Bible Memory Sharing

Musical CD Makes a Good Memory Tool

For our Bible Memory section we are studying 1 Corinthians 13. I purchased a book with a CD that is called 1 Corinthians 13, An Illustrated Bible Chapter for Young Children. It is published by Thy Word Creations, Glenville, WV. Copyright 1990. They have several chapters to sell. There is a CD that comes with the book. The whole chapter is written out, one verse per page with a coloring page relating to the verse across from it. The first time through, the person on the CD reads the text to you and there is a chime telling you when to turn the page. The second time through, it is sung. The 3rd time through a child sings the song. It is a very powerful memory tool, and my son has it almost 75% memorized. Plus, he loves it and doesn't realize that he is memorizing!  (Evansville, IN)

Putting on the Whole Armour of God—A Lesson These Boys Won’t Soon Forget!

What began as a Scripture memory achievement exercise (Eph 6:10-18) for our group soon expanded into a project to include the crafting and “putting on” of all the elements of God’s armour!

Our small group of six boys are in the Little Contender and Contender age groups and one 12-year-old young man who serves as an assistant to the adults.  All are the brothers of girls in our Keepers group.

THE BELT OF TRUTH The belt is simply leather grained vinyl.  Since the back on the vinyl was a cloth-like material, we were able to fold over the outside edges and secure them the full length of the back with hemming tape.  The material was cut wide enough so that when folded over it is fully enclosed.  The ‘belt buckles’ are cut-outs of foam board, painted and adorned with large cloth  “J” letters.  The belts are all approximately the same length and fitted together at the back joint with stick-on Velcro.  The gold medallions are pieces from a treasure game.

HELMET OF SALVATION  The shells were purchased from a ‘surplus’ store and painted gold.  The crown is the working end of dollar store brooms.  Kerfs were cut in the broom’s base material to provide increased flexibility when bending to fit over the crown of the shell.  The broom’s base material also proved sufficiently substantial to allow for screwing them from inside the shell.

GOSPEL OF PEACE  The ‘shods’ for the feet are cut out of plastic milk cartons and painted metallic.  The tie strings are woven cotton yarn which tend to unravel when cut.  We melted some wax and dipped the ends into it.  When cooled this makes threading through the holes in the shods much easier.

BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, SHIELD OF FAITH AND SWORD OF THE SPIRIT  Our original intent was to design these ourselves and cut them out of foam board.  However we found the dollar store versions of these items to be very attractive and completely acceptable to our purpose.  Adding the lettering on the molded surface of the breastplate and shield proved difficult and unsatisfactory.  To solve this problem we put the lettering on strips of felt first, then placed the strips on the two pieces with spray-on adhesive.  This worked really well.

The pictures attached show most of the detail discussed above, however our first full dress rehearsal is scheduled for this coming Monday, April 5 and additional follow-ups will be forwarded after that.  Our plan is to have the boys dressed in the whole armour and to recite the verses at our awards banquet scheduled for late May.  (Nicholson, GA)

Books of the Bible Object Lesson

Here's a brief but cute idea to introduce your club to the Books of the Bible- Bible Memory badge. I stacked a huge pile of books on the floor and asked who thought they could carry 66 books at one time. I invited one of the strongest girls to the front and in good fun began piling books in her arms until she couldn't carry anymore. (Of course, she held far fewer than 66!) Next, I invited the smallest little girl to the front and told everyone that I just really believed that if anyone could carry 66 books, it was her. Even she didn't believe it herself! Then I brought out the Bible and laid it in her hands and told the girls that the Bible, the "Book of books," was actually 66 books in one. We talked about the New Testament and the Old Testament and the importance of knowing the Books of the Bible. It was a fun way to get them going on this Bible memory task, and I know my daughters at least still remember that the Bible has 66 books in it--a fact that many of us easily forget!!!  (Nicholson, GA)

Memorizing the Books of the Bible Brings Blessings

For our first Bible memorization, we chose the do the books of the Bible. One of our moms learned a catchy tune of them when she was a little girl so the girls take the last five or ten minutes of the class to sing what they've learned so far and add on another section. They have just finished the song and even my three year old can sing it! Here I am, thirty-seven, having grown up with a lot of faith but not too much church, and I didn't know them all. I just am so thankful and blessed that the Lord has been growing in our lives and my husband and I are giving our children such a wonderful beginning to grow upon! I know God is looking down with a great big smile hearing our littlest one do her best to sing her song of the books of the Bible! Praise be to God!  (Blairstown, NJ)

Children Awarded a Sword After Completing Their First Memory Work

We held our first Keepers and Contenders meeting in Lake Worth, TX. We are meeting two Wednesdays a month. We are studing the character of cheerfulness and working on our bicycle badges. We are ordering wooden swords for the childern, and as they memorize scripture, we are burning the book and verse on the blade of the sword. For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12. When a child memorizes their first scripture, they are awarded with a wooden sword. The book and verse are burned into the blade of the sword. This is also a good tool for reviewing.  (Azle, TX)

New Testament Poem

One project we have been working on during the club meetings is to memorize the books of the Bible and their basic contents. This is one of the few activities that even our two little ones (2 and 4) can be involved in. First we are concentrating on the New Testament Bible books. We sing the books of the New Testament song by Wee Sing, which has a catchy tune and is easy to remember. To learn a bit about the content of each book, we are also memorizing a poem found in the book Poems for Memorization by Rod and Staff publishers. Since the poems in the book are in the public domain, I can type it out.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Saints MATTHEW, MARK, and LUKE and JOHN
The holy Gospel wrote,
Describing how the Saviour died,
His life, and how He taught.

The ACTS shows God’s apostles,
Owned with signs in every place.
Saint Paul in ROMANS teaches us
How man is saved by grace.

The apostle in CORINTHIANS
Instructs, exhorts, reproves.
GALATIANS shows that faith in Christ
Alone, the Father loves.

EPHESIANS and PHILIPPIANS tell
What Christians ought to be.
COLOSSIANS bids us live to God
And for eternity.

In THESSALONIANS we are taught
The Lord will come from heaven,
In TIMOTHY and TITUS
A bishop’s rule is given;

PHILEMON marks a Christian’s love
Which only Christians know.
HEBREWS reveals the Gospels
Prefigured by the Law.

JAMES teaches, without holiness
Faith is but vain and dead.
Saint PETER points the narrow way
In which the saints are led.

JOHN in his three Epistles
On love delights to dwell.
Saint JUDE gives awful warning of
Judgement, wrath, and hell.

The REVELATION prophesies
Of that tremendous day
When Christ, and Christ alone shall be
The trembling sinner’s stay. 
          (Ottawa, Canada)

A Good Technique for Memorizing Scripture

Our club consists of 7 girls ages 7-12, and we meet every other week at my church building so we have plenty of room to do everything! Our first Bible memory project has been I Cor. 13. We discussed how love should be the basis for everything we do whether it's baking, laundry or making crafts. We are sharing and showing God's love through all of our actions. At the beginning of each meeting, we work on one verse from the chapter and are slowly working our way through. I divide the verse into short phrases and write them on index cards. Each girl gets a card with part of the verse written on it. Then we go around the table in order and each girl says her part of the verse. We do this several times until they learn it. Some of the girls use this technique at home and do this around the dinner table with their family.  (St. Petersburg, FL)

Children Never Too Young to Learn Bible Stories and Verses

When my church first started the Keepers of the Faith program in 2006, we had just two boys who were both five years old. The Little Contenders book was not available at that time, so I simplified the badge requirements myself. For the Bible memory badge, we chose five Bible stories: Samson's life, David & Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnance, and Jesus' calming the storm. I would tell the boys the story and we would pick parts and act it out. I'd tell them the exact words from the Bible that each person said, and they had a blast repeating the words and pretending to be each character. Then I would have them act the story out themselves without my help. They both did wonderfully and had a fabulous time doing it. Two years later, they still talk about those dramas we put on, and I sometimes find them acting out the scenarios together again.  (Princeton, WV)

Ten Commandments and Verses Goes Hand in Hand

I have an idea to share for teaching the Ten Commandments. At each of our meetings, a father leads a Bible lesson for the entire group. We decided to take one entire year and work on the Ten Commandments. So each meeting focuses on a different commandment. You may need to double up a few months, depending on how many times you meet. Meanwhile, the children are memorizing the verses little by little throughout the year.  (Temperance, MI)

Memorizing Ten Commandments Makes Children Want to Learn More

We have been working on the 10 Commandments badge all year. Our kids range in age from 6 to 12 years old. We found a song singing the 10 Commandments and all of them, including the adults have had a blast learning. Several different times, we had our Bible Study correspond with the 10 Commandments and what they mean to us today. What would this world be like without laws, and commands from the Lord, God? Most of our laws today in the United States are spun off of the same 10 Commandments that the Lord, our God gave us long ago to remember and keep in our hearts. We also showed how they worked together with what Jesus taught. The kids seemed to understand and want to learn more when we could show how it applied to our every day life. When someone finally got them memorized, we all celebrated!  (Springdale, AR)

Charlotte Mason Memory System Works Well for Girls

We have been using a bible memory system found here http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/.  It’s simple and just takes minutes a day.  The girls are  thrilled at how many verses they have learned.

Another idea we are doing is learning the OT books in their Hebrew names.  I’m creating cards to play concentration with.  I’ll have a deck with the English words and a deck with the Hebrew names.  It will be played just like concentration by finding a “match” the English and the Hebrew word.  Once created, I’ll send the file so it can be posted here, which by the way is just another great idea.  (Jackson, TN)

Psalm 100 for Little Keepers

This is for the Psalm 100 memory badge in the Little Keepers at Home book.  We do Little Keepers as a family.

Psalm 100 is one I like to work on every November for Thanksgiving.  We would practice the Psalm at the dinner table before eating. We would pray and then recite the Psalm.  I started off with one verse and then added on as we learned it.  We also added hand motions to it.  Lord-point to the sky, serve-hands together and push them out, gladness-point to a smile, singing-moved fingers like leading a choir, know-point to head, sheep-pretend like your fingers are cutting wool up your arm, thanksgiving-flat hand touches mouth and moves down, and name-make two fingers on each hand and tap them together in the shape of an X.

We worked on this passage for about a month before it was mastered.  I attached a picture of bag we use to display our badges.  (Reynoldsburg, OH)
 

Memorizing Scripture the Easy Way

We have three children under the age of 5 at our house so when we are memorizing Scripture, we use Scripture Songs!  We live about half an hour away from anything so I play Scripture song CDs in the car and every time we go somewhere we are memorizing Scripture!  (Blue Ridge, TX)