What a beautiful morning in Houston! Curt’s parents arrived from Missouri last night and they’re on a walk with our very happy dog and very happy child. The house is nice and quiet, giving me the perfect chance to check in to Siestaville.
A few days ago I read a comment from one of our siestas asking for some advice. I thought it was too good a topic to get buried in the comments, so I saved it for a post. Check out this question from Kathy Pink Bicycle Arkansas:
Can I ask a favor/help of all my siesta’s? I teach 5th grade Sunday school and for the first time I am having a very difficult time with them learning their verse and bringing their Bibles. I’ve tried bribery, candy, small prizes…..any suggestions? What works for you? Please help. Thanks!
I am just starting to work on a couple of (very simple) verses with Jackson. My friend and co-worker, Jen, started out doing Scripture memory with her son during bathtime. I’ve found that to be a great time too because my little monkey is contained! So I’m also very interested to hear your tips. If you have advice for Scripture memory with big kids or small kids, we’d love to hear it!
I have a little boy about Jackson’s age and he knows about 5 verses from memory. I keep a notecard with the verse on it in the car and we go through them for the first few minutes of our ride. He loves to hear me cheer when he says it. My favorite is the fruit of the spirit because I am probably the only person who can understand what he’s saying!
We are big fans of Awana and my 3 year old often asks, “Mom, what’s our verse this week?”
I don’t think you can miss a beat by using the Steve Green Bible memory tapes. He puts the verses to music and they are very catchy and memorable. Better yet, little ones LOVE THEM in the car.
There’s actually an entire book focusing on this subject, called Teach Them Diligently, by Lou Priolo. It even has some verse reccomendation in the back and the benefits of that specific verse. It’s really helped me.
And there is always Veggie Tales…
Hi Amanda,
I agree with what Sharon Gowen said. Choose a verse for each alphabet. My older daughter goes to a Christian school and last year in Kindergarten, that was their format for teaching the kids Bible Verses. If you need the Bible verses they had selected, let me know and I will send them over.
2. By putting words to music. Make the verse into a song and kids will remember it better. For older kids, you may make a rap out of the verses.
3. Both my girls (6 & 3 year old) are willing to learn Bible verses because they see us (my husband and I) writing out our favorite verses and memorizing it.
Susannah
When my kids were small, I would write Bible verses on index cards and would put them on their bathroom mirrors. Then I would make sure that we worked the Bible verse into our daily conversation and apply to our life situations.
Yolanda asked for the name of a highlighter that won’t bleed through. I use the Bible Dry Highlighter and it is refillable. A friend gave me one and I think she got it at LifeWay.
Cindy
The dinner table works best for us. Everyone goes around and recites.
Game for grade schoolers: “Erase a word.” Write the verse on the board, and erase one word at a time, and replace it with a picture. (Example: draw a crown for king, etc.) Recite the verse again, using the picture to remind you of what the word was. Soon you’ll have a board full of pictures, not words, and the students will have repeated the verse dozens of times.
Another fun grade school game is to have each student say only one word of the verse. One person says, “For,” the next says, “God,” “so,” “loved,” etc. Go around the class until everyone says a word or the verse is done.
For little ones…this makes me tear up because I remember my son saying, “Gah eeesss lah!” for “God is love”-his first verse. I loved Steve Green’s “Hide’em in Your Heart”. When my kids were little, I made verse signs on the computer and added little clip art pictures behind each word. Again, practicing at breakfast or dinner worked best for our family.
Obviously, actions and tunes work wonders, too. For kids and adults alike. 🙂
Oh, and I’ve also used Karyn Henley’s Sword Fighting. Love her ideas!
I agree with those who mention the benefits of singing the verse, but if you’re as musically challenged as I am, you could try some of the memory verse games I use with my second and third grade Sunday School class.
1. Erasing the verse one word at a time is always good.
2. Add-A-Word – For short verses have them say the verse adding one word at a time until they have the whole verse. (i.e. For . . .For God . . For God so . . etc.)
3. Ball Toss- Say the first word of the verse, then toss the ball to a child who adds the second word. It comes back to you for the third, then to a different child for the fourth, etc.
4. If you can’t come up with motions that fit the verse, have them do simple things like clap, stomp or snap on important words in the verse.
5. Ping Pong – Divide the class into two teams and have them each say one word at a time, so that the verse bounces back and forth like a ping pong ball. Can be done several times, gradually making it faster and faster.
6. Pat, Clap, Snap – Start a simple rhythm, like a pat, a clap and two snaps. When the students have the rhythm down, slow down and say the verse with it.
Look in the Christian bookstore for a book with memory verse games. Trust me, I didn’t make a single one of these up myself!
Anne
Put them to music! My daughter started the AWANA program at 3 years old and learned and recited over 60 VERSES her first year!!! We clap, put the verses to beats or music, and it is amazing how well she remembers them! The Awana store has cassettes and cds with the verses on them. http://www.awana.org
I teach 4 & 5 years in Sunday School… I bought a cheap little tape recorder at Wal-Mart… we repeat the verse a couple of times and then they say it together as a class. Then I play it back to them. They LOVE it! Then if time permits I take each child and they say the verse by themselves… when I play it back they guess who is saying the verse. They also love for their parents to hear it when they pick them up. It is fun and it works. Hope this helps.
Kate Joyce
Louisville, KY
One game I devised when I wanted the children to learn verses was to divide the verse into segments. Each segment was placed on a card and handed to a child or group. The children would then have to pay attention to their segment to know when it was needed to complete the verse. They would tape it to the board and reread from beginning to the end of their segment. It not only forced them to pay attention but they also had a great deal of repetition as the verse was put together.
They seemed to enjoy this and each week we continued to add verses while reviewing the previous verse.
Once you have several verses memorized you can divide the class into groups and have them race.
Philosophically I struggled with turning God’s word into a game but my job was to help them get it into their heads. God will move it to their hearts and call the verses to mind when they are needed.
My children have participated in AWANA for many years and I can not tell you how many times one of them will bring to mind a verse that fits a situation. The motivating factor there is fake dollar bills used to purchase goodies from the general store. How is that for godly motivation? Anyway,I am so pleased with the amount of scripture they have learned.
Praise God for His ways.
Hope this helps.
I loved the alphabet idea…
I have Steve Green’s “Hide ‘Em In Your Heart” DVDs that my kids LOVE to watch. The Bible verses are to songs and they are reminded of them often. Or they will just start singing them. We read the Bible story last night of the little children coming to Jesus and I started singing the song they know about that verse. Then they both started singing it. IT was great!
I am all about using music as well. If you go to http://www.bookcloseouts.com (a Canadian book distributor), they have all of the Max Lucado Hermie Scripture CD’s for a great price. (I think they are all $2.49-$3.49 rather than the retail of $6.99. The tunes are original and catchy and the second time through of the songs there are key words left out to promote memorization. They are categorized by “being special, being brave, behaving, etc.” and some of them are repeated on several cd’s but overall are definitely worth it. If you go to the site type in “Hermie cd” and they’ll come up!
I think for the most part everyone agrees that music can be a great tool for memorizing. I have recently help my 9 yr old niece do some “in a hurry” bible verse memory for her youth group (Awanas). She did really well on most of them with just repetition in a rhythmic style chant (much like the song idea but without the music). However, one verse was just stumping her badly so as a hint I would do hand gestures to cue her for the next word/phrase.
Example: Passage Jeremiah 1:9:
9 Then the LORD put out His hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
For “Lord†I would point up,
“put out His hand†= stretch out mine,
“mouth†= point to my mouth, etc.
After the 2nd time me doing this she started doing the hand motions with me then about the 5th time she could say it just fine as long as she did the hand motions.
Some awesome suggestions here! Thanks for sharing.
This is such a great group!
Siestas are awesome!
without a doubt!!!! my FAVORITE are these must haves: “Seeds” CD’s. I am telling you. These are the best. Not cheesy. My hubby and my 3 and 1 year old LOVE these. And I do to!
listen to them here: seedsmusic.com
Enjoy!
Darlene
I agree with singing to memorize! I have even learned verses as an adult by listening to some of the memory song tapes when my girls were young. One story about my now almost 16 year old daughter- I too would teach her Bible verses while I was bathing her- she was only about 2 and 1/2, and she insisted that John 3:16 began, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten soap!”
For Sunday school we use a points system for bringing their bible, knowing their scripture, bringing their homework, coming, bringing offering and then they get to shop with their points-very effective!
Also we do AWANAS-talk about scripture memory! Whew, also it helps my kids to see me memorize scriptures-we all do it as a family and get our scriptures signed off-great fun! We pray the scripture, tell it in story from (context)and look for patterns.
My 5th grade Sunday School teacher (shout out to Ed Stoner) went the bribery route. We got $5 for memorizing the books of the bible $5 for the 10 commandments and $5 for the 23rd Psalm. Guess who memorized all those things!?! Oh, yes, greedy little me.
Some people might frown upon this technique, but here I am 20 years later with all that great stuff still in my brain. I even remember who my 5th grade Sunday School teacher was and how important it must have been to him that I know this stuff 🙂
The biggest thing I have found with any of my kids and scripture understanding or memorization is transferring the passion for the Truth to their hearts.
This may take time, you may not have too many hearts on board in the beginning, but when they get that you are legit they will rise up. Making the spiritual implications come alive is vital.
I love the bath time idea! Christopher’s close to your son’s age. Too bad he can’t even say Jesus yet, but he’s got AMEN down.
Learn how to sign Scripture! I was inspired to learn, really learn Galatians 5:22-23 from “Living Beyond Yourself.” I fine-tuned the signs with the help of a signing friend and this site — http://commtechlab.msu.edu/SITES/ASLWEB/browser.htm — and I keep it fresh by signing it every single day.
This coming Sunday we’ll be teaching it to our congregation of 450 to recap a study in Galatians.
Years ago, at Beth’s suggestion, I began writing scripture I was memorizing on spiral index cards. It became a common occurance for my youngest son, who was about 9 or 10 at the time, to pick up my index cards and quiz me. He would tell me the next word or phrase when I couldn’t remember and he loved it. I loved that he was learning the verses also.
I filled in teaching a preschool class at our churches Christian school right after I finished high school – YEARS ago. One thing this age responded so well to in memorizing scripture was in motions and faces… as in –
a soft answer turns away wrath (whispered kinda loud) but grevious words (making a face) stir up anger (stirring motion)
As I taught older kids and my older grew older we used a lot of music – also used alot of contemporary songs they already knew but didn’t realize were directly out of scripture and expanded on those scriptures. We’ve also madd up our own songs, chants and my kids made up their own “rap” of the books of the Bible to learn them in order.
Last night my girls and their friends memorized several verses together by making up motions and having great phrasing. I left them to it alone and they did it! 🙂
I am using the kid's study books by Kay Krthur and Janna Arndt with my grandchildren every Friday after I pick them up from school. They love it. We started with the book of James, "Boy, Have I Got Problems!†They have a verse a week to learn from the book of James. There are activities for each day of the week. Precepts has other studies for children ages 7-12 depending on their reading skills. I am using it with 9 & 11 year olds. They are memorizing their verses and have races to see who can say it the fastest. I try to slow them down so they really understand what they are saying. Check this program out "Discover 4 Yourself". It is an inductive Bible study.
Karen
Just make it fun. Sing silly songs, dance around, make hand gestures…anything silly they’ll love!
For toddlers … The Veggie Tale Bible … My hubby reads to my boys at night and at the end of each story there is a verse that goes along with the story. My oldest can cite both the verse and the reference to each story. The youngest even has some memorized.
Hubby also takes them on saturday morning dates where they work on other verses. Normally they wind up at chickfila and they will have a biscuit and scripture then play in the play area before coming home … the motivation is the play area
Kids are creative! I got a kick out of watching the different expressions of the memory verse Beth posed this past summer. Let the kids (that are older) create a theatrical something or other to learn verses. A class of 5th graders might enjoy this tremendously.
Janet
I feel as though the Sunday School teacher should be looking to the parents of the children for support and aid. Do we need to bribe the parents! ;>) just kidding!
As far as memory with my kiddos, we do it right before bed. My 3 year old just started Cubbies through the Awana program and I am amazed at how well he does. We say it nightly and by Sunday night he is good to go! 🙂
I pray that it will be hidden away for all 3 of my boys!
When my boys were little, I would say Psalm 91:11-12 over them each night as I tucked them in. Then one night, my two year old said the whole thing by himself!! I was so shocked, because I had not been teaching it to him, but praying it for him. So he memorized it JUST BY HEARING IT EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE.
SAY IT, SAY IT, SAY IT!!
For toddlers … The Veggie Tale Bible … My hubby reads to my boys atnight and at the end of each story there is a verse that goes alongwith the story. My oldest can cite both the verse and the reference to each story. The youngest even has some memorized.
They also do chickfila dates and they go over memory verses while having a biscuit then they play in the play area
I am sure some others have said this but “Hide Em in your Heart by Steve Green is FANTASTIC! One day I decided I was going to teach my daughter “do everything w/o complaining or arguing…” and she sang the song back to me! She had already learned it! There are some funny (early 90’s) DVD’s with the cd’s but the kids love them! A MUST HAVE.
My five year old daughter, Shelby, attends a Christian school and is required to memorize a different scripture each week. I try to work the scripture into a song which makes it easier for Shelby to memorize. This method has worked so well that our three year old, Kailyn, has gotten used to memorizing the scriptures alongside her big Sis. It is my prayer that God’s Word is forever embedded in their hearts.
The best way for me to memorize scripture, even at the age of 23, is putting it to a song. A silly one most times! Most of the scripture I’ve learned, I can still sing you the song. Silly, but helps.
Hence why I love Shane and Shane so much! Most of their songs are flat out scripture! Fabulous!
Also, though, repeating it over and over again out loud helps me.
Grade school kids:
Go back & forth, each saying one word, getting faster every time.
Sing it opera style, western style, any style.
Older kids:
Have them type the verse.
Use music to BRIBE them…new CDs if they memorize a passage!
I teach kindergarten. I have been to many brain-based learning seminars and one of the best ways we learn is through music AND movement. Ex. We never forget how to drive a car, ride a bike, etc. We all remember songs and famous commercials. Good luck! This can be a lot of fun for you too!
Richelle in TN
Try to find scripture put to music. It even works for adults!
Then listen to them over and over. In the car is a great place to listen!!
Oh you guys, this is so good. I co-teach 3rd-5th graders. Memorization is tough. There’s a lot here for us to use. I noticed some of the “tricks” we learned from Child Evangilism in a couple entries.
As for the forgotten Bibles….our classroom has enough Bibles (all the same) so that children who come as visitors will not feel bad they don’t have one and if the kids are struggling with where in the Bible to find a verse….there’s always the page number. We have the little song for book memorization. And they’re really good at it. But they have to sing the whole song to “find” II Timothy. It can take a while. They’re just so darn cute!
Melana in Wyoming
My kids loved the Hide em in your Heart CD’s/DVD’s… they helped me too! There may be something cooler out there now… this was a few years back… but I can’t tell you how many times I can recall all of those scriptures! My kids will still sing them to this day and they are in their teens : )
I write my daughter Lily Kate’s on index cards and we do them at breakfast. She is three. I try to include a picture to help her remember: All we like sheep have gone astray. I drew a sheep and sometimes put it to a little tune.
amy
A great way I have found to teach verses is to teach them the sign language that goes with it. You can get the signs from lifeprint.com They seem to remember the words better with the signs to go with them. They love it too. Also this week we did an activity that worked wonders. Have each child hold a blown up balloon with a word or words on it from the scripture. Each child should hold a balloon. Have them recite the scripture each one reading his/her balloon. After you have gone through it a time or two begin to pop a balloon one at a time. Then have them do the scripture remembering the words from the popped balloon. Then pop another balloon… By the time you have gone over this scripture with each missing balloon, they learn it! It is a little noisy with the popping balloons, but they love that too.
At the risk of sounding sacriligious, my boys have what they call ‘potty verses’.
Since they spend a great deal of time standing before the lesser throne, I post-it note Awana verses on the picture that hangs above the commode. Works for us!
Well I don’t know if this will help but maybe?
Memorize
Personalize
Visualize
Harmonize
Be creative with this. Memorize with the name of the child in the scripture (personalize it at the same time) and then have him/her visualize what that scripture looks like with their name in that verse and how that verse looks to them.
Then, make a cute, fun song of the verse that both Mom and child can sing together and the child’s name is in that verse as they sing. It becomes very personal and meaningful with their name there.
Don’t know if this will work?!
Maybe?
Allison
We have a book that has many different memory verses that are familiar. I can’t remember the name of it. (I would go check, but it’s in her room and she’s asleep!) I’m sure you could find something like it at Lifeway. She is only going to be 3 in December and she knows probably around 10 verses because she memorized the book. I also agree with the comment about helping children/anyone develop a true love for God’s Word. We also try to use Scripture in everyday life. It’s so sweet to hear her repeat something we’ve taught her through the Scripture!
Haley in TN
I am a first grade teacher and work with little ones on learning/memorizing things all the time. I also have experience with 4th and 6th graders so what I’m about to share works no matter how old they are. Research has shown (and I can attest to it) that the more ways a child can be involved in their learning, the better it sticks. Move to it, sing it, make a game out of it…Involve the whole child and the learning part will stick! Let them come up with the motions together and they will invest in it even more. If there isn’t a song, pust the verse to a simple tune (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, etc). How many scriptures do we know because of hymns and contemporary praise songs? And no matter how old your students are, just remind them they aren’t too cool to sing and move. 🙂 Besides, it is LOTS of fun!!
As many others have said…music works
My three children are 4,6 & 8 years old. These are a few things we do.
1. We memorize scripture as a family. We say our verse together after we say our dinner prayer. We write it on a piece of paper and tape it to the wall next to our table. Decoratively speaking, it's not pretty but I like seeing all the verses we've hidden in our heart on the wall. We also recite it after bedtime prayers. There are always opportunities to apply it to real life too.
2. My 8 year old and I have Bible journals (the 5 cent sprial notebooks). And he and I pick a verse to work on. We write it each morning at breakfast in our notebooks until we can write it from memory.
3. We also review scripture in the car, as we are driving. Some are songs, some are w/motions, some are just a 3×5 card taped to the dashboard.
I'm a visual learner so I need to see it. My family just needs the consistency of reading it, saying it and writing it. The simplicity is what makes us do it consistently and that's what's most important to me.
I love this post! It's so helpful! Thanks Amanda!
Shalane
Our church ahs a memory verse program starting at age 2. yes they do learn them then. They grow from there up to grade 5. 52 verses in 5 years. if they learn them they get ribbons and a small book etc depends on the grade etc. Kids who know all verses from age 2 and up to grade 5 and can repeat them get a trophy. learn 6 verses a year the higher grades. Also the ones that know verses for that year and can repeat them without flaw incuding reference get invited to a swim party that summer. LOTss of incentive. We printed out a book with the scriptures in them too. Also have made a tape with them to music which also helps. We also have what is called Bible Bucks if they learn verses, bring bibles. incentives work. have to find out what works with your kids. our one club teacher used candy if they learn their verse and can recite it. God’s word is sweet.
just some ideas.
as for marking bibles I use colored pencils as they do not seem to bleed as bad
The AWANA program has worked for us! It is amazing how much scripture my six year old knows…and I get to learn it right alongside her.