Scripture Stories Coloring Books Bring the Whole Family into the Scriptures

Contributed By Lauren Hanson, Church News staff writer

• 24 March 2017

The new Scripture Stories Coloring Books are an easy way to interest and engage younger children in scripture stories.

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“There is safety in the scriptures. Do not postpone reading them. If you have small children at home, do not put off teaching them from the scriptures. They understand more than we might imagine.” —President Thomas S. Monson

It’s no secret that rich blessings are promised to those who study the scriptures individually and as a family. However, for parents, creating the habit is often challenging (especially when a child keeps complaining that his sibling is breathing his air).

“There is safety in the scriptures. Do not postpone reading them,” President Thomas S. Monson has taught. “If you have small children at home, do not put off teaching them from the scriptures. They understand more than we might imagine” (Bolivia Stake Conference Broadcast, Mar. 16, 2008).

Supporting parents’ desires to have family scripture study, the Church is releasing a series of scripture stories coloring books, starting with editions for the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price stories. “Helping our children to become familiar with these stories will build within them a lifelong love for the scriptures,” said Elder Larry R. Lawrence of the Seventy.

Each coloring book is designed to help make scripture study fun and help children gain a love for the people, stories, and teachings in the scriptures.

Some of the activities included are look and find, dot-to-dot, mazes, drawing, matching, find the difference, and trace the letters. Each page also includes a search the scriptures challenge. For example, a coloring page about 1 Nephi 16 invites children to draw what the Liahona might look like and then asks, “How did the Liahona work?”

Where to get the coloring book

The Scripture Stories Coloring Book: Pearl of Great Price and the updated Scripture Stories Coloring Book: Book of Mormon, each with 32 coloring pages, are available today as a free PDF on children.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, where you can choose to print the entire book or individual pages.

Printed copies are available for 95 cents at store.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and at Distribution Services centers, Deseret Book, and other LDS booksellers.

About the coloring books

The Scripture Stories Coloring Book: Pearl of Great Price includes coloring pages that illustrate iconic scripture stories found in the Pearl of Great Price, such as the First Vision, Moses’s conversation with God, and the Creation. There are also coloring pages to help children visualize and memorize each of the Articles of Faith.

Additionally, the Scripture Stories Coloring Book: Book of Mormon that was released last year has been updated to 32 pages. It now contains more of the beloved stories found in the Book of Mormon, including Abish gathering the Lamanites to see the conversion of their king and queen, Moroni’s fortifications, Jesus instituting the sacrament among the Nephites, and the Jaredites in their barges as they journey to the promised land.

Additional editions of the Scripture Stories Coloring Books featuring the Doctrine and Covenants, Old Testament, and New Testament stories will be released later this year.

Teaching opportunity

The scripture-based coloring books are an easy way to interest and engage younger children in scripture stories. Each page provides activities and opportunities to search the scriptures, providing parents natural opportunities to talk about the scriptures with their children.

The coloring books help younger children engage in the scriptures in ways appropriate for their ages and attention spans.

Here are some ways you can incorporate the coloring books into your family scripture study:

• Read the scriptures to your children (or listen to the audio scriptures on the Gospel Library app or scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org) while they color the pages.

• Use the coloring pages to help tell a story from the scriptures or as an activity following a family home evening lesson.

• Help your children memorize the Articles of Faith as part of their Faith in God goals by talking about and reciting together each article of faith as you color the page together.

• Invite children to share what they learned from the page they colored or ask them to retell the story in their own words. Use the “Search the Scriptures” challenge found on each page to further the discussion.

• Set out the scripture stories coloring books and crayons on Sundays to encourage children to choose a fun and meaningful Sabbath day activity.

The coloring books include dot-to-dot, mazes, and other fun activities for children ages 2–8. Each page also includes a challenge to search the scriptures.

Available translations

To support family scripture study around the globe, the coloring books will initially be translated into 43 languages. Translated versions will start to become available throughout 2017, starting with Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Traditional), German, Russian, and Italian.

“The scriptures can be fun,” explained Elder Lawrence. “These activities teach children in their early years that they can find answers to their questions within the pages of the scriptures. After all, the scriptures are for everyone.”

As children explore the activities and color the illustrations, they’ll learn for themselves the truths found in the scriptures.

Parents can give the books to younger children to color while they read from the scriptures with older children.

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