Scripture Caterpillar

Earlier this week, Marilyn encouraged you to train your children to daily memorize Scripture, and she guided you through the way she has done this over the years.

I have a fun project that can be used with Scripture Memory in your home. This is something that my mom did with me and my brother when we were younger. We actually did it in relation to how many books we read, as an incentive to get us to read more.

However, you could also use this as an incentive to your children to memorize.
Now, we don't want our kids to always think that they "deserve" a prize or a reward for memorizing God's Word. But, it does help some children to work towards a goal. Also, there is a Scriptural principle to be taught. Hebrews 11: 6 says that God is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Teach your children that there are great rewards for those who seek God, to know His ways. That is why we learn and memorize His Word, isn't it? To seek Him?
First, talk with them about the ways God rewards those who seek Him. (Proverbs 2 and 3 are a good place to look to see the benefits and "rewards" of those who seek for God's wisdom.)

So, think up a special reward for your child. Maybe it will be a special lunch out with mom, or a night out for ice cream with dad.

Then, set a goal. Perhaps it will be 50 verses, or 100 verses. Or maybe you prefer to learn passages. So, maybe it will be 10 passages of Scripture. Obviously, keep in mind the child's age and ability to memorize. The point is to encourage them, not discourage them with an impossible task. But, at the same time, do set a high standard that will stretch them a little bit.

So, here's the project:
Scripture Caterpillar

You will need:
Assorted colors of construction paper
Scissors.
Something round to trace (maybe a glass or plastic cup, or cookie cutter)

Find a space on your wall or a whiteboard or even around a door frame where you can tape up each circle.

~Cut out circles (if your goal is 50 verses, cut out 50 circles per child)

~With an additional circle- draw on a "face" for the caterpillar- this is the first circle to be added to your wall.

~ Now, whenever your child learns a verse, and knows it well, You add the next part of the caterpillar's body (circle) to the wall. Write on that circle the reference of the verse they have learned. It was always an exciting time to be able to add the next circle!

~ As the number of verses they have memorized, grows, so does your caterpillar! Soon, you will have a long caterpillar filled with the verses they have memorized.

~ Each day, review the verse on each "circle" of the caterpillar. This makes it easy for the child to see what he has learned and it will also be exciting for them to see their caterpillar grow and grow, as they grow and grow in the Word! =)

~ Whenever a child reaches his/her goal, he gets his "reward".

This is a fun project that I remember enjoying when I was little. I'm sure many of you will have more ideas to build upon this one! As I said, my mom used it to help us read more. For each book we read, a circle was added.

This is also a nice project because it is suitable for very young children as well as middle school and even pre-teens.

I hope you will enjoy learning God's word with your children!

~Kari Boyer