When my youngest grandboy was 18 months old, he learned to sing “The Wheels on the Bus.” He knew when to chime in with all the sound words—up and down, beep-beep-beep, swish-swish-swish, waah-waah-waah, and shh-shh-shh.
Children, even toddlers like my grandson, have an amazing capacity for learning and for memorizing! Why not use that capacity to make sure that God’s Word gets placed in those little hearts and minds too? Those words “hidden in their hearts” will lodge there for a lifetime.
Here are five ways to make Scripture memory effective and fun (at any age—you might want to try these out yourself). Repetition is key, but it doesn’t have to be boring!
1. Put the words to a beat and chant them together.
Add claps, taps, and foot-stomping if you’d like. Not sure which verses to learn? Check an age-appropriate Bible storybook with verses correlated to each story.
2. Sing the words. Make up your own tunes, or try some of the excellent Scripture songs available from children’s artists.
Try music from Yancy, Steve Green, the Seed Company, Twin Sisters, and Scripture Lullabies (great to play as children drift off to sleep).
My absolute favorite Scripture music for littles, though, has been the CD in the book My Sing-Along Bible by Steve Elkins.
Verses through the Bible are set in short, singable songs in a variety of styles. No one gets bored, and God’s Word gets in!
3. Make reading and repeating the verses aloud together a family activity. (This is one strength of the Charlotte Mason Scripture memory system.)
4. Make verses visible. Post them around the house where children will see them often.
Write a different verse each week on a chalkboard in the kitchen. Let children copy a verse themselves and choose where to post it.
5. Make verses tactile. When he was learning to read, my oldest grandson enjoyed verses I made magnetic for him to assemble and stick on the dishwasher, fridge, or a cookie sheet. Here’s how to do it:
Just print out the words in large type on colored paper with extra spaces between each word. Then back the verse with magnetic strips and cut the words apart.
Printing different verses on different colors helps children sort and assemble the verses too.
Ready to get started? Choose a verse and an activity and begin planting the seed’s of God’s Word in the hearts and minds of your children or grandchildren. The growth those seeds produce will be remarkable!
“From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV).
How do you help your children memorize Scripture?
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