The Simplest Method for Teaching the Bible to Young Children

“Hurry up, get ready for bed!”

“We’re in a hurry, we don’t have time!”

“Just sit here a minute while I feed your baby sister!”

Any of those exasperated statements get thrown around in your house, or is it just me? ;)

When you have little kids, you’re usually in a hurry for something. And then you get to the end of the day and you realize that, even though you’ve been rushing and busy, that you haven’t even found the time to do something you know you should be doing with your little ones: reading the Bible.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post on how to start family devotions: we’re still using those principles and ideas I shared to this day!

Yet since that time, our lives have become even busier. We added one more child and our older two are now doing school and getting involved in outside activities as well. During the winter and spring, I coach a local speech team. My husband has two churches.

So with even more hectic days and a baby who keeps us on our toes {in a good way} and a busy three year old, this time in our lives calls for a very simple method for teaching the Bible, especially when we only have a few minutes to start.

Simple doesn’t mean that it’s “taking the easy way out” or “not profitable.”

And it also doesn’t mean that you’ll never take more than a few minutes to teach your kids the Bible. You should make that your eventual goal!

Rather, this method provides a consistent, basic routine for devotions that is done in the same manner each day. Everyone knows what to expect, so it fits nicely into your lives. And it works so well for us right now!

Meanwhile, the rest of our day? Not as routine as it should be. I’m still getting back into the swing of things and finding out how our schedule can best work with the addition of baby Lydia! Maybe I’ll write a post on THAT someday–if I ever get it figured out! ;)

So here it is. What I like to call the simplest method for teaching the Bible to your young children. This is especially benefical with a mix of ages.

Read the Psalms and Proverbs

Gather the family at the breakfast table each morning, about 30-45 minutes before you want to begin your day’s routine, whether that involves school or just daily life.
Pull out your Bible and have the kids do so too. My 3 year old just likes to hold a Bible or a devotional book and he loves to be a part of it!
From here, you can take devotions in two directions: Read one Proverb each day or read one Psalm each day. You can split the psalms into two parts if it is a longer one (Psalm 119 would be an example).
Let any children who can read join in as well, read it together in tandem or have one person read out loud the entire passage.
Have a short discussion! Sometimes we like to focus on one or two verses of the Proverb and say “what does it mean when it says….” or “what can we learn about God from this verse?”, etc.

How to Have Successful Bible Reading Time with Your Kids:

Be prepared by writing out which Psalm you’ll do on which day. For Proverbs, this is easier, since there are 31 of them, so you can read one each day of most months!

Look ahead and read them yourself before reading them with your kids. There are a few verses in certain Proverbs that might be a bit mature for younger children, so you can choose beforehand how to handle those topics :)

When you get done with your chosen book of the Bible, repeat! Or switch to the other one and so on. Over time, as you go through these passages over and over again throughout the year, you will see a variety of truths that jump out at you from Scripture. That’s the beauty of God’s Word–there is always something to learn and notice!

TIP: Don’t expect perfection–just get started! Don’t feel like a failure if it doesn’t go well right away. Work on establishing this routine and it will give way to other times where you can pick up a great Bible storybook or listen to Bible songs to add to teaching your little ones the word of God!