Bible stories

Do not hand a seven year old a list of ten rules. Start with the two halves Jesus named, keep the wording plain, and skip the parts that are not theirs yet.

Verse memory works in the car and at bedtime, not at a desk. How to cut a verse into pieces a child can hold, and which verses to choose first.

How to tell Joseph and his brothers at bedtime without turning it into a lecture at the child who started the fight, and what lands at each age.

How to tell the prodigal son to a child without stopping at the party, what to do with the older brother, and how much of the wild living to explain.

Three Bible stories about courage for kids, and what to say after each one so bravery does not get taught as a guarantee that things go well.

Your two year old will not sit still for a page. Bedtime Bible stories for toddlers work when they are short, repeated, and about exactly one thing.

The flood. Egypt. The cross. A calm, age-by-age way to handle the Bible's difficult stories at bedtime, without scaring your child or dodging the question.

One reading bores the nine year old and loses the three year old. How to do family Bible time with different ages without three separate sessions.