Kids Devotional Ideas for Teachers

Kid’s devotionals should be mini nuggets of power-packed truth that children can easily “digest.” While children’s church services provide you with plenty of time to reinforce a central idea, a devotional is time restrictive, but personal.
If you serve on the bus ministry, at a Christian school or in a neighborhood outreach, you may need kid’s devotional ideas to bring the gospel effectively. For added visual appeal, I have added some easy to find props suggestions to each of these devotionals. Teachers can put their own personalized teaching styles on each of these simple lessons. For quick devotional ideas, be sure to browse our devotional ideas for families.
Sharing the Sweetness: You’ll need a bag of miniature candy bars for this devotional idea. If you prefer, fruit will do too. Hide all the candy except for one piece. Show the kids the candy and talk about how delicious it is. Describe what the candy looks like, how it tastes and how it makes you feel. Open the candy and begin eating it in front of the kids. While you eat it, say, “Don’t you wish I had shared this with you?” Allow the kids to respond. Tell kids, “This is what it’s like when you don’t tell others about Jesus. God is sweet and wonderful like my candy bar but only I got to eat it. If I had shared the candy, everyone could enjoy the sweetness.” Bring out the hidden candy and share it with the kids.
God’s Big Word: Before the lesson, place an apple seed in your pocket. Tell kids, you have something in your pocket that can grow to 50 feet tall. Tell them when it gets to be full-sized it will feed many families. Show the children the seed. Explain to the group what kind of seed it is. Point out how small it is today but how it grows secretly in the ground when it is planted. Tell the children that God’s word is like this seed. Learning a scripture verse or hearing the Bible preached may seem small like the tiny seed. But when it is planted secretly in the heart, it will grow and give you fruit like joy and peace.
Open Your Gift: Another way to show how important the Word of God is to children is by explaining that it is a gift. Like any gift, it must be opened to be enjoyed. For fun, place a few novelty toys, enough for each child, in a box. Wrap a box with wrapping paper. Pass the “gift” around and allow kids to shake it and guess what’s in it. After everyone has had a turn guessing, set the gift down. Don’t let anyone open it yet. Tell them that it is their gift but they can’t open it. Explain to kids that this unopened gift is like an unopened Bible. You can’t get the treasures inside without opening it.
Hold a Bible to your forehead. Ask kids, “Is this how I learn about the Bible?” Kids will say “No!” Then hold your hand over the Bible and pretend to read it without opening it, using your finger. Ask, “Is this how I read the Bible?” Kids will say, “No!” Ask them how you should read it. They will answer, “Open it!” Open the Bible, share a verse. Open the gift and share the goodies.
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