27 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Memorize

1.  Before you go to bed on Awana night (right after your kids get home from club), read over the next week’s verses with your child. Are there any words or phrases he doesn’t understand? Define them or explain them to him. (You might have to read over the verses before hand to study any words or phrases you might not know.)

2.  Read the verse with your child, emphasizing different words. This especially works with younger children who mimic your voice and tone. For instance in James 2:10 say, For whoever keeps the wwwhhhhhooooollllleee law, drawing out and emphasizing “whole.” Kids pick up on that (as do teens and adults), making the verse easier to learn.

3.  Create pictures to represent the words of the verse. (Or have your child draw the verse.)

4.  Put the text to music.

5.  Give the verses a title. For instance 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 are the Gospel verses. Proverbs 3:5-6 are the trust verses.

6.  Record (on your phone) your child saying the verses. Send the video to Grandma or someone else who would appreciate it.

7.  Write out the verse. Cut each word into a separate piece and have your child put the words together like a puzzle.

8.  Write the verse on an index card or small piece of paper and have the child put it in her pocket to have it with her (to study) wherever she goes.

9.    Make use of car time to review verses.

10.  Write out or print the verse on the computer each day of the week.

11.  Ask your child to teach the verse to you. (Sometimes teaching someone else helps us learn the verse ourselves.)

12.  Write out the verse and tape it on a bathroom or bedroom mirror – some place the child looks at every day.

13.  Make a memory game of your child’s verses. Write out the verses on one side of the card and the references on the other. Child must match the references with the verses.

14.  Have your child look the verse up in the Bible. This not only helps them get used to looking up verses, but also emphasizes that the verse is from God’s Word and not from an Awana handbook.

15. Encourage the child to say the verse out loud. Sometimes saying the words makes more of an impact than simply reading them.

16.  Say (or read if you must) all the verses your children are learning for this week’s club – every night at the supper table.

17. Look on Biblegateway. Find the verse in a different language. For fun, read it together and see if you can match up the words. Don’t spend a lot of time on  this (unless you really, really want to), but doing this might make some of the  English words stick in your child’s mind.

18.  Design a memorizing trail through your house. Write out the words of the verse and attach to different objects.

For instance –  Psalm 100:1 –

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  “Make a” can be placed on the kitchen counter – as in “making” dinner.

“Joyful noise” could be placed on a piano or guitar or other noisy something.

“To the Lord” could be placed on a Bible.

 “All the earth” could be taped to a globe.

Walk around the house, stopping at each point, saying the verse.

(I did this with a Trek teen when she was stuck on a difficult verse. By the time we had walked through the house a few times, we both knew the verse word perfect.)

19. Write down on card stock, highlight (in color) key words, draw pictures around the edge that illustrates the verse and then hang in a visible place.

20. Write the first letter of each word of the verse on a card or whiteboard. After your children review the verse several times, challenge them to say it by looking at the letters. Ask them to do it that way a few times and then without any help at all.

21.  Do a word jumble with the words of the verse. Once they unscramble all the words, have them put the verse itself together.

22.  Write the verse in code. (You can use the alphabet – with each letter one letter off from what it should be. For instance “for” would be “gps.” Challenge your child to decode it!)

23. Do you have a whiteboard or chalkboard at home? (This is an old favorite) Write the verse out and then read with your child a few times. Then erase a word and read through again. Again erase a word and read through again – until there are no words left.

24. Make up hand motions for the verses.

25. For older kids – Put the verse on their phone or computer as a screensaver.

26. For older kids – Record the verse as a wakeup alarm message.

27. For older kids – Challenge them to periodically program reminders into their phone to say the verse.