The Bible tells us it is important to teach God’s Word to kids. “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your foreheads as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6–9 NLT)
Long summer afternoons offer time to work on crafts, talk over Bible stories and memorize Scripture. Add in games to get kids running, jumping and skipping, or try competitions, such as dropping items into a bucket or a treasure hunt. Teach kids to love and know God and about His desire to know them—to have a personal relationship with them. Teach them to honor God and respect His commandments. Training children up in the way they should go will help them avoid or navigate future troubles, receive guidance for good decision-making, have peace of mind and be more like Jesus.
Jonah & the Whale
Activity: Cut a water bottle to look like a whale, paint it with craft paint and add a googly eye. Make Jonah out of a clothespin and wooden craft stick. Connect the two with a string.
Lesson: Share the story of Jonah, an Israelite prophet who God called to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, who were wicked. Jonah didn’t like the people of Nineveh, so he disobeyed God and got on a boat to go to another place far across the sea. A storm came up and the people on the boat learned Jonah had disobeyed God. They threw him into the sea. God sent a big whale to swallow Jonah to keep him from drowning. For three days he prayed. God had the fish throw up Jonah on the shores of Nineveh. Jonah told them God’s message and they turned from their wickedness and were saved. Book of Jonah.
