16 Style-ish Ideas to Help Kids Memorize Scripture and Finish Handbooks

The race with the calendar is on! Your Awana club is about to end, yet you have kids who aren’t on track to finish their handbook. And for some of those kids, you are praying for a miracle and a method to get them over the finish line. We can’t promise you anything — except that we’ll join you in prayer! —but focusing on a kid’s learning style may make the difference between their success and struggle. 

Kids learn in a variety of ways. There are visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. How a child learns also impacts how they memorize Scripture. Visual learners will succeed in verse memory through reading or seeing pictures; auditory learners will memorize through listening to a verse over and over or by associating words with sounds; and kinesthetic learners will learn while in motion. When you can engage more than one of the senses, you not only impact a greater number of kids who have different learning/memorization styles, but you also encourage faster and longer-lasting memory. 

If a child in your club is struggling with memorizing, try an activity that matches their learning/memorization style. The 16 ideas below take into account the variety of styles. Entries marked with a house are good options for memorizing at home, too!

⌂ Hopscotch: Instead of using numbered squares, put a word in each square. As a child hops from square to square, they say the words as they land on them. Before picking up their rock they have to say the verse reference. 

⌂ Popcorn Toss: Pass the ball around a circle or throw it randomly from person to person, saying the next word in the verse before releasing the ball. Either throw the ball slowly or speed things up. If someone cannot remember the next word in the verse when the ball comes to them, they must sit down. (Begin the game with the verse written in a prominent place for all to see. As the kids get better at saying the verse quickly, remove their ability to see the words so that they must rely on their memory.) 

Four-Square Verse Memorization: Play Four-Square as usual, but the person with the ball must say the next word in the verse before moving the ball to the next person. If a person makes a mistake, they move down to the fourth square and everyone else moves up a square.

⌂ Popsicle Stick Placement: Write each word in a verse on a popsicle stick. Hand the sticks to a child and have them put the sticks in the correct order. (This also works with sticky notes.) For a more challenging game, remove one of the sticks (or sticky notes) and have the child put the rest of the sticks in order while saying the missing word aloud at the right time. 

Wiggle and Giggle: Assign each child a word in a memory verse. Tell them to create any kind of movement they want for the word. Once everyone has their wiggle in mind, begin reciting the verse, having each child make their movement when their word comes to them. Once everyone feels comfortable doing that, have them change locations and recite the verse again —that way they need to listen closely to the words being said before theirs, rather than rely on where everyone is standing. If, after a time, the kids can recite the verse from memory, challenge them to make everyone’s movements as they recite the words together. 

⌂ Sound It Out: Do the same as above; but instead of motions, have the kids snap their fingers, stomp their feet, clap their hands or make other noises for each word in a verse. 

⌂ Bucket Bean Bag Toss: Label each bucket with the words from a memory verse. Have kids throw bean bags in the buckets in the correct order to complete the verse. Begin with the words in a row to make it easy to memorize. For a more challenging game, put the buckets out of order.

⌂ Speed Writing/Speed Typing: This can be handled as a relay, but really works best for a person to race themselves. Put the memory verse in plain view and have the child write or type it out as quickly as possible. Tell them not to worry about spelling or penmanship; the goal is to get the verse written or typed out correctly as quickly as possible. Time them. Have them read over the verse, highlight any errors and then study the correct verse before writing/typing again. Have them do this until they get the verse correct. See if they can better their time.

⌂ Dissect the Verse: For kids who are high visual learners, have them look at a verse and see the connection between words. Do the first letters of each word spell a new word? Is there any structure in the sentences that repeats? Have them pick these things out as a way to remember the verse. Once successful, have them teach this method to someone else.

Relay Race Recall: Separate your kids into several groups. Write a verse and verse reference onto letter-size pieces of paper, one word to a sheet, one packet per team. Mix up each packet and leave it in a pile at one end of the room. Have your teams line up at the other end of the room. When you blow the whistle each person must run as quickly as they can to their team’s pile, choose one word from the packet, put it in the proper order, return to their team and sit down. (The first person won’t need to worry about the order yet, but it will get more challenging for the following runners.) The first team to put their memory verse in order and have all of their runners sitting is the winner. 

Scripture Spud: Look up the rules of the traditional game of Spud. Rather than kids taking four steps and spelling out the word Spud, have them take a step for each word they can say correctly in the memory verse. If they can say the entire verse and reference correctly and touch a person with the ball, the person they touch is out. If the person they are trying to touch with the ball can finish the verse, along with the reference, they can stay in and the thrower is out. 

⌂ Recording Artist: Have the child record themselves saying the verse. It’s up to them to say it or sing it in a way that will help them memorize it. (Suggest they sing the words to a familiar tune, for example.) Once they record themselves saying the memory verse multiple times in a row, have them use the recording to practice memorization.

⌂ Verse Memory Placemat: Gather drawing supplies and old magazines and have kids write, draw or depict their verses on a large 11×17 piece of construction paper or poster board. Encourage them to draw pictures and cut out images to replace some of the words. When they are done doing this for all the verses they need to memorize, have their “placemats” laminated so they can use them while eating with their family at home.

⌂ That’s Not Right: Recite a memory verse over and over as a group. When it seems the kids are getting better at saying it from memory, change the game up a bit. Tell them you will say the verse but one of the words will be incorrect. They need to identify the incorrect word and correct it. Surprise them by using a silly word in place of the correct word. Do this several times, choosing different words to replace and say. If you want, have each child take a turn replacing one of the words in the verse with a silly word. 

⌂ Concentration Card Game: Using index cards, write out the memory verse on one card and the verse reference on another. Do this for each of the verses needing to be memorized. Mix the cards up and lay them out. Have children try to match the verse to the reference. For more of a challenge, turn the cards over so they can’t see the words. When they turn one card over, have them say the missing part (either the verse or the verse reference), then see if they can locate where that missing part is.

Memory Verse Midway: If you’re looking for a new idea to help kids finish a lot of verses, host a carnival of sorts with several of the Scripture memory games listed above. Figure out ahead of time which verses your kids need to learn and set up stations around your church for them to play the various games mentioned above. When a child successfully memorizes a verse, mark it in their handbook. If you have enough room, let all your clubs participate at the same time. If space is a premium, consider scheduling your clubs in two-hour stretches throughout the day. Carry out the carnival theme in your decorations and attire. Let kids either roam to the verses they need to memorize or give them a select route to follow.

Although learning Scripture memory verses and finishing handbooks is top of mind right now, remember what is most important is that kids learn all Scripture points to Jesus and is the true Word of God they can apply to their lives. As long as they understand this, they will know they can return to the Bible again and again for guidance … and verse recognition and memory will come.

Further resources:
19 Ideas For Encouraging Memorization
How-Tos of Verse Memorization
27 Ways to Encourage Your Child To Memorize
Tips For Your Ministry: Helping Kids Finish Their Books