Digging Deeper Kids: Praying the Scripture in Color

What a blast!  A dozen 4^th and 5^th grade girls Digging Deeper into God’s Word.

Since we have recently been talking about reversing the course of Bible Illiteracy among children, I thought I would take the next four weeks to share what’s happening on this front as I work with the precious girls at my church.

Our first week together started with a little game of 4 Corners.  Since I was meeting these girls for the very first time, I wanted to open with a couple of activities that would allow us some time to get acquainted.  Playing 4 Corners gave us a chance to talk, and the statements were designed to lead into our topic.

For those who aren’t familiar with 4 Corners, I placed a sign in each corner of the room:  Never, Once in a While, Most of the Time, and Always.  As I read each of the following statements, the girls were instructed to move to the corner of the room that represented their best response.

• I love school.
• I have access to a Bible.
• I wake up planning to read my Bible, but things happen and when I go to bed that night I realize I went the whole day without reading my Bible.
• When I read my Bible, it’s just me and my Bible.
• I get distracted when I read my Bible.
• I read the words, but I don’t understand what I’m reading.

Easing into lesson time, we next played around with “Lettering.”  Anyone who has ever been the parent of or worked with a girl of this age knows that most of them really enjoy fancy lettering – bubble letters, block letters, dot letters.  The girls couldn’t believe they were actually being encouraged to play with lettering.

Why did I choose to give them this play time?  It provided some time for us to talk a little more with each other, and it was relaxing.  Creative lettering is also a skill that can be used in any or all of the methods we might use as we Dig Deeper into the Bible.

After we practiced creative lettering (and made a personal name poster), we transitioned into our Digging Deeper method for our first week together – Praying Scripture in Color which is based upon Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth.

This was such a sweet time.  The girls were ready to Dig In and begin Praying their verse before I was finished with the explanation and example!

• Some used my example verse, some chose a personal favorite, and others selected a verse from the list of Suggested Verses I made available to them.
• Some Prayed their verse in Color on a blank sheet of paper. Others chose to write their verse on one of the templates I provided for them.
• Some wrote out the verse and then embellished it with creative lettering and symbols as they read it over and over. Others wrote out the verse and then read it again looking for a word to jump out at them.  Some wrote their verse into a template and added color as they read it over and over.
• Girls were looking for Bibles to copy verses from, checking dictionaries, consulting thesauruses, and asking each other questions about their verse or word.
• Some asked their mothers/grandmothers/other adult to come back with them next week.

Oh, yes!  Children can study the Bible independently.  They can get excited about it!