How to Teach Kids About the Bible

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How can I teach my child the Bible?

If you’ve wrestled with teaching your kids about God or struggled to find ways to nurture their faith, the Bible Activities Bucket List is for you. We’re big on bucket lists in my home. We make them often and for various occasions, from holidays to milestones and everything in between. Number one on my bucket list is to teach my kids the Bible and how to have vibrant relationships with God.

How do you introduce children to the Bible?
How do you explain God to a 7 year old?
How do I teach my ten year old about God? Or my 5 year old for that matter?

In this article, you’ll learn how to teach the Bible effectively to youth, preschoolers, and toddlers. In addition, I’m giving you free access to the Let’s Talk Bible Study Bible Activities Bucket list (scroll down to download it now)!

The Bible Activities Bucket List is a list full of kid-friendly ways for parents, teachers, mentors, and Sunday school teachers to teach kids about the Bible.

This article was written in partnership with Robbi Bittle of Timeless Mama.
Robbi is a wife and homeschool mom to four sweet blessings from the Lord.
She is on a journey, aiming to grow closer to Christ, be a mama and wife that reflects the light of Christ, and do it as naturally as she can.

How Do You Introduce Children to the Bible?

When we think about kids and the Bible, most of us envision Sunday School. We put the responsibility of teaching kids about the Bible on our church leaders.

I grew up in a church with an awesome kids ministry so I know how impactful (and honestly, how helpful) it is to have a special place for kids in church gatherings. On the flip side, I’ve also realized how easy it is to forget that church is not supposed to be our children’s primary source of biblical teaching. Our homes our.

When God gave Moses Torah and the 10 Commandments, the teachings and instruction that meant to set followers of God apart from the evil ways of the world, He had Moses pass these words on to the people,

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The key to teaching kids about the Bible and God wasn’t to send them to church an hour or two a week. It was to bring God and His teachings into your home and make his instructions the sum of your life.

How do you introduce children to the Bible (God’s instruction)? Simply talk about it. At the dinner table, during family game night, in the morning when you’re getting ready for school and work. While you’re out and about in the community, when you’re getting ready for bed, or wake up in the morning. Make the Bible a normal part of your conversations and reasoning. In that way, you model to children that the Bible isn’t just something we read, but something we live. And don’t worry, we’ve got lots more ideas for how to teach kids the Bible at home. It’s a pretty lengthy list with lots of listed resources so you’ll either want to bookmark this page so you can come back to it OR use the link below to print your own copy.

Download the free Explaining the Bible to A Child pdf (no strings attached)!

How Do You Explain What the Bible Is to A Child?

One thing I love about teaching the Bible to children is that it simplifies things for us too. We get so attached to the complexities of doctrines its nice to lay all that aside and soak in the simplicity of the Bible. What is the Bible for kids?

The Bible is God’s teaching for all who love Him.
The Bible shows us God’s plan for saving people from sin.
The Bible tells us about God’s plan to restore all of creation.

The Bible Is God’s Teachings For All Who Love Him

The Bible serves many purposes but one of the primary reasons God gave us Scripture is so we would have His instructions with us to help us learn right from wrong.

The devil likes to confuse people and tries to make bad things look good so he can keep people trapped in sin.

God doesn’t want us to be confused, deceived, or trapped in sin, so He gave us Scripture (the Bible) to help us know the truth and choose what is right and good.

In His letter to Timothy Paul wrote,

“… from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:15-17

David describes God’s instruction as “a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path…” (see Psalm 119:105) and it’s so valuable to him that he tells God, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” (see Psalm 119:11).

Teaching kids about the Bible starts with teaching them that the Bible is God’s instruction for those who love Him.

The Bible Shows Us God’s Plan for Saving People From Sin

One of my favorite parts of teaching kids about the Bible is getting to describe God as a hero. I know that word gets thrown around a lot but it doesn’t change the facts – God is the hero of my life and the writer of my story. The same is true for our kids. God is the hero of their lives.

We learn in Genesis how destructive sin is. God never wanted people to know or experience sin’s destruction, but when we do things our way and ignore His teachings, that’s what happens. “The wages of sin is death…” (see Romans 6:23).

But God had a plan to save us from the destruction of sin.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christi dies for us.
Romans 5:8

The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Teaching kids about the Bible includes showing them God’s plan to save people from sin and destruction.

The Bible Tells Us About God’s Plan to Restore All of Creation

Sin didn’t just affect people. All of God’s creation was subject to futility (see Romans 8:22).

God doesn’t want to leave the earth and all of his creation subject to futility. He has plans to redeem it all; give eternal life to those who love Him, and create a new heaven and earth, new Jerusalem, and new “home” for all of us.

What’s this new home going to be like?

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, no sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away… Behold, I make all things new.
Revelation 21:4-5

But there shall by no means be anything that defile or causes an abomination of a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Revelation 21:27

One day God is going to judge and remove all the evil in the world, and when He’s done and the evil is gone, He’s going to restore all creation.

How Do I Explain God to A 7 Year Old?

The best advice I can give for explaining God to a 7 year old, or teaching a 10 year old about God or even a 5-year-old; is to keep it simple.

Start with a Bible story.

Maybe you’re wondering, Is it important to teach stories from the Bile to your children? My answer to that question is yes! And here’s why. In human relationships we discern the character of others by observing their actions. We learn about God the same way. The Bible is full of real historical accounts that showcase the nature, character, and sovereignty of God.

We put a lot of emphasis on finding the right words to describe God and his character. The reality is God does a pretty phenomenal job of describing Himself in the Scriptures he left for us. In my experience, when we stray too far from God’s description of Himself, that’s when it gets confusing.

So instead of struggling to find your own words, practice explaining God to kids by sharing Bible stories that teach us about Him.

Creation (Genesis 1-2 and Job chapters 38-40).
Passover & The Great Exodus (found in the book of Exodus)
The Christmas Story at the Beginning of Luke (chapters 1-2).

Once you’ve set the foundation with the actual Bible story, you can reinforce what God teaches about Himself using other Bible storybooks.

12 Incredible Ideas For How to Teach Kids About the Bible and God

Fun is such an amazing learning tool!

Think about the activities your kids enjoy most. Whether they’re adventurous, curious, observant, expressive, or solemn, the things that keep them engaged in learning, they would simply describe as fun.

We want to be able to talk to kids about God in a way that nurtures curiosity, confidence, discussion, application, and relationship. Leading our children towards Jesus while covering all of those bases Jesus requires preparation; similar to the way that missions and ministry do. This mission we’re preparing for is also a spiritual battlefield. The Bible makes it clear who we are battling against.

The Bible tells us that we must put on the full armor of God because we do not fight an enemy of flesh and blood,

“but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:10-17

Our enemy is a lion, seeking to kill, steal, and destroy (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10).

Our kids need truth to guide them.

Our kids need the Bible.

How do we teach the Bible to youth?

In the remainder of this article, you’ll learn 12 teaching strategies and Bible study activities we use to make learning about God and the Bible fun and productive for our kids and their relationship with God. We’ll list the strategies here briefly and in the next sections will guide you through the steps and activities of how to teach the Bible home.

Intentional relationship building
Christ-Centered Media (Music, Movies, Books and AudioBooks)
Fill Their Hearts With What Is Good
Family Bible Time
Cultivate Godly Character
Watch for Teaching Moments
Catechism
Memorize Scripture
Teach Them To Value Church
Pray With Them
Set Memorials
Serve Together

Relationship Building

Relationship building plays a huge page in how to teach kids about the Bible. Kids are observant. They pick up on what we value most by how we interact with them. If we want our kids to know the love of Jesus, in addition to teaching with our words, we need to model it through our actions.

One of the most life-building places in our (Alonda’s) home is our kitchen table. There are so many great ways to love and laugh and build relationships with kids at the kitchen table. Coloring, Storybooks, cooking recipes, board games, laughter. Learning to carve out time for these things shows kids how to prioritize important relationships. The concept of making time to build a relationship with Jesus comes to life.

Bible Activities for Relationship Building:

Coloring is a great activity for all pages. Pinterest has pages upon pages of free coloring sheets and free Bible lessons for kids.
Games! We love Bible Scattergories and Bible Trivia for Kids. I grew up on games like these and the number of laughs we gained as a family is irreplaceable.
Bible Word Searches – my kids and I are working through this one and its so fun!
Bible Crossword Puzzles!
Bible Sleuths! Think “Where’s Waldo” but the Bible edition. My kids and I spend hours looking through these and finding all the pictures. They also have a small blurb on each page that summarizes a Bible story. It’s a really creative way to engage kids and the Bible. They have a New Testament and Old Testament edition. We have both!
Snacks and short stories, hymns, or Bible poems.

How to Teach Kids About the Bible through Books, Music, Movies

Scripture repeatedly warns us to be alert, sober-minded, and not to be ignorant of the enemy’s devices. The devil uses media to try and gain influence over people. We can combat his intentions by introducing our kids to healthy Christ-Centered media. I’ve heard it said,

Diet is not food alone, but music, movies, television, and books.

It’s our responsibility to watch over what we allow to touch our children’s hearts and minds. We must not only set the bar but teach their little heart why we do not want to fill our thoughts with the unlovely, impure, negative “junk food” out there. Jesus said that what is in our hearts comes out (see Luke 6:45 ). Fill their hearts and minds with things that are pure, lovely, positive, and praiseworthy (see Philippians 4:8). The more you normalize the activities on this bucket list the easier setting this standard in your home can become.

Music & Audio For Teaching Kids About Jesus

Seeds Family Worship CDs are songs straight from Scripture (and a great way to help memorize Scripture!). When we cook and clean I put on Christian podcasts or worship music. We often take dance breaks and sing-alongs to our favorite songs while we work. How precious is it to hear a child singing praise to the Lord!
Audio Dramas like Adventures in Oddysey and the Johnathan Park Adventure Series are great to listen to as a family. They are full of adventure and show kids how principles of the Bible can be applied in real life.

Christ-Centered Movies:

RightNow Media has some amazing kids’ shows! If your church has a RightNow Media membership you can likely access those shows for free.
Superbook
The Animated Adventures of Bibleman,
Theo
McGee and Me, and several others
Paws & Tales

Fun books for Teaching Kids about God:

The Arch books
Berenstain Bears. These are great for preschool and up.
The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls
Power Up (my friend Jessie Mattis wrote this book and I can’t recommend it enough! It’s perfect for teaching kids about Holy Spirit.
The Prince Warriors

Have a Bible Time

We use the children’s Bibles for stories and a traditional Bible for Bible study time.

Children’s Bibles are great for teaching the Bible to preschoolers. Our hands-down favorite Children’s Bible is the Jesus Storybook Bible. The author does an incredible job of introducing Bible stories and the lessons that accompany them in a colorful and kid-friendly way. She manages to always pull each story back to God’s desire to bring salvation to people and restoration to creation. I love that!

We want our kids to enjoy reading the Bible, but we also want to acquaint them with the full counsel of God as they grow. For that reason, we don’t limit our kids to the children’s story Bibles. We read together from mine as well. Sometimes that requires me to slow down, read smaller chunks, and even stop to explain important things. Especially if you’re teaching the Bible to toddlers; it’s definitely worth the time it takes.

View our list of Top Children’s Bibles For All Ages here!

Fun Things to Try During Bible Time:

Act out a Bible story! Skits are great Bible story activities that everyone can participate in. There’s something about acting it out that helps the lesson stick.
Get crafty! Crafts are another great way to make Bible lessons stick. Again, Pinterest is a great place to find free Bible activities and fun Bible lessons for kids.
Let the children teach the Bible activity and story! Read the story once together. When you’re done have the kiddo teach you the story in their own words.
Bible Trivia.

Weekly Character Development

The Bible is full of things like the fruit of the Spirit, the armor of God, what love really is, things we are to take off and put on.

Each week we choose one aspect of these things to focus on and talk about.

Our Family Ways is a really great Bible study for kids that is centered around Christ-like love and character.
I’ve heard really great things about this Armor of God for Young Kids study. It includes Bible lessons and Bible story activities and trickles into the conversation of Godly character.
A Child’s Book of Character Building is perfect for the mama who needs something simple yet Christ-centered to teach her kids about character. We loved it so much we added it to our homeschool curriculum.

Learn How to Teach Kids About the Bible Through Everyday Teachable Moments

There are so many things in our world, in nature, and in our everyday lives that offer deep spiritual truths.

Eggs from a friend that has chickens help me teach that no matter the size or color of an egg, the inside is all the same, and God made everyone unique, that He looks at the heart when a man looks at outward appearance.

The garden offers many lessons, how we prepare the soil, how roots are put down, how they must go deep in dry times, how weeds are like sin in our lives…

Baking offers a chance to talk about following a recipe and God’s design for our lives, and how not following God’s design leads to unappealing results.

Watching a cartoon leads to talks about a naughty character’s behavior and how the Lord wants us to act instead.

Cleaning up can be a reminder that all that we do is unto the Lord, our act of worship.

Once you start looking you will find teachable moments everywhere.

Catechisms

Catechisms are questions answered through scripture that teach kids theology. If you’re unfamiliar with catechisms you (and your children) can begin learning through these books:

- Mama Bear Apologetics
- Talking With Your Kids About God
- Talking With Your Kids About Jesus
- Cold-Case Christianity for Kids

Memorize Scripture Together

Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is so important, and children are like sponges!

I (Robbi) used to think that I was horrible at memorization. Turns out it is a skill to be honed, not necessarily a natural talent (though some do have it as a talent!). Some fun ways to encourage scripture memory:

Create scripture memory cards!
Post notes around the house in various places with the week’s verses written out.
Learn how to sign a Bible verse using sign language.
Create a song out of your Bible verse. Putting it to music also helps so much!

Church

Whether you keep your kids with you in church service or send them to enjoy the kid’s class, gathering with other believers is important!

How to Teach Kids About the Bible Using Prayer

Teach your children to talk to God and how to listen for His voice and response. Talk to your kids about the different prayers recorded in the Bible.

Teach them about Jesus and how he prayed. My (Robbi’s) daughter is quite the prayer warrior. Each day we pray together; as the day begins, at various times throughout the day, and at the end of our day,

We use prayer prompts. If we hear sirens we pray for the rescue workers and the people that they are going to help. When we see people working in the heat we pray for them. When we pass a school bus we pray for the children of our nation. When we hear of someone who is sick or has lost a loved one.

We pray when they get hurt or are upset. We talk about poor behavior and pray about how to improve it. When they know that they have done something wrong they will go pray to ask forgiveness.

Set Memorials

Throughout the old testament, God instructs the Israelites to set up memorials of remembrance of what God has done.

We have a jar and we write down special blessings and prayers that God has answered.

Easter and Christmas are intentional times of year to remember what God has done for us. One year I would like to celebrate the feasts of the Bible and share how their symbolic ties to Christ.

This article has a list of fun ways to celebrate Jesus at Christmas.
This article will take you to a fun list of Christ-centered Easter books that give kids the real Easter story.

Serve Together

You do not have to travel to another country to serve the Lord. Our children are still fairly young, but we are trying to teach them that we can, and should, serve God wherever we are. As you’re studying the Bible point out the different time that Jesus and his followers served people. Then find ways you can serve people in your community.

Fun Ways to Serve and Teach Your Kids About the Bible

Put together blessing bags for the homeless.
Write a thank you card for the garbage man.
Cut a neighbor’s lawn. Make a welcome basket for new neighbors.
Visit a lonely neighbor.
Take a meal or two to someone who is sick, lost someone, or had a baby (or organize a meal train).
Take socks to firefighters. My (Robbi’s) sister-in-law is a firefighter and she said that they get a lot of baked goods, but dry socks after a fire are nice.
Serve at a soup kitchen.

GraceBomb.org has tons of inspiring information aimed to help us serve our communities well.

I hope this bucket list of ideas for how to teach the Bible effectively at home has both inspired and challenged you.

What advice would you give someone wondering how to teach kids about the Bible?

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