Make Family Devotions Engaging for Your Kids (Part 2)

Have you ever wondered how to make family devotions engaging for your kids? Keep reading for 8 practical tips!  EPISODE 004 INTRO “Hey kids! Tonight we’re going to have a picnic!  Did you know that Jesus had a picnic with his followers and there were 5,000 people who came to the picnic!  Can you imagine that many people!  Here, let’s spread out our picnic cloth here on the floor… Well of course I brought food along for our picnic!  Here… I have 5 crackers and two small gummy fish… but you’ll have to divide this food between all four of you. … What, you don’t think there will be enough?  Well, in our story today, Jesus fed a huge crowd of 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish!  Let’s find out what happened…”   Welcome to episode #004 of The Family Bible Connection Podcast with Laurie Christine!  Hey Momma, do you ever feel inadequate to teach your kids about God?  Do they have questions about the Bible that you don’t know how to answer?  Do you want to have family devotions, but you’re just not sure where to start?  Are you tired of pretending that your kids are perfect and that you have it all together?   You’re in the right place. Welcome to The Family Bible Connection – A community of moms who desperately need Jesus for every step of our parenting journey.  We want our kids to KNOW the Bible and GROW in their love for God & others. We want to prepare your kids to GO into the world as passionate followers of Jesus. I’m your host, Laurie Christine. Through devotional resources, family routines, and Bible study, I will teach you how to create a Christ-centered culture in your home.   WELCOME  In episode 001, we talked about WHY it’s important to spend time in God’s Word together as a family.  In episode 002, we talked about WHAT it looks like to have family devotional time in your home, and we also talked about what to do if you feel like you’ve failed in this area.  (Episode 002) Episode 003 was the first in a two-part episode where we talked about HOW to make family devotions engaging for your kids.  Using my background as a public-school elementary teacher, more than twelve years of experience as an elementary Bible teacher at my church, and ten years (so far) of Christian motherhood, I have created a collection of eight practical ways parents can engage their kids in family devotions and Bible study.   HOW TO MAKE FAMILY DEVOTIONS ENGAGING FOR YOUR KIDS In the last episode we covered four tips to make family devotions engaging:  * Be Passionate * Take a Picture Walk  * Connect to Prior Knowledge * Model Your Thought Process Out Loud This week we’re going to talk about 4 more ways that you can engage your kids in family Bible times and make it more fun for them.    5. OBJECT LESSONS You would need to spend some time beforehand to prepare your materials, but using physical objects can be a very effective strategy to help your kids stay focused during the Bible story.  The more senses you stimulate throughout the Bible lesson, the more impactful the story will be. Think about how you could include taste, touch, smell, sight and sound in your lesson. I have provided some examples below, but you can be creative!   * Jesus feeds five thousand people — have a picnic on the ground and eat crackers and Swedish fish while you read the story.  (I gave an example at beginning of this post).  * Jesus is the light of the world — turn off all the lights and light a candle.  * God created the world — give everyone a lump of play-dough to create something while you read.  * Tower of Babel — hand out building blocks and see who can build the tallest tower. * Daniel in the lions den — look up a video on YouTube of real lions.   6. USE TOTAL PARTICIPATION TECHNIQUES