Yesterday I had an email exchange with a youth/children’s pastor from the Seattle area and as I replied to some of his questions I realized that I had never really shared what I was sharing with him here on the blog. So…here’s an excerpt from his email followed by my reply (editing for sharing):

From his email: I have a question for you regarding another group of students – our 3-6th graders. Many of our students already have an extensive knowledge of the Bible for their age, and they’ve gotten bored with the spoon-fed curriculum that they’ve grown up on. We’re looking for ways to get them into scripture, to allow them to discover the Bible and God for themselves. I know that your new book is all about this, but I’m wondering if you’d have any suggestions for us before it’s published.

From my response: I’ve got to say that I’m becoming more and more convinced that with elementary kids – and even into Jr. High – we focus a lot on figuring out new ways to get them “into” the Bible, without really helping them INTERACT with the Bible. At that age, I think Bible knowledge is all well and good, but the activity-based, interactive model of learning is going to help them grow up knowing that the Bible is alive, real, and relevant to actual life.

To that end, I think the way in which we read it and talk about it is more important at that age than the curriculum we’re using. Do they see us reading it with enthusiasm or is the “Bible reading” the boring part that we have to get thru so we can tell the story, do the activity, etc.? Do they talk about how to live it out in the everyday?

For example, just this morning I read the book of James . My two older kids (8 and 6 years old) came downstairs and I simply said,

I just read in the Bible about how the words that come out of our mouths praise God, pray, and sing worship songs…But they also put people down and say mean or angry things. James – Jesus’ brother – was telling people in his letter that this shouldn’t be happening. So…how can we use our words to make someone feel better today instead of worse?

That led to some brainstorming about things we can say to encourage people – friends in the neighborhood, kids on their soccer teams, etc. It wasn’t a formal “Bible Study” per se. It was more conversational. More relational. More this-is-the-Bible-being-lived-out-in-everyday-life.

That said, I understand that in the Sunday morning setting there needs to be some sort of structure that leads to those conversations. I’ve recently come across a group called Family Time Training  that has some great activities tied to Scripture. While the site is geared toward family worship it’s certainly easily adaptable for groups of kids. If you’re looking for a more complete package type curriculum, I know some of the people behind Rio  and Tru  (from David C. Cook ) and they’re really doing some neat things.

This is certainly not a complete list. How would you have replied to his email?

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net