If I were a parent, these are resources I would use…


Often, I am asked by parents about things I would recommend for their child or family. The number one thing I’m asked is about what Bible kids should use. While I don’t have a hard and fast answer because every child is different, I have ones I like more than others because of features or readability. I also get asked a lot about devotional materials and things parents can do at home with their kids.

Because of this, I’ve compiled a list of my own personal suggestions for consideration. While I am not specifically ‘endorsing’ these products as “the one to buy” in each area, these are all resources I am familiar with and have used in the past. They are good books or resources and are excellent for kids and families.

So, without further ado, for your consideration, I present my list of recommended resources!

DK
Bible for Kids:
NLT Hands-On Bible, Softcover

Jesus taught with hands-on lessons and illustrations. The Hands-On Bible uses the same experience-based learning to communicate God’s Word in an active, understandable way. With hundreds of fun, memorable activities (A Do-It activity in EVERY feature!) and the full New Living Translation text, the Hands-On Bible is packed with activities and experiences that invite kids to crawl inside the Scriptures and “do” God’s Word!   New Living Translation (NLT) Recommended for Elementary aged kids

My First Message: A Devotional Bible for Kids
By Eugene H. Peterson

A unique devotional Bible designed to encourage parent-child interaction, My First Message introduces children to God’s Word through the best-selling Message Bible text, lively illustrations, short lessons and a format that considers a small attention span.   Recommend for preschool aged kids

The Action Bible: God’s Redemptive Story
The Action Bible presents 215 fast-paced narratives in chronological order, making it easier to follow the Bible’s historical flow—and reinforcing the build-up to its thrilling climax.   The stories in The Action Bible communicate clearly and forcefully to contemporary readers. This compelling blend of clear writing plus dramatic images offers an appeal that crosses all age boundaries.  
Family Time:
The Power of Teachable Moments: Using Everyday Experiences to Teach Your Child about God
By Jim Weidmann & Marianne Hering

You’ve had those moments in parenting: a golden opportunity that just seemed perfect to teach your child something spiritually significant. Weidmann and Hering invite you to discover how simple and natural it can be to recognize those everyday experiences and show you how to turn them into lasting impressions your child will carry into the future.

The NIV Family Reading Bible
By Zondervan

The Family Reading Bible is designed to help parents use the Bible itself as their family devotional tool to engage and understand the Bible together as a family. A reading system with three easy-to-use tracks allows parents to accommodate children of various ages and stages. Readings of manageable length along with age-appropriate, engaging questions will encourage and maintain your kids’ interest in God’s Word.
The Family Reading Bible is the perfect tool for parents in their role as the spiritual leaders of their home.

Sticky Situations: 365 Devotions for Kids & Families
By Betsy Schmitt

Our responses to “sticky situations” can get us into trouble or glorify God. What should I do when my best friend cheats on a test? How about when Sarah asks me to lie to her parents? Together, parents and kids can discuss a year’s worth of realistic Sticky Situations!

Gabbit: Family Faith Edition

Get your family into the Gabbit habit and grow closer to each other and to God! Building a strong Christian family is easy with this handy electronic game. Just choose from hundreds of stimulating questions, push the button, and let the lively conversations about God, faith, and life begin! Great for dinnertime, bedtime, long car trips, and more.

The Family That Prays Together:
Too Busy Not to Pray, 20th Anniversary Edition- softcover
By Bill Hybels

Hybels’s classic guidebook on prayer has reached a milestone—20 years of helping Christians draw near to God! Using the ACTS formula (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication), this updated edition offers Hybels’s time-tested advice and insights, plus a new introduction and a chapter on prayer and justice.

The Power of a Praying Parent
By Stormie Omartian

Stormie Omartian revisits her bestselling book for parents—now with a new cover—by adding new material and the wisdom gleaned from even more years of being a mom. In 30 easy-to-read chapters, Stormie shares from personal experience as to how parents can pray for their children’s safety, character, adolescence, peer pressure, school experiences, friends, and relationship with God. Now adults, Stormie’s grown-up children also reflect on the way their praying parents raised them—and what a difference it made.

Prayer-Saturated Kids: Equipping and Empowering Children in Prayer
By Cheryl Sacks & Arlyn Lawrence

A prayer saturated kid is one who is prayed for, prayed with, and taught to pray. Prayer saturated kids change the world and the people around them. No matter what your role is with kids and teens, you can intercede to God for the next generation. Each chapter in Prayer Saturated Kids offers inspiration, instruction, and insight on a different aspect of how prayer can impact the children in your life. At the end of the book are study questions that make this book adaptable as a study course for individuals, couples, small groups, and homeschooling families

Just for Mom and Dad:
The Five Love Languages
By Gary Chapman / Moody Publishers

Because a husband and wife often have different communication styles, it is common for a spouse to not feel or recognize the love given to them. In his bestselling book, The Five Love Languages, Dr. Chapman identifies and explains five unique communication methods.

Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy
By Gary Thomas / Zondervan

The title expresses a radical thought for today’s marriages! Chapter by chapter, discover how marriage works to develop Christlike character – forgiveness, love, respect, perseverance – in each of you. This book will enrich your marriage in unexpected ways.

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs
By Dr. Emerson Eggerichs / Thomas Nelson

Dr. Emerson Eggerichs’ book, Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs, is based on the biblical passage from Ephesians 5:33. His premise is that communication between a husband and wife is often frustrated because of the vastly different ways in which men and women perceive love. Women are wired to need unconditional love and men need to feel unconditionally respected.

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