Children’s discipleship begins with Scripture memorization, Bible skills

Belinda Stroud introduced several childrens’ outreach options during Pinnacle Alabama, August 5–6 at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center.

Stroud, who is responsible for Bible Drill for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, presented Bible Drills and Skills, Families in the Word and Bible Drill in a Box. 

Bible Drills and Skills

Bible Drills and Skills encourages young children through youth to memorize 25 verses and 10 key passages each year, along with the order of the books of the Bible. These verses and passages are posted here on for churches and families to print at their convenience.

Bible Drill gives children an opportunity to participate in a tournament each year, while Bible Skills has the same premise without the tournament. Both are important to help children learn and memorize God’s word. 

Families in the Word

A free tool, Families in the Word can be printed from this page. It follows the Bible Drills and Skills schedule with the idea of family participation. If your church already has Drills or Skills this is a great tool to reinforce what children are already doing at church.

Each week your family will answer questions that go along with the memory verse or key passage, with fun videos, songs or activities to help. You can also follow the Instagram page, families_in_the_word, or Facebook, Alabama Baptist Bible Drill, for easier access. 

Bible Drill in a Box

Another fun option for families to use for practicing memory verses at home. Go here to find this free resource that provides printable items and descriptions of what to do. 

Games

Stroud provided Pinnacle participants with bags to take home, full of Bible skill games, activities and crafts, and teachers were able to practice the games beforehand. They require little preparation but provide a lot of fun. Here are a few. 

1. Fly Swat Verse Review
   1. Supplies: tarp, 2 fly swatters and Sharpies
   2. Give two drillers a fly swatter, call out the underlined section on the Drill verse card; the drillers try to be the first to swat the correct verse reference, and the winning driller completes the verse.
2. Spoon it Together
   1. Supplies: white spoons and Sharpies
   2. Write the books of the Bible on the white spoons, throw them on the floor and have the drillers put all the books of the Bible in order. 
3. Egg Toss
   1. Supplies: plastic egg tray, adhesive labels, permanent markers and pom-poms.
   2. Print the books of the Bible on small adhesive labels and put one on each egg holder. Invite the kids to pop the pom-pom into the air and catch it in an egg holder, then name the books before and after. Include fun rules along the way. 
4. What Book Am I?
   1. Supplies: clothespin and extra-fine permanent markers
   2. Write the books of the Bible on the clothespins and clip a Bible book clothespin to each driller’s back. 
   3. Challenge them to ask “yes” and “no” questions to discover which book they have. 

Additional resources

Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions provides online resources here for Bible Drill and here for childhood discipleship. Lifeway offers a resource, Bible Skills for Kids, here.