Have you heard about The Dig yet? My friend, Ruth from The Better Mom just released this fantastic resource. It’s a verse by verse study of the book of Luke for kids!
Here’s a few reasons I think you’ll like The Dig and want to snag it (for a mere $4.99):
1. Ruth’s husband actually wrote it. He is a pastor by day and says this ebook has been his “personal desire and attempt to teach [his] children the Bible from an early age.”
2. As you read the book, you are led by a grizzled old explorer named Doc. (Well, I added the grizzly description because it’s such a great word!) Isn’t he grizzled cute?
4. This book is dummy-proof. All you have to do is sit down and read it with your kids. Read the passage, read the questions and talk with your kids. That’s it!
5. I think the book is geared more for elementary aged kids, but it’s simple and straight-forward enough for younger kids, too.
6. Each section covers just a few verses of Scripture at a time so I think you could do this as a family devotion over dinner! How fun would it be if you and your family read the entire book of Luke and talked about it together in just under two months?
7. There are even printable coloring sheets included!
8. It lends itself to so much extra fun: explorer hats, maps, treks through the jungle! Ooh, I’m getting excited just thinking about the possibilities! You know we love some explorers around here!
9. The Dig In Community begins September 3rd! That means people from all over the world will be doing The Dig with their kids and then connecting online to encourage each other! (Kinda like our Truth in the Tinsel facebook page in December!)
We have tried on numerous occasions but it sure is hard to engage a 2-, 4-, 6- and 8- year old for more than 5 minutes. Maybe this one will work?
We haven’t really yet. Once we tried reading the Jesus Story Book Bible but our daughter was a little too young. We should probably try something again.
No, we have not done family devotions yet, and weighs heavy on me. My husband is not comfortable with it and my kids never have the response I am hoping for whenever I try.
Our family has never done family devotionals on a regular basis. It is something I have been wanting to implement for some time now. This resource may be just the thing we need to get started! Thanks for sharing it with us! If I don’t win a copy, I think I will definitely be buying one!
We’ve done many – from “Playtime Baby” when the kids were young, to 365 interesting facts related to the Bible, to reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible…. I think my favorite was the Rhyme Bible. We read that one over and over for a couple of years to the point where my kids had some of the favorites memorized! We just started a family Bible Study on the book of James. We’ll be memorizing the entire book of James together over the next 9 months! The Dig sounds amazing! I’d love to do it over the Advent season! How cool would that be? My kids are currently 10, 9, 7 and 5. I loooove your blog, Amanda!
We did your Truth in the Tinsel, of course! We have lots of Bible story books and devotionals, but typically tend to skip around amongst our resources. I loved My First Hands on Bible for when my daughter was just a bit younger.
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
We have done truth in the tinsel as well as a superhero vbs program at home from the center of biblical parenting
Wow! My kids
love exploring too! This sounds great!
Not really as a family yet, but I try to read a chapter of te Jesus storybook Bible while my son eats breakfast an daddy takes a shower. It’s been fun!!
Does truth in the tinsel count for family devotion?! Loved that 🙂
We’ve done Truth in the Tinsel, a book specifically for boys with our son, and a couple of random devotions at random times. We need to be more consistent! We homeschool and talk about the Bible and God everyday, but we don’t have a specific devotion for every day.
never done a family devotion but have always wanted to do – this would be a great start.
We have done family devotions during Advent. Discovered Truth in the Tinsel after Christmas but hope to use it this year.
My kids are just small yet (5&3) But I believe in installing God’s truth into them early! We have been doing devotions on the fruits of the spirit, diving into each one a week. Really understanding what they are and how God wants to see them at work in our lives. Instead of our chore chart this summer (I’m a little too lax or strict schedules etc in the summer :o) We have a “Spot the fruit” chart. When we witness one another displaying a quality the kids put a corresponding fruit on the others chart. Fro example when my son (5) is kind to his little sister she is the first to jump up & run to his chart & put up a “Pineapple Kindness” sticker! NOw they are both always on the look out & displaying their fruits!
I love this idea thanks Leila!
Our ladies Bible study is going to study the book of Luke for the school year starting 9/12 so I would love to win this.
Oh and I forgot to say that we are on Week 43 of “Long Story Short” that is going through the Old Testament. My girls are 3 and 5.
We haven’t tried “official” devotions with our kids yet, but growing up my parents would wake me and my siblings up at 8am during the summers for devotions. 🙂
We do a family devotion time during our morning home school routine. We also do a nightly Bible time where we go through different books. We’ve done the explorer Bible, Action Bible and One Year Family Bible devotions.
We do family devotions in the evening by reading a children’s bible. We call it family worship time.
We try to read together from the Bible every day. In the past we have been more consistent though, and really seen the effects in our lives.
We never did devotionals. I am trying to read my oldest children (7 and 5) the Holy Bible and help them knowing how to pray and count their blessings. I am currently walking the same path, too.
Also, I have begun teaching them some rudiments of English (we are Italians) and this kind of approach would be the perfect match for us!
We are reading through a great book,each night after dinner, called HEROES WHO CHANGED THE WORLD (Scandinavia Publishing House). It might be a bit old for our kids (3,6,8), but they are loving it & getting a lot out of it (Mother Theresa, Hudson Taylor & David Livingstone so far). Then we read a VERY VERY old devotional for kids called ‘Simon & Sarah’ – we get our oldest to read the verse out of the bible, which she really likes to do. It’s a great devotional. My all time favourite, though,is the JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE!! I would highly recommend it. Our kids all like to repeat the phrase she uses throughout: “God’s never-stopping, never-giving-up,unbreaking, always & forever love”. How beautiful is that? I want to try & help them learn more memory verses to store up treasure for them for the future… Thanks for all your helpful ideas, & this recommendation of The Dig! xo
Oooo! This sounds terrific! We are about to start homeschooling (on Monday) and I want to introduce family Bible study as part of it. This sounds like way more fun than what I had thought of doing.
We haven’t done a family Bible study before. I am looking for ways to share our faith with our kids.
“The Dig” sounds great! We use family devotionals from all kinds of sources. Some of our favorites are: 252 Basics (http://www.whatisorange.org/252basics/), Focus on the Family online (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/spiritual_growth_for_kids/family_mealtime_devotionals.aspx), “The One Year Book of Devotions for Girls 2” by Tyndale, and “For Girls Only Devotions by Larsen.” I like the last two resources best because instead of going page by page we can use the index. If someone has had a hard time with a trusting God we can look up the deovtions for “trusting God.” If patience has been weak we choose a devotion on that fruit of the Spirit. Applying God’s Word to their personal daily needs is like taking advantage of a teachable moment. God’s Word meets them where they are at today and the next and the next showing He is the answer in all life’s joys and concerns! 🙂 We try not to be too rigid in doing “devotion time” at dinner, but to follow Dueteronomy and talking about God when you wake up, when you lie down, when you walk along the road….whenever and wherever…let Him be a part of your daily conversations throughout the day. 🙂
My family has never done a devotional together before. I have ran the child care at my church several times and did a bible study with my kids there, but not at home! I am going to look into doing this bible study though, it looks fun!
Yes! My kids actually get very upset when we have to miss a day due to unforeseen. Now we are adding a Bible Study to our Homeschool curriculum and we are all looking forward to it!
Haven’t yet done an “official” devotional yet, but ready to get started.
BTW, did anyone else check out the preview pages, and notice that the old dude on the front cover, you know the GRAY-HAIRED dude with the geezer spectacles, says he was born in 1975? Really? So people my age (more or less) look THAT OLD to the next generation? Youch!