By Julie Heath
Summertime is time for fun and being outdoors—and this year especially is a great time to get outside! As you get ready for summer, here are some ideas to keep their spiritual development growing as well. While your kids are getting some physical exercise and outdoor time, make sure they are flexing those spiritual learning muscles as well.
You can plan summer activities for your kids (on Sunday or Wednesday nights) and help parents find fun ways to keep spiritual learning going as they enjoy fun in the sun!
- Bible Learning Relay Races
Place each word of a Bible verse on individual cards. As each child takes a turn in the relay, they carry one word to the “end” of the race. Each child works to unscramble or guess the verse that is being slowly finished. Add fun physical challenges by putting the words on different items (for example, Ping-Pong balls carried with a spoon, paper cards carried with a spatula).
- Bible Verse Beanbag Toss
Put the words of a Bible verse on large pieces of paper or cardboard (for added difficulty or for older kids, place the words out of order). Each child tosses a beanbag trying to land the bags on the words of the verse in order.
- Learning the Books of the Bible
Pinterest or other online sites have many ideas for helping your children learn the books of the Bible in order. Here are two to get you started:
- Print each Bible book on a card. Each child takes a turn picking a card and tries to name the book before or after it (this could also be a relay-style activity).
- Write the books of the Bible on paper plates and play a disc-toss game. Have a toy hoop or large space marked off as “New Testament” and another marked “Old Testament.” The goal is to toss the Bible book “disc” into the correct space.
For those indoor days when you are looking for something to do, consider Bible activity books, Scripture learning cards or Bible story crafts. Whether you create your own or look for ready-made items, these can be a great rainy-day plan. These resources are also perfect to equip your parents for travel and vacation times; they can also create opportunities for devotional or spiritual conversations.
Bonus idea: Consider a summer Bible memory-verse emphasis in your ministry where families work together to memorize verses for a special incentive. Parents and children work together to learn the verses and celebrate their Bible learning at an end-of-summer family picnic! Select passages that are a part of your ministry emphasis or find specific themed Scripture-card sets to use. This is a great way to get your parents to memorize Scripture, too!
Whatever you do this summer—at church or at home—keep Bible learning a part of your fun!
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