Baby Bible Study Ideas that Have Worked for our Wild one - Age 2-4

I'm still editing this list and probably need to split it up and delete a bunch or I'll just come back and keep adding, but these conversations come up in real life all the time so here are a few of our favorites. Book lists down lower, see the bold and collage images 

Here's a bit of of what our Bible routines in daily life look like. It ebbs and flows and as I'm editing this in April 2026, we just came out of a month off after some medical adventures (original post was June 2025)

Evening Family Study - Every night if all home before 8. 3-5 nights a week.

Kids Bible - we have read through a couple so it changes

Scripture memory verse - either the one for church, Awana, or a catechism question 

Be Though My Vision Liturgy - we have really loved this one

We are reading the New Testament letters in the scripture section, not the recommended one.

End with family prayer 

Liturgy 

We switched to Be Thou My Vision Maybe more appropriate for age 5. But it's been working 

The introduction in this book explains the structure of Liturgy and how they chose what text for each section and frequency of repetition. A benefit of Liturgy is structure for contemplation, repetition for memorization, sand variation to avoid boredom.

We also use a Catechism. Currently we are working through the New City Catechism, and the two questions our church does through the Gospel Project. but Be Thou My Vision has two famous older Catechisms as a part of the liturgy. They are the Heidelberg and Westminster from the 15 and 16 hundreds. We only made through about question 7 in New City (just sharing bc it's ok to switch things up)

We do a catechism question each week, and will work on the question and Bible verse for a month. 

Morning Bible Study - daily when we do school.  think this would be similar to what a lot of families call morning basket in the homeschool worls. Monday - Friday (2-3 days a week)

We do a variety of different morning Bible Studies from this list and what you see below 

I will often pick one story per week, and 3 total per month 

- 8 months - 

1 year old ABC Jesus Loves Me Interactive Bible Studies. We did one a week for around 30 weeks with some breaks. But there's so much for free. The $10 set was worth it for weekly activities that I had dad do with the little guy at night. 

- ? - We read Genesis in the Action Bible and he followed the people incredibly well. But to avoid burn out with the more complex Bible. He went through a period of "resting" when he dropped his morning naps and would sit on a lap being read to for 15-45min

- ? - Sometime in here we attempted to do scripture memory inspired by Charlotte Mason Morning Time. It never really stuck. 

The Bible in Pictures is extremely simple. Our little one has really been enjoying it at 4.5. I find it a little boring and the writing is extremely simple. It's nice for when I'm tired though.

- 2 years - We repeated the same stories skipping Genesis and adding in some and in the order of their 3 year old curriculum. 

- 3 Years + 4 years - We followed seasons and the church year for some time (October - April) using the True Way Kids studies doing one story for a week and about 3 stories a month. I'll share my monthly themes in a future post but 

Old Testament in Fall

Fruits of the Spirit in November

Advent in December

Life of Jesus until Lent

Holy Week through Lent

Sin, Death, Resurrection sequence inspired by Young Life over Holy week

New life and Acts in April 

🌈 Noah's Art and Creation in June 

- 3.5 Years - Now we are doing the Life of Jesus. Currently he is choosing the Action Bible but I have children's Parable stories as an option every morning. Largely because of age, we have not used the Action Bible too much but I'm excited for it as he gets older.

4 years - We have read through the Jesus Picture Storybook Bible. It's extremely common but not my favorite. I have found some small inaccuracies (not significant, but some of the facts about the alabaster jar are inaccurate) and things added. This one is beautiful and I love how each story brings everything back to Jesus. 

We are almost through The Biggest Story Bible and I LOVE this one. The illustrations are gorgeous! There are videos for each story online, free worksheets and coloring pages.

Our little one's favorite storybook Bible is the old one we thrifted, the Children's Discovery Bible from 1996. Purple in the photo. My husband really likes this one too.

4.5 years (spring and plan for summer) - we are doing less "school" these days and doing more relaxed reading and family Bible study at night 

The Illustrated Bible Stories for Children is a great book. It contains different stories than many storybook Bibles, which is great. They can be a bit more graphic than others but also not untrue. There may have been one or two details that are not explicitly in the Bible and were added, but it is minimal. Thank you

Bible Studies with Friends 

CEF - We have only done a couple but we host an annual Backyard VBS through Children Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) which has been so fun

ABC Jesus Loves Me - Sensory bin or activity set up while kids play and answer questions. Our favorite was a Baby Moses water activity. We also have done flame sensory bins for Pentecost. And an Easter themed bin as well.

TruWay Kids - has so many free Bible studies, probably 70+ lessons as the base set and then many scaffold up or down and many also have other languages. Lessons are 10-20 pages printed of activities and teaching notes

VBS - Our son attended a day at my parent's church for Vacation Bible School. He was able to pet sheep and learn about shepherds. We read the parable of the lost sheep that week at home. 

Weekly Family Traditions 

Eating out - Ok this one is not particularly easy but we have developed the habit of asking our waiter or waitress their prayer requests to pray with them when our food comes. The little guy has starting asking their requests and asking if waitresses know Jesus. He as also asked people outside restaurants and people at the table next to us. 

Sunday School - Our church does Sunday School and is very intentional about the curriculum. Attending church, church worship, and praying for friends are all things that could happen on a specific day or driving to or from a weekly event. Our church has used The Gospel Project and Foundation Worldview. We've been to other churches 

Book recommendations 

The Beginners Bible - super short and easy. You can read through it quickly with older kids or younger. It's not one we reread over and over but if you want a quick overview, this is great one, not much text and picture heavy. We read through this one in a week just like a chapter book.

My Awesome God - more for kids study or devotion with a big idea, gods character and questions for kids. We don't use this one often as it is definitely for younger kids.

Tiny Theologians - these board books are absolutely stunning, sweet, and well written. There are a lot of other resources from this company too.

Baby Believer - another series where every book I've seen is beautiful and enjoyable to adults too 

My Little Library boxes - several little books in one pack. We got these as a gift and I carried one of them in my backpack or diaper bag for the little one almost all the time for quite a couple years.

The Children's Discovery Bible is older but it has been a great fit. It doesn't add a bunch of fluff or try to make any specific post and just shares the stories. A couple of them are written in a bit of a funny way (as poems that seem a bit random) but otherwise it has been spot on. 

I AM the little one has LOVED this storybook Bible. And it's been fun for me to learn and focus on the names. We have only had this one for a couple months and are almost done with the second time through. The summaries between stories and the explanations are fantastic as we work on understanding the entire Biblical narrative. 

The Ology, The Lord's Prayer and Apostle's Creed books are ones I'm considering adding into the regular study but we do not own them. I have watched flip throughs of them and they seem fantastic!

The Toddler Bible 

This Bible has fantastic activity ideas. Activities have been a great resource for me to prepare for my husband to do with the little guy as they get ready for bed. 

We have a different one in the Times of Jesus series. I really like it but it doesn't have as much content as would be nice. But the flaps are great and we do use it to understand context better.

Fat Cat Lord's Prayer or Apostles Creed - these two books have been an absolute joy. Reviews say they are for younger kids than I would say. I feel like we will get a good amount out of both of these for years to come. We only read a tiny bit of these at a time with our 4 year old. 

The 4 above we have not read through all the way but I've been very pleasantly surprised with the ones we have read. Three were gifted and one I thrifted for $0.50 but it is lovely! 

Old schedules

June 2025

Psalm 

Sunday School memory verse 

Kid's Bible story

Adult Bible - short section

Prayer based kid's story 

More details 

Liturgical Reading of the Psalms - we do about 5 verses from a book we have. We don't actually recommend the book but you could start at Psalms 1 and reading the short 7 or 8 verse Psalms and splitting others up.

Church Bible Verse memory recitation - after 3 months of working on monthly Scripture that lines up with his Sunday School classes we have started having him stand up to recite his verses. Not every night.

Read a story or two from a Kids Bible - we have read through the Toddler Bible and are going through the Discovery Bible. We have made it all the way through and on the second reading. It's so fun as our 3 year old knows a lot of the stories now 

Our Bibles - Mom and dad read about a half chapter while toddler climbs on climber but listens 

Nap Time Bible Study 

Only lasted a couple months 

After he picks a book or story from a Treasury I'll read a couple chapters from I Am. 

Since he is transitioning out of naps, I kinda just read a couple until he falls asleep or it's clear he isn't going to nap and will be quiet time instead 

I don't recommend and Why list

Common Prayer - this book got us started and early on I did really enjoy it but I would not consider it Christian worship. There are some interesting historical and religion stories. The block prints are beautiful!! 

Finding a Liturgy -  

We currently use the Common Prayer book but we don't really recommend it. If you have not done the call and response type of reading the highlights in here are helpful. There is a lot of personal thoughts and history but and not much Bible. But there are several hyms and the monthly block prints are beautiful. 

Orange church curriculum - this Sunday school curriculum is very shallow and often misses the point or has a positive attitude or a moral value as the main point, rather than something that is biblical. 

Free Children's Bible Worksheets

 I've gathered some of my favorite free Bible worksheet lists here. 

ABC Jesus Loves Me is the curriculum I have chosen for our toddler. I used the 1 year from 18 months to 30 months and will be moving to the 3 year old lessons this summer. I have purchased the 1 year Interactive Bible Studies and may add the 3 year Interactive Studies.

DLTK has create a ton of worksheets of many types great for home or a Sunday School classroom. These are great for preschool level 

Truth for Kids worksheet collection has some more complex concepts including baptism, sin, and God's will for you life.

Joyful Meditaions compiled this list made by a church. This list is organized by scripture passage and the ones I have looked at have several pages.

Trueway Kids has lessons worksheets and Bible lessons in a variety of languages and lessons specifically create for kids of all abilities.

Free resources on Teachers Pay Teachers are made by a variety of educators.

7 ways to learn the books of the Bible from Not Consumed.

There are several free printables on Thinking Kids Press along with many paid study resources.

Graduattion Bible verses and Prayer

I will be graduating in just a couple days and have been thinking about where I am going and where I have been.  (To see where I am going be sure to check out my art blog.) I thought I would share some of the verses that are fitting for this time in my life. I hope you find them fitting and please share them with any graduates that you know. You can also pray the prayer at the end of this posts for any one moving on the new stages of life this Spring.

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.  

Joshua 1:9 ...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. 

Hey God, I just wanted to say thank you for all that you have shown me in the past few years. 

I have learned so much in and out of the classroom.

 I pray that my work and future could be dedicated and pleasing to you. I thank you for the opportunities that you have shared and as for continued blessings. 

 Amen! 

Art Lesson Ideas for Haiti

Haiti Journal Entry #2

1. Nature Art – Use Andy Goldsworthy for inspiration
2. Hemp bracelets and jewelry - I know up to a 12 stand knot pattern and as simple as a braid
3. Faith Journey Bracelets using paper beads. This could be incorporated into a Bible study of some sort.  I have used it for Bible studies before as an ice breaker.  A story of Jesus bead could also be included.
4.  Friendship bracelets using colored string

Image from ScienceBuzz.o

5. Still life drawing – set up whatever is around and draw
6. Draw a picture from the imagination
7. Art Journaling – How many kids will there be? What supplies will I need to take? This could be incorporated into a Bible study of some sort.
8. Homemade Watercolor paints – Could be incredibly simple
9. Design posters – Maybe make a poster (or even a card) for you family or best friend
10. Write a poem – no rules just write what you think or feel
11. Collage – use magazine pages or dried leaves.  Maybe introduce the idea of journaling being a form of prayer.
12. Origami – Use old magazine pages
13. Pet rocks – I would need to take googly eyes

This is just my brainstorm list.  I am not sure that all of these will be culturally or age appropriate.  We will be having a meeting about the trip soon, so I can ask which ones would be plausible.  Do you guys have any more project ideas that are versatile and have a small supply list?  Or any project ideas that could be used as a part of a Bible study?  

Haiti Journal Entry 2 Scripture Memory

Isaiah 58:10-12
10 Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.
Isaiah 58:10-12

This is the theme verse for the week in Haiti.  I think I will start trying to memorize it today.  I am not sure that I will have it perfect, but that's not the end of the world.

I do have some tricks to share about memorizing a bible verse.

1. Read the Verse Out Loud
Read the reference at the beginning and end.  It is typically the hardest part to memorize so you say it much more often.

2. Learn the Verse 1 Word at a Time
Read the refernce, then the first word, then the reference, then the first and second word.  This continues through the whole verese.

3. Be Picky
You do want to learn the verse word-for-word.  Don't beat yourself up over a wrong word but keep in mind that our long term memory will remember the verse better if we say the same way in a month or a year.  Another reason for this is best summed up with the quote "the best lie is disguised as truth." It is easy to not be completely confident in what scripture says when you a shaky on your memorization.  If you know what it says then you wont have to question and others will be more likely to believe you.

4. Use the Same Traslation
This one is difficult for me because I have switched translations over the years.  This being said it has shown me exactly why it is important to stick with one version (for memorization).  It is easier to recognize a verse you have memorized and therefore you will be reviewing it simply from reading your Bible.  When I switch Bible I have read right over verses I know and not even recognized them.  Memorizing is difficult for many, myself included, and switching versions just makes the process more difficult.  There is nothing wrong with switching Bibles.  I might even suggest it if you use a less common translation, though I think my next Bible will be NIV and I will be memorizing a variety of versions.  Its a pain but like I said, I learned this the hard way.

5. Note Cards
Make note cards and store them in a file.  You can keep one or two in you pocket everyday.  I think that it is easier to focus on one verse at a time.  When you have several down you can review several at a time.   One technique could be to memorize one verse every day Monday through Friday and review all five on Saturdays and Sundays.  Then take every 4 weeks and work on all 15 verses all week.  This is just one strategy and most people will need to return to the verses more than just at the end of the month.

6. Quiz Time
It is great to have a friend quiz you. 

7. Goals
A friend can also help encourage you to memorize.  Memorizing together is much more fun.  You could practice and go out for coffee.

8. Every-Other-Word
You recite the verse by saying every other word with a friend.  This helps A LOT.  If you mess up one word both of you will be lost.  This is a great and fun exercise to practice.  Take turns starting with the references.

9. Read the Passage
Reading the passage, chapter or book will help you remember the context for the verese.

10. Translation
Read the verse in a variety of translations.  This will help you gain a deeper meaning of the verse.

11. Journal
Journal about what each word means to you any what the significance of the verse is.

12. Use Topics
The Topical Memory System (TMS) is a great way to memorize.  This is a great list of verses to start with.  The TMS Kit is also a wonderful purchase.  It comes with a work book that includes illustrations for sharing the gospel with others, based on these important verses.  The pack also comes with four (I think) versions for each verse.

13. Review Review Review
This is another one that I have learned the hard way.  If you stop reviewing your old cards you will forget the verses.  You may recognize them, but not be able to site or find or recite them.  If you can keep scripture in you head all the time you can better recognize truth.

I hope these tips help.  I am off to completing these verses, but first, does anyone out there have any good strategies for scripture memory or memorization in general?

The Coininia Room

Jesus is relational.

Last Sunday in church our pastor was talking about how John was extremely focused on relationships (1 John 1 vrs. 3). Paul’s desire is to journey through life with God centered people.

Paul wanted fellowship. My pastor broke down the word fellowship into the original language. It came from Coninia, a word meaning to have in common, share life, and to be together. Having this understanding helped me to see why relationships are so important. Fellowship is also the reason that Jesus came to earth, so He could get to know us and we could get to know Him.

I grew up in a Lutheran church. The church had a lot to offer both the community and its members. Nothing could beat the community. Every Sunday between services people gathered together in the Coininia Room for coffee, donuts, and Cool-Aid. You were able to truly journey together. I would argue that there is no greater joy than this.

Dear God,

Please help us to experience true joy though you and with others.  

Help us to journey through life and experience true fellowship.

Amen!

Read through 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.  They are all really short.  I read most of 1 John in a day and the rest along with 2 John and 3 John the next day.

As you read think about relationships and joy.

Are there passages or verses that relate to fellowship?  Joy? Both?

What passage speaks to you the most?  What don't you understand?