Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Three Creative Ways to Teach the Bible to Kids w/Breanna Churchill

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Three Creative Ways to Teach the Bible to Kids w/Breanna Churchill · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author with a background in K-8 education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices for both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to help you raise kids with a positive, godly self-image so they can become all they were created to be.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Five Minute Parenting, tips to help you raise competent and God-confident kids.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Today's guest is Brianna Churchill, award-winning children's author and founder of the Brown Bear Book Club.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: She'll be sharing three creative ways to teach the Bible to kids.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Brianna's platform is dedicated to helping families and educators cultivate a love for literacy, faith, and learning.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Brianna's writing is deeply inspired by her role as a wife, homeschooling mom of two boys, and her teaching experience.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: When she's not writing, she enjoys playing games with her family, teaching children's church, and watching sunsets.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Brianna wholeheartedly believes the truth of Psalm 127.3.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Children are a gift from the Lord.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: They are a reward from Him.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Brianna, welcome to Five Minute Parenting.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm so glad to be here.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad you're here.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that Bible verse, and I wholeheartedly believe that as well.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just glad you're here to walk parents through three creative ways to teach the Bible to children.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So please jump right in with the first one: props and role play.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, props and role play is one of the easiest things that we can do anytime that we open up the Bible.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, you know, when you look at scripture, I'm thinking about even when me and my kids, we recently did Joshua a couple of months ago.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: We were doing a study on Joshua's life.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And just as simple as getting some blocks out in your house and building the walls of Jericho, and you read it and then you act it out.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you could easily get sheets and blankets in your home and pretend to be any biblical character.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that just makes it um hands-on and it it makes it easier for children to be able to connect the story in a playful way, but still meaningful.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, very true.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that role play, I think, is so important.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my um grandkids are doing that with David and Goliath, that movie that came out recently.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, and they have enjoyed playing that all the time.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we ended up getting my grandson um the whole armor of God.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So they put different pieces, and it's just so fun to watch them and and where those that that story goes for them, but it really keeps it in the forefront of their mind and it helps them relate to it in a in a deeper way.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, and it's just so easy to do.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: You can grab any any prop.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: I remember one year, even when we did Noah's Ark, we got some markers and paper towels and we created the rainbow with just water and a cup and some markers and paper towels.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And again, you can read the scripture and then you can read it as you're doing the activity, but it's just a simple way to again help children to interact with God's word and then have something to help it stick in their minds when you're doing a hands-on activity with props and role play.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any recommendations as far as where to find really fun props?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know there's a lot we can do just make shift.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the biggest things that I try to encourage parents is a lot of the things that you can do, you'll be surprised that most of the things that you can do is right in your home.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's right in your, it's I mean, it's right in your home.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this week, as we're recording this, it's it's getting close to resurrection season.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, the 30 pieces of silver what Judas betrays Jesus, you have coins in your home, you know.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you don't have, I would say you don't feel like you have to go out and buy fancy props.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's tons of sales and deals, dollar store, Amazon, all those places.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: They have the basic materials, but most materials you could probably find right in your home.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's good.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what about science experiments and movement?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: So science experiments is probably one of it's so fun to do um because you're literally seeing what God has created explode in a very I yeah, in a very hands-on way.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one year we did an activity about God's overflowing love.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um, instead of just telling the children about God's overflowing love, we created a experiment using um peroxide and all types of like uh materials that went into it, but it made it where the water just kept flowing, well, the liquid, I should say, kept flowing and flowing and flowing, and the kids were into it.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And many parents are probably also familiar with the when we how the world is full of sin, or even how we're full of sin in the experiment with um food coloring and bleach and how it changes.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, science experiments is just a fun way to again just make it in making scripture interactive and helping it stick in the in the child's heart in a different way.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the things that I always uh try to do as a parent and as a children's children's church teacher is that when you're thinking about teaching kids, you have to think about the way children learn.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have your auditory learner who's gonna hear it.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that song was all they needed and they got it.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: But then you got another child who's like, I need to experience it.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: I need it to be hands-on.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so usually you can tell what type of child you have by how they light up and how they respond to the activity or whatever you're doing.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so science experiments again can be um a lot of things can be writing your home.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, it's just a fun way to make scripture interactive.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, movement, you know, I that's one thing I always love dancing, yes, running, jumping, playing.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, how can we incorporate that into teaching the Bible?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the easiest ways with movement is you take a key scripture, um, whatever, like if you're reading a Bible passage, or maybe you just have a verse that you're really trying to pour into the heart of your children, um, create motions to go with that verse.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that is one of the easiest ways that I uh that I implement movement with scripture is helping children to memorize and meditate on scripture through movement.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, if it's if the scripture is saying lift up, you're lifting your hands.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if the scripture is saying bow down, you're bowing down.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: If the scripture is, you know, I'm thinking about Psalm 150, if it's saying praise him in the dance, you're dancing.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if it's, you know, Psalm 23, you can do a full, probably a full chapter of Psalm 23 of just pretending like you're going on a uh like a uh an adventure and you're doing the different motions as you are expressing and reading Psalm 23 and helping the kids memorize those verses.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's good.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the two go hand in hand with the movement and role play.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kids like to move and they like to pretend, you know, even some of the older kids.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I think both of those are are real.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I wanted to say with movement, also games.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um I try not to have kids sitting down too long.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so, even simple games like four corners, like sometimes when we're doing Bible review, you could have corners in your house, you could have corners if you're doing this at church, but you can label them A, B, C, or D, and you can ask a question and have the kids run over to the corner of which answer they think it is.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's a simple movement idea or even game idea.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um over the summer last year, we were doing uh similar similar to what you mentioned about the armor of God.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: We were doing a uh tug of war just representing spiritual warfare.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: So we got a rope and had kids on teams, and they were doing a tug of war game to show that there's a spiritual battle that happens.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so those are all just simple movement ideas you could do.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, those are great.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what about testimonies and storytelling?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is probably one of the most powerful moments.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, testimonies and storytelling.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to start with testimonies.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is the opportunity for us as parents to really and share with our children who is God in our lives.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: What has God done in the past and what is he doing right now?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so often in scripture, we know that God tells, uh tells us, instructs the children of Israel.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, don't forget, like you need to tell the future generations about what I've done.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think um it could just be a short story of when when this happened and God answered my prayer or or even something, you know, that you're currently trusting God for, for kids to see faith in action.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Mommy's praying about this, daddy's praying about this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then when God answers, oh, okay, God responds.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's not just someone who's just sitting back and listening, but there is a response in prayer, or there's a response, he's active in our lives.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, it's so important that we share testimonies.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be, you know, long and elaborate, it could just be a one-minute testimony of something God has done, or even a scripture that really ministered to you as a parent and and share it with your child.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic ideas.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that goes along with the storytelling, I would imagine.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, with storytelling, um, I really love trying to find um books that also connect with scripture.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um one book that I'm very aware of, it was a book called uh Sammy.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: It was a book about this character named Sammy and and the shepherd, and it was a whole outline of Psalm 23.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: And basically, when you find books, you want to find books that don't take away from scripture, but enhances the message of scripture.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love storytelling because just like just like testimonies, a good book that's in the proper context can help children um connect in a relatable way.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that was just one example.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then another example would be like socially, so books that address maybe some of those issues, like you know, you mentioned your your uh grandchildren are learning about David and Goliath.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, then you would have a book that may not be talking about David and Goliath, but maybe a really big problem that the child is facing in their lives, or you know, a key scripture where something's happening, but then you find a book that is relatable to two current situations that children are facing.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, these are fantastic ideas, Brianna.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You are a great resource for parents.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Before we close, Pete, please tell listeners a little bit about the Brown Bear Book Club.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yes.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: The Brown Bear Book Club is all about empowering parents, educators, anybody who has little ones, grandparents, um, uh, with resources for young children.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I share book ideas, I share tips, tools, activity ideas, uh, things that are applicable for home, school, or church.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: So wherever you are.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's pretty much the club.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: You can find the Brown Bear Book Club on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all the platforms, TikTok.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I send out a monthly newsletter.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's totally free to get those newsletters.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that just has additional tips and tools, resources.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I always have um things that freebies that are always in that email to just make life a little bit easier because we know parenting is full of twists and turns.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we will have links to that in the show notes.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being here, Brianna.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is it for today.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to share this episode with another parent or grandparent you want to bless and encourage.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then come back next week for another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed week.