The Art of Scripture Study

Our family used to study the scriptures while our three-year-old was asleep. It was peaceful, but we soon realized that she needed some exposure to the standard works, too. So once a week we study at her level.

First we collect an assortment of art and craft supplies: colored paper, pieces of fabric, pressed flowers, paints and brushes, modeling clay, and pens, pencils, and crayons. Then we gather around the kitchen table and unroll a length of plain paper. One of us reads a scripture story and, as we discuss it, we illustrate the story on the paper.

Our family has created some marvelous visuals: Moses, with a white wool beard, striding through a large gap in a blue-and-white string sea; Adam and Eve in a garden of pressed flowers and felt animals; Noah in his painted brown ark with clay animals parading the decks and peering over the sides.

We all enjoy learning about the Lord and his creations in this way, and our three-year-old will sit entranced for at least an hour during this kind of study session. Afterward, we hang the poster in her bedroom and discuss it during the week.—Joan Pearce, Tyne and Wear, England