We want these kids to know God’s Word as the ultimate authority in their lives. We want them to put God’s Word ahead of anyone else’s words, or even their own personal experiences.
Taking time out of every week to intentionally memorize Scripture can help them better understand the importance of God’s Word. It also gives them truth to lean on as they grow up.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8
As you incorporate Scripture Memory into your lessons, I would first encourage you as the teacher to make an effort to memorize Scripture as well so that you can model this for your kids. You can memorize the same verses that you are encouraging your kids to memorize, or you can set your own Scripture memory goals and share this with your class to model for them, to offer encouragement, and to show that you value God’s Word.
There are a lot of different ways to motivate students to memorize Scripture. You can offer prizes, have contests, sing songs, set goals, and more. If you Google “Scripture memory for kids” you will find a lot of ideas and resources.
While I don’t think there is anything wrong with motivating kids through prizes and contests – anything that helps a kid hide God’s Word in their heart is good – I have only included resources like songs and games. I have found that Scripture memory that is done because of extrinsic motivations tends to stay in kids’ short term memory. Repeated practice over time and singing scripture will help students remember scripture for the long haul.
One of the advantages of using songs and games to memorize Scripture is that it is easy to go back and review verses that have been memorized in the past. Scripture games can be played as students arrive or as they are waiting on parents to pick them up.
You can find some Scripture set to songs by searching YouTube. Or, simply sing the words of scripture to a common song like "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
During each Bible lesson I suggest taking some time to quickly review Scripture related to the lesson. You can find some fun, quick ideas here.
Each Bible lesson also includes a possible Scripture Memory Game or activity that can be used as kids arrive or as they are waiting for parents to pick them up. Feel free to adapt as you see fit!
Letting Students Choose Their Own Scripture to Memorize
In the Bible lessons on this website, the same suggested memory verses are repeated for at least a month so that you have an opportunity to practice those in class over an extended period of time.
Several possible memory verses are included each month. These verses go along with what the kids will be studying in the Bible.
It is easiest to choose one verse that all of your students will learn together so that you can practice it together.
However, giving students an opportunity to choose what verse they would like to memorize gives them ownership and makes the verse more personal to them. Do what works for you and your classroom - any scripture that kids memorize will be beneficial!
If you have overachievers, they can always memorize more than one verse!
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