bible or Bible-based materials in connection with all their questions.

Strewing basically means the method of leaving books out in different places around the house to encourage learning about topics that pique your kids’ interest. (I learned about the concept in this post). 

Here’s what you do to encourage your kids in their quest for learning about the things of God!

• Put a picture Bible storybook (these are our favorite Bible storybooks for kids) on their bedside table.
• Put the Bible infographics books I mentioned earlier in a basket on the coffee table or on your kitchen table!
• Stick a couple of Bible stories or activity books in the pocket on the back of the driver’s seat of your car, within your child’s reach!
• Set a Bible-based book or picture Bible on top of their bed during quiet time (here’s how we do daily quiet time with older kids).
• Use Bible reading plans – read with them in this case and slowly encourage independent reading. I’ve created some kid-friendly Bible reading plans that you can find in our shop! 

One more thought on this topic:

If your kids have a question about faith, and you don’t quite know the answer yet, I’d encourage you to say, “let me find out about that for you!” and ask a trusted pastor or friend for the answer (don’t just Google it–you may not find a Biblically accurate answer!).

If you do want to do an internet search, try going to Bible Gateway and typing in a topic or keyword, and then read the commentaries on the verses. I would also suggest The Awesome Book of Bible Answers for Kids by Josh McDowell.

The point of “strewing” and answering your kids’ big questions with Biblical answers is to get them in the mindset of going to God’s Word when they need help understanding the Lord or things in life that concern them!

I hope these tips will help you get your child excited about the Bible even if they don’t always like to read!