wonderful kids bibles and others to pass on
Why read the Bible to your kids
With all the rush and craziness of life, and how kids are at bedtime, reading kids Bibles is UNFORTUNATELY the last thing anyone is thinking about. But this habit can be an intentional way to help shape your family culture into one that is centering around Christ. During the busyness, during the chaos, where do we turn?
Reading the Bible regularly to your kids can build a strong foundation, create conversation, and give you the opportunity to share your faith with your children. Even with younger kids, you can really start digging in and even studying the Bible as a family! You may be surprised how a Bible reading habit is a healthy and Godly thing that can bring about change even in YOUR life!
types of kids bibles
Just because you’ve read a kids Bible before doesn’t mean that you’ve read them all. Some are more picture style, for young children, and others with more of an explanation or narrative. Some serve as a study guide to help us answer important questions that we should be able to answer about our faith.
Different types of Bibles will work for different children, different families, and different ages. If something isn’t working, try something new because there are PLENTY of options.
age appropriate kids bibles
One thing you should consider is what is age appropriate for the kids you have. This doesn’t mean you need to always have something perfectly matched or always make Bible reading an educational challenge for every age. But if kids are antsy and not interested even after the new routine is established, you may need look to meet their needs in a different way.
A picture book can be appropriate even for older kids if it is spurning a discussion in the family. Something more open and go can be beneficial if you are not in the mood for conjuring up a discussion. Some even include discussion questions. If something isn’t fitting, KEEP TRYING. There are even plenty of video and audio options as well. Don’t give up!
when should you read from a kids bible
The time of day isn’t important. What IS important is that you set a time that is a reoccuring part of most of your days. We always do bedtime. Even if we go out to eat, or eat at someone else’s house, we are almost always home for bed. If we are staying somewhere else we can bring our Bible with us.
With a busy life, it is helpful to attach the new routine to something existing to help establish the habit.
Other common times to read a kids Bible would be during homeschool, homework time, or at dinner time.
How long should you read from the kids bible?
It is important to set an amount of time that you can be consistent with. Of course when we think of reading the Bible we might tap into our perfectionistic tendency. We must “go big or go home”. Wouldn’t it be IDEAL to do a full Bible Study with family for an hour every night? With an already packed schedule, this wouldn’t be realistic for every family.
It’s important to be prayerful and remember you can always start small and build on. Especially if as mom you are trying to initiate a new habit which may not be something everyone else is excited about. Give them a taste of what it could be like to spend 3 minutes reading a Bible and saying a short prayer before bed. Over time and consistency you can expect good fruit. Better for us to be faithful with the small than to set an unreasonable goal that never gets achieved or gets achieved once a week or month.
That said, don’t forget to grow with your habit, not get lazy, and challenge yourself and your kids in the appropriate seasons of life. The bare minimum doesn’t feel good to any of us. Always strive to do your best.
why is it important to select the best kids bible and how it affects kids
Selecting the right materials for your family matters because it will either encourage their spiritual growth or be a turn off. This doesn’t mean that we won’t make mistakes or get into ruts, or that everyone is going to be so excited about reading the Bible every night. Something to consider is that adults and kids just need to do hard things sometimes. Regardless, it’s important to always be considering and reconsidering our current habits. We should be using something we want to use, are proud to use, and something the family (generally) enjoys.
It’s important to approach this time with a positive attitude as much as possible. Encourage attentiveness and speak about how this is important and a time to be respectful and listen carefully. It’s ok to reign things in if silliness or complaining takes the forefront. Keep it positive, and affirm how we are supposed to be acting during Bible time. Once the family gives it a chance they may be surprised how they enjoy it.
kids bible options
Kids Bibles we LOVED
God’s Story for Me Bible
We have had two copies of this Bible! We had to get a second because we absolutely destroyed the first one. We allowed our daughter free access to it and unfortunately since it’s a chunkier book, the binding was easily destroyed. Nothing some packing tape and glue won’t fix!
But what a PLEASURE to have a well loved kids Bible in the home. We read one of the stories with her each evening (and used a bookmark, going through the whole Bible) and said a prayer. The stories are short but are multiple pages long. A few words on each page with colorful pictures. We read through this Bible with her countless times.
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
When she got a little older, we picked up a copy of this Bible which was also MUCH loved. We only needed one copy of this Bible, but it did not survive well enough to be handed down. I would highly recommend it. The stories have more words on each page but with beautiful illustrations and a few simple, thought provoking and content based questions at the end of each story.
The Action Bible
This is a great option for families who are particularly into comics or have boys. Engaging content that brings the Bible story to life! We have not personally done this one at home because we aren’t into comics or action, and don’t have any boys, but my friend has LOVED this for her boys and we’ve enjoyed listening to them read it at the lunch table when we visited.
Current kids “Bible”
Training Hearts Teaching Minds
When prayerfully searching for what would be a best “next step” for our family in Bible study, I was feeling limited by the options. I selected this and one other to show to my husband, and we purchased this one. So far we have been loving it!
Don’t be intimidated by what may seem as foreign terminology – Catechism is defined as “a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.” What a helpful tool we should use and have access to! It’s important to know the foundations of our faith. The “Shorter Catechism” which this devotional is based on is a Protestant Catechism.
There is a weekly question that the six days of study help answer (There is no reading on Sunday). Each day someone reads the short excerpt and then in bold there are 2-3 Scripture references to look up and recite that go along with the lesson. It’s very short and takes less than 5 minutes if you want it to be quick.
Homeschooling Bible Materials/Resources
Abeka Bible
If you are looking for more of a Bible education or in-depth study I can not more highly recommend Abeka Bible. These are available as parent led and video options and are grade specific. Right now the parent led for 3rd grade is $170 for a year of study, and the video version is $100. The parent led options can occasionally be found used if you look hard.
These are worth their weight in gold! The curriculum includes 5 days a week of material including Scripture memorization and beautifully illustrated Bible stories with 2 -3 stories a week, a cumulative review day (for the current book of the Bible you are studying) and smaller review days of the previous lesson. It’s easy to skip the smaller review days if needed for a shorter week.
Be sure if you do the parent led program that you grab a song book to go with the coordinating CD because you will also have a great time singing Bible songs, patriotic songs, and memorizing the books of the Old Testament and New Testament. Each days lesson takes less than 30 minutes if you read quickly.
My favorite book that they cover each year is the Salvation Series where they specifically talk about why we need a relationship with God. Abeka’s heart for kids and their salvation is wonderful and they put a lot of time tested effort into their products which you will certainly reap the benefits from. Everything else pales in comparision.
The Mini ABC Bible Memory Cards
These are a great resource for Scripture memorization for preschool age children, up to older ages, and even adults!
Kids Bibles that weren’t my favorite
As a disclosure, I didn’t find anything WRONG with these kids Bibles per say. If they work for your family, that’s great! They just didn’t work well for mine for differing reasons.
The Jesus Storybook
I had a hard time engaging with this Bible, despite it being highly recommended. I didn’t prefer the illustrations and the flow of the reading.
The Promises of God Storybook Bible
This book is adventurous in trying to paint a big picture of God’s promises which I appreciated but felt like it was even a little above my head. It was also a little too wordy for the length of time we personally commit to. Not my preference, but some people may love this type of content!
Action step: get reading kids bible now!
If you already have a Bible at home give a try, or if you need to pick up one of my recommendations, don’t delay and get started now! It takes time to develop a new habit and you will definitely come up against some obstacles. But don’t lose heart! Stay the course and reap some wonderful fruit of the Spirit in both you and your kids lives.
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