6 Ways to Help Your Child Get in the Word & Build Their Faith This Summer

By: Jenifer Metzger

Summertime is typically a time when "normal" goes out the window. If you are a working mom, with the kids off school things might become more rushed for you. Or if you are a stay at home mom, the kids being home throws your regular routine off a bit. Either way, for those three months things are not always normal.

In our home, between going to the park and the pool several times a week, house cleaning doesn't rank as high on my list as it normally does. The kids like to sleep in a bit and we let them stay up later at night. We are not sitting at the dining table doing school for five hours, so the day is a little more open. Which is sometimes extremely awesome! Other times, not so much.

One thing that seems to take a back seat anytime there is any kind of holiday or vacation is devotions. It is so easy to let time with God float to the back while we enjoy those short precious moments of summer. Believe me, I know. What we need to remember is that God doesn't take a vacation from us, so we shouldn't take one from Him.

Here are 6 ways to keep your family, and yourself, in God's Word this summer:

1. Continue having family devotions! Don't slack on this. If you had family devotions before, you might need to adjust your time a little, but don't give up altogether. If you haven't been doing family devotions, this is the perfect time to start! Do devotions at breakfast, after dinner while everyone is still gathered at the table, take a walk to the park each morning and sit at a picnic table and have devotions before play time, have devotions when the kids take a break from outside play for water, anything works, just be intentional.
2. Read through Proverbs together. There are 31 proverbs. July and August both have 31 days. Each day read the correlating proverb. For example, July 1st read Proverbs 1, July 2nd, read Proverbs 2, read all the way through, then in August, start over!
3. Outside play and activity is so important! We all know that. But we also know that the sun really wears them out and they need a break. After swimming all day, we come home, shower, then watch a movie. If your kids are younger, watch movies like Veggie Tales, What's In The Bible and Hermie and Friends. Afterward, talk about the Bible lessons or character qualities. If your kids are older, watch things like Facing the Giants, Courageous, and God's Not Dead. After the movie, talk about it together. 
4. Do Focus on the Family's Character Crew lessons. I did this with my kids when they were younger and it was awesome! There are 10 character qualities they focus on. You probably are down to roughly 7 weeks until school starts, but work on 1 a week, and double up a few to get all 10 in. There are printables, links to listen to Adventures in Odyssey and more.
5. Be a witness. Chances are your child is going to be making some new friends at the pool, on the playground or on the ball field. Teach your child how and when to witness. Role playing with them will be a great help! Then, when they are faced with new friends, they will have the confidence to share Jesus.
6. Have one on one talks. When you and your child are alone, maybe doing a chore together, cooking together or on a walk, share with them what you are learning in the Bible and ask them what they are learning. If they are reading the Bible, this will be the open door to share with you what they reading and ask any questions they have. If they are not reading, you can use this time to talk to them about the importance of reading the Word on their own each day. If they are not yet readers, a great way to help them read on their own, other than you reading to them of course, is to use a Bible app and click the option to have it read to you. YouVersion has a great interactive app called The Bible for Kids.

These are just 6 ways to help your kids build their faith and get in the Word. What are some other ways you are using or that you can think of? Share with us in the comments!