A couple of years ago, when my oldest daughter was just 2 years of age, I was amazed to realize that she could recite the words to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. At the time, these were her two favorite books. Simply hearing me read the books aloud numerous times was enough repetition for her to commit their words to memory.
At this same time, I was trying to help her memorize a couple of Bible verses. She was having a difficult time memorizing these, even when we set them to music or made hand motions to go with them. When I realized that she had the books memorized but was struggling to memorize the verses, I decided that she needed a book of Bible verses. I couldn’t find one that was similar to what I had in mind, so I made one!
(Click on the image to view and download a printable copy of the book.)
This book, A Simple Book of Big Truths for Little Ones, really is simple. Each page contains a Bible verse and a clipart image that relates to the verse (longer verses are spread between two pages). We read through it every night before bed. My oldest child, who is now 4 years of age, has memorized all of the verses in it! My 2-year-old can recite a couple of the verses in their entirety and she knows portions of the rest of the verses. My newborn isn’t saying anything yet, of course, but I’m excited to see her pick up these verses as I continue reviewing them with the older girls!
There is a limit to how much we can read before bed each night, so I’ve labeled this book as Volume 1. I’ve already begun making pages for a Volume 2. I’ll continue making new volumes as long as this approach works for my girls. I’ve know most of the verses I’ve put into these volumes, but there have been a few that I didn’t have memorized. I’ve been able to learn these right alongside my kids. Isn’t that awesome?
I want to share the book with you because many of you will appreciate having a tool like this. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to use, yet it is effective for helping kids memorize Scripture verses. Please feel free to print off and use a copy with your family! In order to make the pages last, I placed ours in a scrapbook that holds 8.5 x 11 in. pages. You could also place the pages in sheet protectors and put them in a 3-ring binder.
Whatever you do, please keep the copyright page with the book pages. As you likely know, most versions of the Bible are copyrighted. This means that you can’t use verses from them whenever and however you want. You have to adhere to the use guidelines put forth by the copyright holders. I was very careful to make sure I used verses from a public domain version of the Bible or that I adhered to the gratis use guidelines for other versions (if you prefer the KJV, then please see the note at the end of this post). In order to remain compliant with these guidelines, the copyright page needs to be kept with the pages of the book. I also ask that you respect the time and effort I put into creating this resource by not making any changes to it or distributing it without my permission. Likewise, please do not save copies of the book anywhere except on your personal computer and refer others to this page if you want to share copies with them. Thanks for having integrity in how you use the book!
As you can see from these pictures, we aren’t very formal when we read the book. However, it is working! The truths contained in the Bible are taking root in the hearts of my kids. I love this and I love that they are having fun as it happens. I hope and pray that your family benefits from this book as much as we have!
How do you help your kids memorize Bible verses? What tools have benefited your family?
2019 Update: I now have a second version of this book available. It contains Bible verses from the KJV. Click here to view and download it.
Shared at the following:
Busy Monday, Thursday Favorite Things, Encouraging Hearts and Home, Tuesdays with a Twist, What’d You Do This Weekend? and Over the Moon.
This is just beautiful. What a simple way to help children remember these truths! Having a simple visual like this little book is so special. When my kids were little, in addition to reading, we had a video called Hide them in Your Heart, and my kids learned the verses from the songs. It really worked. I think there is a cassette version too. Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Thanks, Pam. We occasionally use songs to learn verses (mostly songs from Seeds Family Worship), though we sometimes even make up our own ones! There are so many great tools out there…as parents, we just need to do it!