Praise and worship has ended now comes the burning question. “Okay kids! Who can tell me what last week’s memory verse was?” You hear the sound of crickets. Don’t feel bad–it happens to us all but there are some creative ways to present scripture verses–some are so much fun that kids won’t even know they are memorizing them. Ready to get kids snapping, clapping and memorizing verses? Try these ideas!
Say the verse under water! I learned this in summer camp one year. Read the verse out loud together then repeat it rubbing your fingers across your lips as you do. This makes your words sound like they are being spoken underwater. Kids go crazy for this. You could also read it in slow-mo, super fast and try to say it standing on your head.
Do it head, shoulders, knees and toes style. Remember that song? Use the same hand movements but sing your verse instead. Of course, this might not work well with long verses but shorter verses are better for memorizing anyway. Give it a try. Anything involving movement is great!
Snap it! Try snapping your fingers in between phrases. Breaking a verse into phrases makes it easier to memorize. For example, “For God”…snap, snap…”so loved”…clap, clap…”the world”…snap snap. You get the picture. Alternate snaps with claps and keep it moving. It takes some discipline in the beginning but it’s a fun way to learn a verse.
Memory verse race–game show style. I got this idea from the Price is Right game, the old one. You’ll need two bulletin boards. I covered mine with felt and laid them on a table. Each week, I have two sets of words that make up the verse. We read the verse a few times then I pick two contestants. The players come up and try to arrange the words properly to make the verse. The person to do this the fastest is the winner. To make it challenging, I’ll add unnecessary words to keep kids focused. We do this over and over again giving quite a few people a chance to try. Sometimes we invite teams to come up, especially for the long verses.
Text the verse to parents during the week. It’s kind of a fun reminder and kids like getting texts. I never, however, text or call kids directly. It’s kind of a rule I have.
I’m sure there are a ton of ways to present a memory verse so kids actually remember it. What works best for you?
Read more from Mimi by visiting her blog at Tools for Kids Church.
Don’t miss more ideas for helping kids memorize the Bible:
- Five Scripture Memory Games for Children
- Does Scripture Memory Still Matter for Kids?
- 10 Easy Bible Memory Verses for Children
- Scripture Memory Game: Balloon Juggle
- Using Hand Movements to Help Kids Memorize Scripture