One of the key ministry areas for POPs is to provide a daily activity-based Bible study plan for you to have with your child. We hope you will find this resource useful as you continue to spend quality time with your children, and as they grow and grow in their knowledge of Jesus.
Here you will find weekly Bible truths and activities. For each week there is a Parent Passage for you to read and study, followed by the Bible truths and passages for your child. You and your child will interact with the Bible verse in a different way each day to help your child recall the verse and the Bible truths as they continue to build their biblical foundation.
March Bible Study
Weeks 1 & 2– Jesus Cares Parent Passages: Luke 10: 25-37
Day 1: Make Play-dough people. Give your child play-dough. As they play, guide them to make play-dough people. Ask them to name the people they are making. If they don’t name people of their family, ask them to make a person like Mom, Dad, etc. Ask your child if he/she cares for the people in your family that they made. Guide them to describe how it feels to care for someone. Teach them the verse, 1 Peter 5:7 Jesus (God) Cares for You.
Day 2: Happy and sad faces. Give your child magazines to cut pictures of smiling faces. If you don’t have magazines you might gather some smiling face stickers or ask your child to draw some happy faces with a marker on a piece of construction paper. Ask them how they feel when they smile. “Are you happy, sad, or mad?” Tell them they can be happy that Jesus cares for them.
The Bible tells us about a man who was hurt. He had laid on the side of the road hurt. He couldn’t walk. As he laid on the side of the road, two men walked by the hurting man and didn’t stop. “How do you think that made the man feel? Happy, sad, or mad?
Recommended teaching for 2’s & 3’s: A (third) good man came by the hurt man. He stopped and helped the hurt man. He cared for the hurt man and took him to the doctor. When we care for people, it makes us happy and it makes them happy too! Jesus cares for us all the time!
Day 3: Make balloon faces. Blow up some balloons. Help your child draw faces on the balloons – happy face, a sad face, and a mad face. Ask them if they were going to take care of the balloon so it wouldn’t pop what they would do. (Not pop it – be careful to not step on it.) Remind them that the Good Man cared for the hurt man. He took him to the doctor and helped him feel better. Jesus cares for you. He always wants you to feel good and be happy. Remind them of the memory verse: Jesus cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Day 4: Make Band Aid Pictures. Give your child a piece of paper and band aids. Have them stick the band aids on a piece of copy paper or construction paper. They could tape a piece of a Kleenex on the construction paper or copy paper. Ask your child about how they can show they care using the band aids and Kleenex? Remind them of the story about the good man. Tell them Jesus wants us to take care of others. Ask them to tell you the memory verse: Jesus cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7.
Day 5: Wash a Toy. Ask your child to bring you their baby doll or their favorite plastic toy. Fill a bowl or wash tub with water. Give them a washcloth and towel. Tell them that part of taking care of things is to wash them and keep them clean. You can talk about you take care of the house and how you take care of your clothes by washing them. When the good man helped the hurt man, he washed the hurt places on the man to help take care of him. Jesus cares for us and wants us to help take care of others. Jesus cares for us 1 Peter 5:7.
Day 6: Make a snack to share with friends. Make a snack mix with O-shaped cereal, chocolate chips, pretzels, and raisins. Ask your child to choose which friend(s) they would like to share their snack. Make plans to deliver the snack to their friend(s). Tell them by sharing with our friends, we show our friends that we care about them. Ask them to recite the memory verse: Jesus cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Day 7: Dress Up Day. Ask your child to dress up like a nurse, doctor, dentist, family members, or a teacher. Ask him/her to tell you how each of the people the dressed up as cares for him/her.
If your child doesn’t like to dress up you could watch a helping age-appropriate TV show with him/her. Ask him throughout the show (as appropriate) how the people in the program care for people. After the show is over ask him/her to recite the memory verse. Jesus Cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7.
Day 8: Play Dough Day. Ask your child to use the playdough to make a person who is hurt. Have them lay the person on the edge of the table/counter. Ask them to make another person who helps the hurt man. Remind them how the Good Man cared for the hurt man. Remind them of the memory verse. Jesus Cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7
Day 9: Crepe Paper Owies. Wrap your child’s arm in crepe paper or you can use paper towel tubes to place around his/her arm. Continue to do similar things with the other arm and both legs. Talk about how these Owies make him/her feel. Talk about how his/her arms and legs hurt and how it’s hard to walk. Retell the story of the Good Man. Remind him/her that the hurt man had owies too and he couldn’t walk. Ask them to recite the memory verse. God Cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7.
Day 10: Hearts. Make heart-shaped cookies and let the child decorate them as you share with them that a heart is symbol of love and caring for a person. If time doesn’t allow baking cookies, you can buy heart-shaped snack or cookies and have them as a snack and talk about caring and retell the Bible story.
Day 11: The size of God’s heart. Make a big heart and lay it on the table. Talk about how BIG the heart is. Explain to the child that even as big as this heart is, it’s not as big as God’s heart. God’s heart is full of love. Because He loves us – he cares for us. Jesus Cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7.
Day 12: Acting Out the Story. Have your child walk around in a circle either in the living room or outside. As the child walks – talk about the men walking past the hurt man. Remind him/her about the Good Man that stopped to yelp the hurt man. If the child is interested, have him lay down on the floor/grass and you walk by like the other men in the story. When it’s time for the 3rd man to stop and help the hurt man, lean over the child to help him/her.
Day 13: Walking to Show Others You Care. Ask your child how he/she could show a neighbor that you care about them. Help him/her carry out the plan to show the neighbor that you care for them. Walk to the neighbor’s house to carry out the action.
Day 14: Jesus Cares for Us Always. Throughout the day today, find opportunities to remind your child that Jesus cares for him/her. When they are playing, helping with chores, preparing to take a nap, even when they aren’t behaving as you would like. Remind them that Jesus cares for him/her always even when he/she isn’t doing as we would like. Ask him/her to recite the Bible verse – Jesus Cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7.
Weeks 3 & 4 – Jesus is Alive Parent Passages: Luke 24:1-9, 36-39, 50-53
Day 15: Take a walk together looking for things that are alive. As you walk ask your 4-5 yr old child which things you see are alive and which things aren’t. As you walk with your 2-3 yr old point out the things that are alive – bugs, plants, flowers, trees, birds, dogs, cats. Begin teaching them the Bible verse – Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6.
Day 16: Happy face and sad face plate. Guide your child to make a smiling face on the side of one paper plate and a sad face on the back side of the plate. Tell your child that the Bible story is about the first Easter. Tell your child to show you the side of the plate that shows whether the people in the story are happy or sad.
Jesus’ friends were sad. (Guide your child to turn the plate to show the sad face) Jesus’ friends were crying because they thought Jesus had died. They were very sad. After Jesus had died, his body was placed in a tomb. The tomb was cave and covered with a big heavy rock.
Some women that were some of Jesus’ friends brought some spices to take care of Jesus. As the friends came to the tomb, the rock was moved and an angel was there! The angel told the women to not be sad – Jesus is alive! (Guide you child to turn the plate to show the happy face) The women were so happy they ran to tell their friends that Jesus is alive!
Day 17: Rolling the stone. Provide your child a ball and a box or bucket. Play with your child as they roll a ball into the box or bucket. As you play rolling the ball into the box or bucket, remind your child of the Bible story and how the angel rolled the stone away. Help your child find the Bible verse in a Bible and recite the memory verse with your child – Jesus is Alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 18: Build a cave. Use two chairs or a card table and a sheet or blanket to make a cave. Encourage your child to play inside the cave. Remind the child of the Bible story where Jesus was laid in a tomb. Take a flashlight and shine it in the cave and say an angel came and Jesus was gone. He was alive!
Day 19: Play an animal game. Play a game with your child where he/she guesses the name of the animal that makes the sound you are making. (Example: you make a mooing sound – the child guesses cow.) Remind the child that each of these animals is alive. Jesus is alive too! Help them recite the verse: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 20: Acting out the story.
Jesus’ friends were very sad. (Act like you are crying) Jesus was dead. Oh they were so very sad (Act like crying) Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb and a big heavy rock was rolled over in front of the tomb. (Act like you are rolling a big heavy rock over the tomb opening) Jesus’ friends came to the tomb to put spices on him. When they got to the tomb – the big rock was moved! An angel was there and told them that Jesus was alive.
Day 21: Tell Other People that Jesus is Alive. Remind your child of the Bible story that you’ve been learning. Retell the story and continue on to tell the part of the story that when the angel told the people that Jesus was alive, the people were so excited! They ran back to town to tell others that Jesus is alive. They told everyone they saw that Jesus is alive! Ask your child who they could tell that Jesus is alive. Call at least one of those people on the phone for your child to tell them that Jesus is alive. Recite the Bible verse with them: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 22: People saw Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead, He walked and talked with people. He ate with people. He prayed with them. Soon it was time for Jesus to go to live with God. The people waved goodbye as Jesus went up, up, up to heaven. Jesus wet to heaven to help make a special place for us to live someday. Jesus is alive and we can live with him someday in heaven.
Recite the Bible verse: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 23: Make cloud pictures. Give your child a piece of paper, cotton balls, and glue. Have them glue cotton balls on the paper to make clouds. Remind them that the people saw Jesus go up in the clouds to heaven to live with God. Have them tell you the memory verse as you write it on the picture. Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 24: Draw house pictures. Have your child draw a picture of a house. Talk about the things you do in your house – (eat, sleep, play games, etc). Ask them if they think the house you live in or the house they drew is as special as the place God is making for us in heaven. Tell them God is making us a place even more special than your house in heaven.
Day 25: Play with bubbles. Have you/your child blow bubbles outside. Watch the bubbles rise up in the air. Talk about how Jesus rose up into the sky to go to heaven to live with God.
Day 26: Who do you love? Who loves you? Talk to your child about who your child loves and who loves your child. As they mention someone that isn’t in the room with them at the time – explain to them that even if you can’t see them right now – they still love you. Explain to them that we can’t see Jesus right now but we know that He loves us.
Day 27: Surprise Egg. Give your child an empty Easter egg. Ask the child what he/she expects to see when the egg is opened. (Candy, coins, toy) Remind him/her of the women walking to the tomb. What did they expect to see in the tomb? (Jesus) Jesus wasn’t there though was He? No – because He was alive. Have the child open the Easter egg. Talk to him/her about the empty egg is a reminder that Jesus is alive and not in the tomb!
Day 28: Easter. Easter is in 2 days. We have Easter to celebrate that Jesus is alive! Jesus has risen from the dead. Recite the Bible verse: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 29: Planning for a party. Have your child help decorate for a party. Put a tablecloth or placemats on a table. Put Easter eggs on the table. Talk to your child about how the people in the Bible were so excited when they learned Jesus was alive! Recite the Bible verse: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6
Day 30: Have a party! Celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead. Celebrate that Jesus died on a cross. Rose from the dead and then went to heaven to live with God and he’s making a special houses just for us! Recite the Bible verse: Jesus is alive. Matthew 28:6