Exploring the Epistles with Kids

Does the idea of doing one of Paul’s letters in Kids Church thrill you with fear or excitement? For some, stepping outside the narrative parts of the Bible can seem daunting. There’s no pictures! It is wise to prayerfully consider how to teach these books as we need to take our responsibility to teach God’s Word faithfully to children very seriously. But we also don’t want to ignore large parts of the Bible just because it’s unfamiliar or difficult. So how do we teach epistles like Colossians and Ephesians to children? Here’s a few ideas to use alongside (or without) a bible talk.  

1. Use a kid-friendly translation

Use a translation that creates the fewest obstacles. My preference is for the NIRV, which has a reading level of a competent Year 3 student. This is a really simple way to reduce obstacles for your group. When the passage has big words, it’s often helpful to address this before you even look at the verses together. Prepare and share a simple definition so that when kids encounter the word, they’re equipped to understand it (even if you need to go over it a few times). Putting definitions up on a whiteboard or pinboard makes it easy for kids to refer back to.

2. Break it up

Break the letter up into short chunks and print it out in nice big font that is easy to read.  Often, to avoid losing the context and flow of the letter, I will print out a whole chapter or letter and make it into a booklet so that children can look at one short passage (perhaps 3-5 verses) and still see how it connects to what comes before and after. I would do this to give children every opportunity to engage directly with God’s Word, removing as many difficulties as possible.

3. Mark it up

Take advantage of the fact that the kids now have their own printed copy and get them to actively mark up the passage. Here are some ways to do this:

-   ask them to underline: For example, “Underline your favourite part of this passage”, or, “Underline in yellow the part about Jesus. Underline in blue the bits that tell us what to do.”

-     Ask them to circle any words or phrases that are hard to understand and spend some time discussing what they mean.

There’s more on using the Swedish method with kids in this article.

4. Use visual thinking strategies

Beyond underlining, explore other ways to show the logic and flow of a passage using symbols and logic maps, charts or mind maps. Not sure what symbols or pictures to use? Get the children to help you. Some will naturally be more creative and others might need more encouraging. It’s okay to work it out together. Time spent digging into God’s Word is never wasted. It might even be helpful for the children to realise you as the leader don’t have all the answers and that is okay.

This type of activity can be as open or flexible as you feel comfortable trying from, “Come up with a drawing of what these verses say”, to having a series of symbols on cards that they can put into an order that matches the passage.

5. Sentence starters & more

Here’s a few more ideas to provide scaffolding for children.  

Use sentence starters and fill in the blank activities. For example, Jesus is…. Or One new thing I learned about God is... .

Another way to use sentence starters is to show the first half of the verse and ask the children what they might expect the author to have written next. An example is Ephesians 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has…” What would you write next? What do you think Paul praises God for? What would you praise God for? This excites some interest in finding out the right answer and is a great way to consolidate and affirm other truths they might remember.

Fill in the blanks activities are also great for helping children to slow down and engage with the biblical text. Example: ‘For it is by ______ you have been saved (Ephesians 2:8)’. These can be done as an introductory activity, before the children see the whole passage, a way to raise interest. Or as a revision activity, remembering what has been looked at before.

Sometimes passages lend themselves to creating tables. When digging into Colossians 3:18-21 recently with a group of Year 3-6 kids, my co-leader asked them to fill in a table that asked for “who” is Paul addressing, what is the instruction, and why/what reason is given. This proved a great way to help them explore the passage.

6. Tell the stories

While the epistles are not narratives in the same way much of the Old Testament is, there are still stories to tell. Help children to see Paul as a person who had a life and friends and all kinds of adventures and trials using the accounts in Acts.

Also, tell your own stories about these parts of the Bible. The epistles have many wonderful “golden” verses that are seen in our songs and memory verses and part of our own journey of faith as leaders. Share the stories and give children a glimpse into your own growing faith.

7. Questions

It is, of course, okay to also ask a few well-planned questions. Writing the questions up on a whiteboard and adding all the answers as dot points beneath is a good way for everyone to keep track of the discussion. It is often affirming for children to see that their answer is worth adding to the board.

You can encourage them to find their answers in the right place by introducing the idea of “nose up” or “nose down” questions. “Nose up” questions are often in the realm of implications and application, where they need to combine ideas or make connections. “Nose down” questions are those where the answers are found by looking at the passage (your nose is ‘down’ towards the text). And remember, silence is good if you can see they are thinking (which might still look more wiggly than an adult thinking).

It can also be helpful to ask children to write their own one or two sentence answer to some questions. I would not ask this too often but asking for children to write a one sentence prayer in response to the passage is a good way to help them thoughtfully engage. Sharing your own one sentence prayer as an example is a helpful way to model what is required and show appropriate vulnerability.

8. Summarise

As noted above, it can be hard to hold the unity of an epistle at the same time as keeping the bible passages short enough for kids to manage. One way to reduce this risk is summarising. When recently exploring Colossians 3, we finished most lessons by adding answers at two A3 pages stuck on the wall with the questions, “What do we learn about Jesus?”, and, “What does that mean for us?”. This was a helpful way to keep holding together the important truth that all the instructions for godly living flow from a genuine and personal understanding of what Jesus has already done to save us.

Other ways to summarise include: sticking up pictures or symbols each week and referring back to them, coming up with one big idea from each passage and adding it to a poster, or even deciding on one or two key words that capture something from every passage.

What about wrong answers?

These activities can sometimes provoke the “wrong” answer and it can be hard to know how to respond in those moments. We might either get it wrong by failing to correct the error, worried we will discourage the child, or by coming down too hard and crushing their enthusiasm. Let’s try to avoid both those extremes.

Acknowledge the attempt and any truth that is there, but don’t be shy to correct an error. This is part of our responsibility as older brothers and sisters in Christ, to help children to grow up knowing the truth about God, even when there might be some awkwardness or upset.

 “Love that you’re thinking hard about this but let’s look at verse _ , how does that help us with this question?”, Or, “You’re right that God loves us but it doesn’t say it’s because we’re good, what does it say in verse ___?”

It’s also ok to come back to the group later on and say, “Last week we talked about ___ and I want to be clear about one part….” This can be a less direct way of clarifying points without anyone feeling singled out. It’s also a good way to reinforce the right things in everyone’s memory.

Two final tips

Keep it short. Depending on your group, anywhere from five minutes to ten minutes is likely to be enough of this kind of bible study. I would not go over 15 minutes unless it is very clear there is high motivation to continue. You may only get to use of the suggestions above. Less is usually more, and more effective.

If it is new to your group to explore bible passages in these ways, it will likely take time for them to get the hang of it. Most weeks, I am both wildly encouraged by their insightful answers and heavy-hearted at their apparent lack of interest. Children often seem to fluctuate quickly between being highly engaged and completely losing track of what’s happening. That doesn’t mean you aren’t doing a good job and it’s “not working”. Keep praying. God’s Word is powerful. We can trust God to be the one who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).