How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. –Psalm 119:9-11
When I was a kindergarten teacher, I often used movement in my classroom to teach important concepts. (Add a song and it was golden!) Our culture has been putting learning concepts to music for quite some time (School House Rock, anyone?) While there is medical and scientific evidence that music and movement helps children learn and retain information, I won’t bore you with citing statistics and studies.
Memorizing scripture is an important thing for all of us–no matter our age! The problem is, it isn’t always fun or easy. Why not use the creative learning strategies employed in good classrooms to help our kids hide God’s Word in their heart?
I work with the 3 & 4 year olds at my church’s Parent’s Day Out program. One of our daily activities is to say Psalm 23. Yes, the whole thing. The awesome thing is, they learned it quickly and committed it to memory without the constant prompting of an adult! How you might ask….MOVEMENT!
Here is a video demonstrating the movements for Psalm 23. (Please keep in mind that this is not sign language, but physical movements to help the kids remember the words.) I am also including a written description of the movements below to help you.
Having trouble seeing the video? Try this link: Hand Movements for Psalm 23
Here are the step-by-step instructions to the Hand Movements for Psalm 23 in PDF format: Psalm_23_Motions
Want more resources? Here is a list of some other great resources for memorizing scripture through music and movement:
- Seeds Family Worship ( They have resources on their website to go with their CD’s to help in scripture memorization. You can even listen online for free! Check them out on YouTube too!)
- BibleStoryPrintables.com (Visuals to go with the Seeds Family Worship CD’s!)
- Hubbard’s Cupboard (Scripture to traditional kid tunes with motions! Downloadable PDF’s and resource list)
- Songs For Saplings (Scripture to music)
- Totally Tots (Visuals to go with the Songs for Saplings ABC’s CD and their blog series called “In My Heart”)
- Impress Your Kids (Based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9, their ABC Scriptures and their Fruit of the Spirit Series are my favorites!)
Am I missing a great resource? Add your favorite to the comments! Any moms of older boys that want to weigh in on how you encourage your boys in this area as they grow? Please share!
This is very timely for us at the start of the homeschooling year. Thanks for sharing these resources!
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Love this! We just switched DS to a preschool in a church this summer, because I wanted him to learn more about the bible — and I don’t feel like I’m very good at that. So this is a great idea for us to do at home! Thanks
Hi!
I am a Mom of 3 boys… My oldest son in 1st now has been reading for a year. I would like to know how do you motivate a BOY who does not motivate himself to actually pick up a book and read. He loves when we read together… like me reading and him listening. But when I ask him to sit and read he just whines and asks what every word says…
HELP!! I am exhausted!!
Thank you!
Monica
[email protected]
http://www.godsmostprecious.blogspot.com
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I was so excited the year I put these motions together and taught them to the kids at PDO. I loved seeing the parent’s surprise and pleasure at what their kiddos were capable of learning! So glad that you even though you aren’t able to teach for me anymore that you are still passing the technique along for others to use!
Candice
This is great! I’ve never heard of Hubbard’s Cupboard, so I’ll have to check that out. I love all the other resources you mentioned! Have you ever heard of the Rizers? It’s an excellent Scripture memorization resource that is the quality of SEED’s but has more of a “rock band” feel. My 2 and 3 year old love them and request them every time we’re in the car. I’ve learned a lot of Scripture from them too. (My blog is doing a giveaway of them too right now, if you’re interested: http://www.whenyourise.com/2012/08/easiest-way-ever-to-memorize-scripture.html)
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This is great! I’ll have to check out the Hubbard’s Cupboard ones which is the only one from the list I’m not familiar with. The rest are fabulous! Have you heard of the Rizers? They’re an amazing resource too! SEEDs quality with a more rocky sound. My 2 and 3 year old ask to listen to them every time we’re in the car. (And my blog just happens to be doing a giveaway of some right now too, if you’re interested!)
I taught Kindergarten one year in a private school. They were having difficulties memorizing their Bible verses until I started turning the verses into songs. I love, too, that back in the day (late 70s/early 80s) a lot of our worship songs were Scripture set to music!
So maybe pulling those old songs out might be a good way for older kids to memorize the Bible. 
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Check out the Rizers! http://www.therizers.com/