There are so many valuable lessons for kids to learn from the Bible. When the message is delivered correctly, kids can benefit from the concepts and morals that the Bible delivers, and those teachings can stay with them for a lifetime.
The challenge, of course, is finding a way to deliver Bible lessons for kids in a way that will engage their young minds and hold their attention. That is always a challenge, whether you are teaching from the Bible or any other source material. It’s not that the kids aren’t interested in learning. Rather, they typically love to learn, but they want the lessons to be presented in a way that is interesting and exciting. When that hurdle is cleared by the teacher, the sky is the limit on what kids can learn and achieve.
If there is only one thing you take away from this article, make sure it’s the value of making lessons interactive when teaching kids about the Bible. When Bible lessons are structured like a college lecture, young children are sure to check out as soon as you get started. Making the experience interactive is the only way you stand a chance to hold their attention and leave a lasting impression.
So, how do you make a Bible lesson interactive? As a starting point for interaction, it’s crucial to ask questions of the kids along the way. If you are the only one talking the whole time, you can be sure their minds are going to wander, and most of your message is going to be lost. Right from the start, include questions and encourage the kids to either just shout out the answer or raise their hands.
Another way to promote involvement is to break the group of kids up into smaller groups. So, if you have twelve kids in a Sunday school class, for example, you could break them up into three groups of four to talk about the lesson and answer a question that you have presented. Of course, the difficulty of these questions and how you have them answered will depend on the age of the kids. Not only does working in groups keep the kids engaged, but it can also serve to foster stronger relationships between the members of the Sunday school.
In addition to keeping things interactive, it’s also important to mix it up from one lesson to the next and even within the lessons. There are many different ways to present biblical lessons to children, so using the same approach time after time is unnecessary and will soon go stale. By switching it up, not only will the kids stay more engaged, but you’ll be more likely to enjoy the teaching process from one Sunday to the next.
Kids today are growing up in a high-tech world, so stepping back in time and using only printed materials is going to feel foreign and perhaps disinteresting. If you want to make a strong connection and deliver the message, you need to meet them on their turf when it comes to technology. This could mean finding YouTube videos that illustrate certain points or even playing some music over a portable speaker.
For older kids, you might even look into activities they can do on a computer or tablet if you have the technology available. This is another great way to meet them on their level and use tools that they are comfortable with and enjoy using. You can think of this approach as bringing down barriers and making it more likely that they will be open to your message. The same information presented in an engaging manner on a screen could get through in a way that just wouldn’t be possible if it was read by a single person standing at the front of the room.
Trying to figure out how to engage children in Bible study? Try using games. Kids love games, and by turning something into a friendly competition, you can grab the attention of young people who might not have been interested otherwise. It takes a little extra effort to craft a game out of your lesson, but that effort will be rewarded when you see how the kids dig in and really start to grab onto the experience.
This is another opportunity to get the kids to work together in teams, as mentioned earlier. Create teams that can work together in an effort to win the game, and they might get so caught up in the competition that they don’t even realize they are learning a valuable Bible lesson at the same time. In addition to the way competition can get people excited and motivated, there are also great teaching points to be pulled out of the team environment. The need to work together, play fair, and be respectful of the other team are all positive lessons that can be added on top of whatever else is being taught during the session.
The Bible can feel a little distant to a child who is still getting to know what it is like to live here on 21st-century Earth. If young people are going to truly grasp what they are being taught, it needs to be in some way translated into terms that make sense within their view of the world. So, representing biblical concepts in the form of their everyday experiences can help you cross that bridge and deliver a message that will be clearly received.
You can apply this line of thinking to virtually any principle or value that is presented in the Bible. Kindness is a great one to start with, and it is a strong theme throughout the Bible in many different areas. Rather than just reading Bible verses (which you can do, of course), you should also talk about examples that relate to the day-to-day experience the kids have in life at this stage. For little kids, something like sharing crayons is an example they can relate to and is a great way to help them understand what it means to be kind.
Asking kids to sit still is like asking them to be quiet; it might work for a little while, but it’s not going to work for long. And that’s okay! Instead of trying to execute a stationary Bible study for kids, it’s better to plan on including movement as part of your lesson plan.
What this movement looks like is going to depend on where you are, what you are teaching, and what kind of space you have available. For example, if there are outdoor grounds at your church’s property, you could plan to take a walk during the middle of the lesson or head to a specific destination outside where the kids can sit and the lesson can be completed. Even in the middle of winter, you could look for ways to move around inside the building to get those wiggles out and help their minds stay engaged.
We understand the challenge that comes with trying to present Bible stories for kids in a memorable manner. To help parents and teachers have more success and more fun in this endeavor, we have created great kids’ Christian music that goes far beyond the standard fare. We also offer a variety of curriculum options to help you get started presenting Bible stories in a new and refreshing light. To check out our music right away, head to Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube. We’d love to have you listen!
