A pocket verse is just a verse written on a slip of paper and carried in your pocket to pull out and read all during the day.
In a previous post I mentioned a suggestion from Dr. Jo Bevington – “What joy it is to me to make me a pocket verse everyday and by the end of the day I have memorized it…..So I think what fun it would be for families of preschoolers to make their child a “pocket verse” every day. Since young children are concrete learners, the words of the Bible might become valuable to them if they carried around a little Bible thought each day.”
I tried this with our 3 year old Grant over the Christmas holidays. We put a Bible verse in his pocket, had him bring it out during the day, and we read it to him. By the end of the day he had memorized the short verse (and so had we). Just as Jo predicted, the pocket verse was so valuable to him that he pulled it out the next day to show to those that visited.
Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before Me.
Here’s a simple way to illustrate the meaning of this verse. I used these cards with my children 30 years ago, so don’t laugh at the TV with rabbit ears 🙂 We made cards illustrating things we might be putting before God such as friends, money, and TV.
We also read from The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, the Bible story recorded in Exodus 32:1-6 about when God’s people turned away from God and started praying to a golden calf that they had made. We talked about how this caused God much sorrow, just as it makes Him sad when we put other things or people before Him in our lives.
Let your children help make your own cards with pictures of things that tend to take your family’s time and attention away from God. Place the cards face down and mix them up. Then take turns choosing a card to see who picks God first.
God will give you all the things you need and enjoy if you give Him first place in your life and live as He wants you to. (Matthew 6:33)
Train Up The Child is dedicated to helping you fulfill God’s commands to parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to teach our children as we go; Isaiah 28:10 instructs to teach ‘here a little, there a little’.
Begin this lesson by creatively making a poster of Ephesians 4:32 and place it on the fridge all week. Read the suggested passages for Bible stories and tell them in your own words. I have given you suggested things to share about each. Do at least one of the suggested activities each day. I am sure you can come up with better ideas on your own – this is just to get you started.
Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another
Bible Stories:
Luke 10:30-35 A man was walking down a road and some bad men jumped on him and beat him up and hurt him so badly he couldn’t move. Then they left him all alone. A man came by later but he would not help the hurt man. Another man came by, but he wouldn’t help either. Finally a man came by and felt sorry for the hurt man so he stopped and helped him. He bandaged his hurt places and took him to a nice, warm place to stay. Which man was being kind?
Ruth 2 Ruth and her mother-in-law had just moved from another country to Bethlehem. They didn’t have a garden to raise any food, so they were hungry. Ruth went to a man’s field of wheat and asked if she could have the left-overs from his field. The man’s name was Boaz. Boaz told her she didn’t have to get the left-overs, but she could have whatever she needed. Was Boaz kind?
Daniel 1 The bad King Nebuchadnezzar had put Daniel in prison. He was being mean to Daniel and his friends. But one of the king’s men felt sorry for Daniel. Instead of being mean to Daniel like the king wanted him to, he was kind to Daniel and helped him to show the king that God is good.
1 Samuel 18 through 2 Samuel 5 King Saul had been chasing David everywhere. He wanted to kill David because David was so good. David hid in a cave. King Saul came into the cave and didn’t see David. This was David’s chance to get Saul back for being so mean to him. He could have hurt him but would that have been kind? No, David let Saul go unharmed. When Saul found out, he told David, “You have been kind, but I have been evil.”
John 4:6-29 Jesus was sitting at a well where people came to get their water. A lady came to get water while he sat there. She was a Samaritan lady and Jesus was a Jewish man. The Jews did not like the Samaritans and would not talk to them or have anything to do with them at all. In fact they were sometimes very mean to them. But Jesus wasn’t mean to the lady. He began to talk to her and tell her about God and how she could be saved. Jesus was kind to the lady.
Prayer: Help us to show kindness by hugging, helping, sharing, and saying kind words to one another
Activities for younger preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Feed birds or ducks or pet animals and share the verse
Share the verse while changing diaper and point out the kindness you are showing by
caring for him.
Teach him to hug and kiss – share the verse.
Play with ball and talk about playing kindly and sharing
Activities for older preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Make a bird feeder out of a pine cone covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.
hang outside in a tree. Watch for birds and share the verse.
Have him draw a picture and send it to someone just to show kindness.
Bake cookies and take to someone – share the verse as you work
Make or buy playdough and tell them you did it just to show kindness to him.
Describe situations or show pictures of different situations and ask if it is showing
kindness or unkindness –ex. Pushing, sharing, listening to parents, helping someone who falls down, telling someone, ‘I love you’, kicking someone
Teach a Bible verse with each letter of the alphabet. Becca has started this with Grant as she teaches him the 26 letters . Today they talked about things that start with ‘A’ and Grant began to learn Isaiah 53:6. She and Grant covered a picture of a sheep in cotton and played hide and seek with a toy sheep. What a fun way to learn the alphabet and memorize scripture!!
Grace Wolgemuth’s 26 Bible Verses
A – All we like sheep have gone astray. Isaiah 53:6
B – Be kind one to another. Ephesians 4:32
C – Children obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. Ephesians 6:1
D – Don’t fret or worry; it only leads to harm. Psalm 39:8b
E – Every good and perfect gift is from above. James 1:17
F – “Follow me,” Jesus said, “And I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
G – God is love. I John 4:16
H – He cares for you. I Peter 5:7
I – “I am the Bread of life.” John 6:35
J – Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me.” Matthew 19:14
K – Kind words are like honey, enjoyable and healthful. Proverbs 16:24
L – Love one another. John 13:34
M – “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27
N – Now is the time to come to Jesus. 2 Corinthians 6:2
O – Obey God because you are His children. I Peter 1:14
P – Pray about everything. Philippians 4:6
Q – Quick Lord, answer me, for I have prayed. Psalm 141:1
R – Remember your Creator now, while you are young. Ecclesiastes 12:6
S – Sing a new song to the Lord. Psalm 98:1
T – Thank God for Jesus, His gift too wonderful for words. 2 Corinthians 9:15
U – Underneath are God’s everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27
V – Visit the sick and fatherless. James 1:27
W – We love because God first loved us. I John 4:19
X – Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24
Y – You must be born again. John 3:7
Z – “Zacchaeus, you come down; for I’m going to your house today.” Luke 19:5
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