5 Ways to Retell a Bible Story With Kids

A great way for kids (and adults!) to remember God’s story and to experience it more deeply is to retell it in ways that engage their head, heart, and hands. Get inspired with these easy ideas for retelling a Bible story. 

1. Build

Use building blocks or play dough to recreate scenes from the story. Work together or build scenes individually and then show and tell each other about what you’ve made. 

2. Draw

There are lots of ways to use art to tell stories: Have each person draw a picture of a different part of the story; then put the pictures together and tell the story again. Pick a word from the story and illustrate it. Make a cartoon strip. Sketch pictures of what you’re imagining as the story or text is being read; then compare your thoughts. 

3. Sing

Make up a tune (or use one that’s familiar), and turn the story into a song. Or look for a version of the story that’s already been recorded, and learn it together. (We love the Bible story songs written and recorded by Rain for Roots.)

4. Act

Use puppets (socks, dolls, or utensils will do!) or yourselves to act out the story. Consider taking photos of each scene and printing them as a book or comic strip. Another fun idea is to assign readers to read the dialog and/or assign sound effects to particular words, and to reread the story together.

5. Wonder

Ask open-ended questions that have no “right or wrong” answers. For example,

• I wonder what . . .  (I wonder what Jonah thought about inside the fish . . . ? I wonder what you would have thought about . . . ?)
• I wonder how . . . (I wonder how it felt to cross the Red Sea . . . ? I wonder how this story makes you feel . . . ?)
• I wonder who . . . (I wonder who the shepherds told first about meeting baby Jesus . . . ? I wonder whom you would have run to tell . . . ?)
• I wonder why . . . (I wonder why Jesus told stories to people . . . ? I wonder why we don’t always do what God asks us to do . . . ?)

For more ways to connect children’s ministry and family faith formation, check out the Dwell at Home resources at DwellCurriculum.org/home.