Materials for Teaching the Bible to Your Toddler

Materials for Teaching the Bible to Your Toddler

Over the past few days we’ve been talking about how to teach the Bible to toddlers.  On Monday we looked at why it’s important to teach the Bible to toddlers.  On Tuesday we looked at 5 ways to memorize scripture with your toddler.  And yesterday I put together a rather lengthy post with some considerations about how to choose a Bible for your toddler.

As we move forward today, I thought it might be helpful to put together a list of materials for teaching the Bible to your toddler.  This list is not all-inclusive and just because I have an item indicated in this post, does not mean that it is necessary to have on hand.  I will include the three things that you MUST have in order to teach the Bible to your toddler.  But the rest are just suggestions of things that I use on a regular basis.

So, without further ado, here are my ideas about what is necessary and what is nice to have around the house when diving into some Bible teaching with your tot.

What You Really Need to

Teach the Bible to Your Toddler

A Bible of your choosing.

A toddler of your liking.

A little bit of your time and attention.

Throw in some creativity and you’re ready to go!

Other Useful Materials

These are the items that I use on a regular basis.  The ones I use almost daily are at the top of the list.  Everything else is in some random order that I thought of while sitting on the couch with a squirming three-year-old.  I limited my list to 20 items, but there are certainly others that can be substituted or added.

Construction paper

Washable crayons and/or markers

Washable glue sticks and/or school glue

Grown up scissors (child safe scissors optional for older children)

Banner paper

Recyclable plastic containers (yogurt, sour cream, etc.)

Toilet paper rolls/tubes

Egg cartons

Craft sticks

Cotton balls

Sand paper

Aluminum foil

Fabric scraps

Felt or foam pieces

Yarn or string

Brown paper bags, lunch bags, and/or old manila folders

Stickers

Washable paints and brushes

Dry beans, rice, and/or pasta

Coffee filters and/or paper muffin cups

Simple Storage Solutions

Generally I like to use storage containers that I have on hand.  I can use old cottage cheese containers (the big ones from Sam’s Club), which are nice and sturdy or some of the larger disposable plastic food storage containers (Glad, Rubbermaid, etc.).  I’ve also used cardboard shoe boxes (from the rare occasion when we’ve actually bought new shoes).

I’ve found the most compact way of storing craft supplies is to use plastic shoe boxes that are sold in packs of 4-5 at places like Target and Walmart.  I can catch them on sale for about $5 around the holidays and back-to-school time.

I also like to use plastic storage drawers.  I have them in two sizes for school, office, and craft supplies.  The medium size ones are good for smaller items like stickers, small paper items, and the like.  The wider drawers will hold stacks of paper, even the slightly larger construction paper, which is nice.

With the shoe boxes and the drawers I usually label each drawer/box so that it’s easy for me to quickly pull out what I need. I don’t like the “Misc” labels, but sometimes they happen.  Oh, well…leftover Easter grass, chalk, glittery pompoms, and marbles don’t always fit easily into other categories.

And that’s it.  The three things you’ll absolutely need and some ideas of other useful materials to start teaching the Bible to your toddler.

What about you?  What every day or unusual items have you used recently when teaching your toddler?