Sharing Biblical Concepts with Children

I mentioned in my last post that I'm reading Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd & Margie Tripp. I just finished reading Chapter 4 "Three Principles for Communicating Formative Instruction" and thought I'd post a couple of helpful quotes and then some bullet points:

"We give our children big truths they will grow into rather than light explanations they will grow out of."

"Children grow in their perception of the gospel as they move from a naive, tactile, and sensory grasp of the world to a more abstract ability to interact with concepts. This is a process...We need to teach these spiritual concepts in gentle, compelling ways."

Don't Mix Imaginary Stories with True Bible Stories
- Illustrate spiritual concepts for children by other means than popular entertainment characters.
Sidenote: This reminds me of the Santa Clause in his red and white outfit bowing to baby Jesus in a manger at Christmastime-just a little confusing for little ones ;)

Don't Trivialize the Gospel to be "Relevant"
- When we "bring the Bible down to their level," children quickly outgrow their love and wonder at biblical narratives. Children will grow into their understanding as they realize that God's Word is different from all other literature. It is truth. It is life.

Help Young Children Relate to Bible Stories in Tactile and Physical Ways
-Giving real examples of sizes, lengths and heights from stories (i.e. Spear from David and Goliath, weight of Goliath's armor-so they could imagine themselves in David's sandals)
-Putting yourself in similar situations as people from the OT (i.e. Setting out on a trek like Abraham and Sarah saying that "We will never return. I don't know where we are going or what will happen but God will give guidance and provision.")

*examples taken from book

Teaching God's word to little ones

As much as of "re-education" that God is giving me on Child development, there are still always things that only reinforce what I've learned in college. For example, when learning about literacy for children, we learn about the types of books that are appropriate for children (colors, amount of words, durability, etc.)  during different stages of development. Even more specifically, good stories ("good" as far as christian books are concerned, will be quality books that give solid truths) that will promote an interest in reading (more specifically God's word) .

When trying to give children a lifetime interest in reading, you start with story-telling or reading aloud (b/c they can't read yet), and though you don't have to be an amazing story teller for children to enjoy stories, there are some things you can do to keep their attention. Obviously, your tone & voice inflection is important. It was always repeated to us J REPEITION builds confidence in little readers. Saying the same story the same way with the same pauses, and same exclamations really help. As they start to tell the story by memory with you, they will feel like they are story-telling as well and look forward to the story if they can know what is coming next. You may even hear them around the corner going through each page and saying the story the same way you do. Then there is movements and even props that sometimes help keep kids attention for books.

Reading stories and rhymes are probably one of my favorite things to do with preschoolers! If you are trying to teach your toddler God's word go to 7 Ideas for Teaching Toddlers God's Word by Desiring God. Some of the things I mentioned are in there, plus more! Another good idea that would get children interested in God's word is having a Bible story-book on tape/CD that they could listen to in the car or when they wake up or when they go to bed. The Jesus Story Book Bible Deluxe pack comes with a CD to follow each of the stories.

The Poison Cup by R.C. Sproul

tThe first time I picked this book up I couldn't put it down. I was in the children's section and sat right down on one of those mini chairs and read it all the way through! R.C. Sproul has children's books! I thought. Through the story Sproul focus's on the atonement and what Jesus had to suffer for his people. This is a quality book you will want to read your children. Check out the trailer:



If you go here you can buy the book. If you'd like to purchase the animatic DVD go here.