Whether you are a preschool teacher or a parent of a preschool age child, teaching your children about the stories that are in the bible are very important. Each story teaches the child a lesson that she can use throughout her life. From learning to what the difference is between the truth and a lie, to respecting your elders, the stories will hold a different meaning and value.
Teaching these lessons can be a hard task to accomplish when you are teaching a preschooler. At the age of preschool, these students and children are learning how to listen, read and communicate with not only adults but with each other. Keep the bible stories you are teaching simple by providing different crafts for the students to complete and use over and over to tell in her own words.
The crafts that you create need to be interactive; they need to allow the child to do them with you and they also need to tell the story you are learning about. Find a craft that is simple for the child to complete, yet complicated enough for them to perform and use new skills so they can grow. Among those skills, they need to learn how to construct an item together, how to listen to the instructions you are giving them and how to communicate to you if they don’t understand. As the parent or the teacher, you will need to be patient with the child as they learn and ask questions.
As you create a craft, sit with the child and tell the story as you go. This will allow the child to associate what they are making and the story as one. If you are using Noah and the Arc, explain who Noah was as you create Noah. As you are creating the arc, let each student answer what animals Noah included on the arc. As the student names the animal, you can create that animal for the student to place on the arc. There are different ways that you can tell the story; let the children help inspire you to find the perfect way.
If you are working with your preschool age child at home and not in a classroom, create a craft that you can do together. You can create a bookmark that reflects the child’s favorite story, a hand silhouette that shows your child hands praying or create a mobile that can be hung in the child’s room. There are many crafts that you can complete together; be sure to find one that your child can do with you. Try this website for a collection of bible crafts: MakePlayDough .As you are working on the craft, tell the story that you are turning into the craft. Once the craft is completed, tell the story again to your child. On the third attempt of the story, allow the child to help you tell the story or have the child tell you the story. You have increased their listening skills and memory skills at the same time.
It is important to allow the child to help choose the craft you are going to create and to allow them to help create the craft. This will help them use their imagination. It will also help them relate what they see in their mind and put it onto paper and into their craft.
As they start to recognize the process, the will begin to develop more and more skills that they will need later in life. Start helping these skills grow by creating bible crafts that will not only help them remember the bible, but will help them develop the skills they will need to succeed in life.