Books of the Bible Memory Aids

I was teaching my own kids the Books of the Bible but saw a need for some resources. There are some decent flashcards, but I was looking for something that coordinated colors and symbols across flashcards, signs, and other processing activities. As a Sunday School teacher and parent, I recognized the need for engaging resources to teach the Books of the Bible to children and teens. In response, I created a set of coordinated flashcards, signs, and worksheets.  

Flashcards

The great things about flashcards are all of the ways that you can use them. Obviously, they can put the cards in order, but that is just the start. One thing that teachers do to help students is to "chunk" information into smaller groups so that students only have to process that smaller amount of information. So you can pull out only one section of the Bible. For example, pull out the OT History books) which is easy since the cards are color-coded by section so all the OT History cards are turquoise. Then, just put them in order. As you add on the sections they will work their way up to ordering all of the books. 

Besides ordering, the flashcards can be used for games. The students can race to see who can put the cards in order first. Or if you have ever played Spoons, you can do the same with these cards but you have to get books of the Bible in order instead of numbers. If you have a lot of students, you can give each a card to hold and have them put themselves in order. You could also play "I have _____, who has _____" where a student calls out the book on their card and asks who has the next book.

Since there are grayscale versions of the flashcards instead of the color-coded ones, you can have students decide if two books are in the same section. Or they can decide if a book is Old and New Testament. You can even give each student a card and they have to walk around and find other students who are from the same section.

Signs

The signs are great for hanging up around a room. I have used similar hand-made ones when I was teaching an Old Testament overview class to teenagers. We added the sign for each book as we covered them and they had keywords and symbols so we remembered what they were about. 

The signs also work well for having the students hop on them in order while reading them. This adds some movement and fun to get the students to say them. Add even more fun by having the students find the cards hidden around the room, put them in order, and then hop on them. Another fun activity is placing the book signs on the floor and have students toss bean bags onto them in order.

The Books of the Bible signs include signs for each section which work well with the Books of the Bible cards. You can use the flashcards as calling cards and the students have to hop on the section each book is from. Or you can print the grayscale flashcards on regular paper. Then, the students choose one, read it out loud, and then crumple it and toss it into the bucket labeled with the correct section.

Worksheets

In addition to all of the fun things you can do with the flashcards and signs, I made these coordinating worksheets. Each section has its own worksheet to help the students process the order of that section (there's that chunking strategy again). Also, some worksheets allow the students to order all of the books, but they are already divided into their sections. There are even cut-and-paste activities for putting the books of the Bible on a "bookshelf" in order. Other worksheets help students understand the meaning behind each Bible section. A scavenger hunt is available for the Old and New Testament. My favorite is the color-by-division activity where each area is colored the color of each section that the book is from.

What I love about these resources is how they all coordinate. The same colors are used for the sections throughout all of the resources. The same symbols and keywords are used. This consistency helps students process how the Bible is structured. 

Bundles

You can save money by buying the resources as a bundle. When you buy the Old Testament or New Testament Bundle you pay less than buying each resource individually. You save even more if you buy the large Old and New Testament Books of the Bible Bundle which is even cheaper than buying the Old and New Testaments separately. The bundles also include a bonus teaching guide that suggests how to teach the books and what activities to use for each section and a Bible Skills dice printable. 

What other books of the Bible resources would you like to see me make?