I am compiling a list of useful Bible verses to be used with toddlers and pre-schoolers, and will be coming back to this post to update it. If you have more useful Bible verses to add, would be wonderful if you could share them.
I have not been very good in integrating Bible verses into my parenting and interaction with J, but our pastor's wife, Kim, is an inspiration, when it comes to using Bible verses. I will try to memorise these short verses one week at a time, so that it is integrated into my own life. Afterall, we should all lead by example. Please keep us in your prayers that we would be able to be God-centred in our parenting, and not lose sight of what is truly important.
The following suggestions from Virginia Baptist Church may be used during home time or Sunday School activity time or group time. Whenever it is possible, have your Bible open to the verse.
· As the children put the blocks away neatly and quietly, say something like, “The way you are helping reminds me of some words in the Bible.” Read 2 Corinthians 1:24: “We are helpers.”
· Say something like “Be gentle unto all,” (2 Timothy 2:24) or “Do good to all” (Galatians 6:10) when one child mistreats another.
· When children are doing something unkind like pulling at the same book, sing the song, “The Happy Way” which contains the verse “Love one another.” (1 John 4:7)
· A verse containing an abstract word can sometimes be played out. If the word is “love”, ask a child to let you whisper something for him to do to show that you love some person. You might whisper something like “Share a book”, “Pat him on the shoulder,” or “Hug him”. Perhaps some children may think of things to do without being told.
· While examining an item from “God’s beautiful world”, say something like “God causes the grass to grow” (Psalm 147: 8) or while preparing an arrangement of nature things, say something like, “God has made everything beautiful in His time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
· Read a verse from the Bible as part of family worship in the home.
· Sometimes, use a Bible verse as a thank-you prayer for good. “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good” (Psalm 118:29) can be used this way.
· Have 4 pictures displayed. Read a verse from the Bible and let a child find a picture that the words could be about.
· Read a verse from the Bible; let a child find in a book a picture that these words could be about.
· Print a Bible verse at the bottom of a sheet of paper and let the child draw a picture that the verse makes him think of.
· Let preschoolers put Bible verses on gifts for needy or sick people. If the gifts are cans of food, the verses may be pasted on the cans. As the preschoolers work, talk about what the verses say and mean.
· Print Bible verses on greeting cards, valentines, gifts, etc., that the children make. Suggest several appropriate verses, and let each child decide which one he wants on his card.
· Have a Bible verse printed on a place card for each person who will be eating a play-like meal. Read each child’s verse, and then let him pretend to be reading it.
· Read from your Bible a part of a verse and let a child finish it or pretend to be finishing it, if he cannot read yet.
· Have the verses that preschoolers understand shaded in your Bible with a light coloured crayon. Let a child find a verse that is shaded. Read it and then let the child pretend to be reading it. You might want to also have bright coloured ribbons in your Bible at appropriate verses.
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