Then one day I had a realization. If she can remember the words to songs, shouldn't she be able to learn the words to Bible verses as well? I can't think of anything better for her little brain than scripture, even better than learning her ABC's. So we tried a few, you may remember her video on the Fruits of the Spirit. My husband and I both grow up attending an Awana group (different ones), and even to this day we can both appreciate all of the scripture that we memorized back when we were young.
So with Callie, we've been slowly adding more verses here and there. We made some flashcards together (more for my sake than for hers, since she can't exactly read yet. She just generally wants "the pink one."). :)
I'm nowhere near being a perfect mother and I'm sure I miss so many opportunities to share the Good News with my kids, simply because it's not always at the front of my mind. That's why it's been so great to be able to bounce ideas off of each other moms and imitate each other. So I thought I would share this with you to encourage you to try the same thing with your kids!
Here are the verses we're starting with that seem to encompass the basics we want to teach her. Feel free to use and share!
Memory Verses For Toddlers
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Galations 5:22
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 5:6
You should love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Isaiah 43:5
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31
Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
**Someone asked how I teach this to her (thanks, Erica!), so I thought I would follow-up with an answer just incase anyone else was wondering the same thing. There may be a better way to do it, but what's seemed to work for us is this: I just read it to her, word by word or phrase by phrase, over and over again and have her repeat each word or phrase after me until we go through the whole verse. I'll keep doing this until eventually, she will start saying what comes next before I say it. Then, I will repeat each word/phrase after her and just give her direction if she forgets something. And then eventually, she has learned (mostly) the whole verse by herself. I try to keep it exciting and then we clap and say "yea!" when we're done each time. So far, she knows the first three verses pretty well, and we still have a lot of work to do with the other ones. It's also a great activity for road trips! Hope that helps!
**Someone asked how I teach this to her (thanks, Erica!), so I thought I would follow-up with an answer just incase anyone else was wondering the same thing. There may be a better way to do it, but what's seemed to work for us is this: I just read it to her, word by word or phrase by phrase, over and over again and have her repeat each word or phrase after me until we go through the whole verse. I'll keep doing this until eventually, she will start saying what comes next before I say it. Then, I will repeat each word/phrase after her and just give her direction if she forgets something. And then eventually, she has learned (mostly) the whole verse by herself. I try to keep it exciting and then we clap and say "yea!" when we're done each time. So far, she knows the first three verses pretty well, and we still have a lot of work to do with the other ones. It's also a great activity for road trips! Hope that helps!
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3 comments:
That is a great idea. How do you teach them to her? Do you just read them over and over? Do you put them to music? Does she know any of them yet? Can I quiz her next time I see her? :-)
Have you ever watched Psalty as a child? We had them in my household growing up and they put those verses to song and are very acurate, not changing them much (depending on version). Check them out on youtube!
We love doing this as well! It's so amazing what they can learn at such young ages. I am a huge fan of putting actions along with them, or singing them to a simple tune. My girls enjoy it a lot more that way, and it seems to stick a lot better as well. Steve Green has 2 albums (Hide 'Em in Your Heart) that are purely Bible verses set to music for kids. I have also heard great things about Seeds Family Worship, and after previewing some of their MP3s on Amazon, I think they're quite a bit more 'hip' than Steve's stuff, too. :)
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