As a child, I rarely memorized scripture from the Holy Bible, and I definitely didn’t memorize large passages from scripture or entire chapters of the Bible. But, oh, how I wish I had!
While I’m certainly a fan of memorizing individual Bible verses, I’m even more excited when my kids hide a big chunk of God’s Word in their hearts. And at the top of the list, is Psalm 23. This passage about our Good Shepherd is one of the first ones I teach my children, even before they can read!
How, you may ask? It’s really very easy! Young children are in a stage of development where their little minds are like sponges, soaking up whatever you put in front of them. That’s why they can learn much of their native language by the age of 2. If you expose them to something like the 23rd Psalm early, they’ll surprise you!
For my children, the easiest way to memorize anything is through song. I find a catchy song that’s enjoyable to listen to, add it to our car playlist (more on that below), and let them hear it over and over. Before you know it, they’ll be singing right along.
Some would argue that young children can’t understand the meaning behind such deep passages found in the book of Psalms. I disagree. My job as a parent is to create fertile soil in their little hearts and plant seeds. Singing joyfully together with their family creates wonderful shared memories, which fertilizes the soil. They understand that these passages of scripture are important to their mommy and daddy, and they take note. And later, when they’re ready and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can dive into what it means. But by that time, dozens of wonderful passages can already be hidden in their hearts, just waiting to be unpacked!
However, some kids are visual learners. Hearing the song is great, but if they REALLY want to grasp something, they need to SEE it. But what about a non-reader? We want our younger kids to start memorizing scripture, but they can’t read yet. What do we do? Good news! That’s why the verse design in my Psalm 23 Poster is such a great way to help these young children.
How to Prepare the Psalm 23 Poster
Simply grab some white paper (or even better, grab some card stock), print out this poster, and go! I chose to laminate mine for durability, but that’s not necessary.
With picture cues in every line of the passage, it makes scripture memorization much easier for our non-readers. It also provides memory pegs for our visual learners. For example, the verse that mentions “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures” underlines “green pastures” with a picture of green grass. And the verse that mentions “my cup runneth over” features a picture of cup behind the corresponding word. Young children love using this picture Psalm tool because they feel like they are really reading, just like big kids!
Other Ways to Use this Psalm 23 Bundle
If you homeschool, you can incorporate this tool into your lesson plans for your little one. From finger tracking to auditory attending, to memory work…so many good skills happen all at once in this activity, all while pointing your children to God. That’s a BIG WIN, Mama! Not to mention that this activity could be done as independent work while you work with your older children.
I should also point out that I find a single-page poster or similar designs to be preferable to flash cards for young children. While scripture cards can be helpful for older children, younger children can easily get so focused on stacking and restacking the cards that they never pay attention to the content of the cards themselves. And I find a small size poster (like full page 8.5 x11 or so) is perfect for both home use and car use, so you might want to print out multiple copies of the poster to have them handy in different locations.
Other fun ways to use this Psalm 23 Poster might be to post it in a visible spot like the fridge or on the bathroom mirror for the whole family to review. It could also be used in a Sunday School classroom for younger children and let everyone to “read” it together.
You’ll also find a blank sheep templates attached to my file download. You could allow your child to glue cotton balls to the sheep for each line they memorize. When the sheep is full and fluffy, the whole passage is memorized! You could also print off the attached coloring sheets and allow them to color the shepherd & sheep picture while they listen to the song on repeat.
Psalm 23 Song Link on You Tube & Creating a Playlist
This is our favorite version of Psalm 23 put to song. It’s in the King James Version. While we typically memorize scripture in the English Standard Version or the New International Version, I love this passage a little more in the KJV.
Our homeschool curriculum (Classical Conversations) comes with new memory work songs for each week of the school year. I combine those curriculum songs with other hymns and scripture memory songs (like this Psalm 23 song) into one new iTunes playlist for the week. My kids listen to this playlist while they are eating lunch, while we are riding in the car, and more!
When I’ve introduced a new song like Psalm 23, I’ll leave it in the playlist for 2-3 weeks straight, then I’ll space it out to pop up as a review song on future playlists. I love using these playlists to make sure I stay consistent at teaching and reviewing scripture. It’s like a little class session right there in the car with minimal effort on my part!
To get a little more bang for my buck, I’ve also synced these iTunes playlists to my kids’ iPads so they can review the current or past playlists anytime they want. While some people choose to create a YouTube playlist, I prefer the protection of having the songs isolated in an iTunes playlist so there is no internet involved, and accidental clicks on inappropriate videos isn’t a possibility.
More Bible Memory Resources for You
I’ve got other Bible lesson resources for you in both my Printables Store and my Freebies Library, so be sure to check them out while you’re here!
Some available discipleship resources include:
- Twelve Disciples– We love these memory cards from the Freebies Library to help us name all 12 of Jesus’s disciples. And this simple song makes it easy to memorize.
- Bible Reading Plan– Here’s my Book-by-Book Bible Reading Plan and cross-off chart. It’s very visual, so it is great for kids.
- Fruits of the Spirit– Seeds Family Worship has a great song to help kids learn the passage from Galatians about the Fruits of the Spirit. And I’ve made a poster to go along with it. You can download it in the Freebies Library.
- Gospel Cards– It’s shocking how many children from Christian homes can’t answer the question “What is the Gospel?” That’s why I created these Know the Gospel memory cards. They are straightforward and visual to make learning and reviewing easy. If you don’t teach your kids anything else, make SURE they know the Gospel!
- Sermon Notes for Preschoolers– We try to keep our children engaged in the Sunday sermon by taking notes. And there are tons of notes sheets available out there for older kids (like this one), but I couldn’t find any that were suitable for preschool/Kindergarten/1st grade age children. So, I created this bundle of Preschool Sermon Notes. Coloring, tracing, and listening for keywords keep them engaged and feeling like they have an important task during big church!
Creating tools and sharing ideas for discipleship at home is one of my favorite things! So, be sure to join my Freebies Library! I’m constantly adding new materials and different resource types for you. You’ll not only have access to my whole library, but you’ll also receive my weekly newsletter. These email communications will help you stay in the loop on all of my latest discipleship materials.
Now, let’s go teach them DILIGENTLY to our children! (Deuteronomy 6:7)
Want more ideas on how to Raise Them Up Diligently? I’ve got a whole section of my blog for just that purpose!
