Verse collection
Bible verses for kids to memorize
Thirteen first verses, shortest first, each with a tip for the grown-up leading it. Short, concrete, and sturdy enough to last into adulthood; most grown-ups' favorite verses are the ones they learned small.
Print: verse cards · take-home slips · copywork sheets · all printables
This site began as a way for one family's kids to memorize their weekly verses, so this page is close to home. Every verse below is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible. The five-step method was built with kids in mind: verses read aloud, hand motions for each phrase, words that hide a few at a time like a game, and a celebration at the end.
Rejoice at all times.
For the youngest: four words, one jump per word works as the motion. A three-year-old can own this one.
We love because He first loved us.
Point to yourself, hug yourself, point up: the motions almost write themselves, and so does the meaning.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Kids love knowing what a shepherd does; explain that first and the verse explains itself.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Bible's first sentence, so it doubles as a lesson in where the story starts. Big arm circles for the heavens and the earth.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.
The classic first verse, and the most useful: it comes back at thunderstorms, first days, and doctor visits. Worth learning before it is needed.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
The Golden Rule. Once it is memorized, it referees sibling disputes all by itself.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
The verse for trying hard things: two-wheelers, deep ends, first recitals. Flex both arms on strength.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
The verse addressed directly to them, which kids find genuinely surprising: the Bible talks to children too. Best introduced with a smile, not as a cudgel.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
A friendship verse for the playground years. Ask who their friend was this week and the verse gets a face.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Memorize it in the dark with a flashlight, once with the beam on their feet. They will not forget it; neither will you.
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
The kindness verse most families end up quoting weekly. The reason clause matters: forgiven people forgive.
This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
A breakfast-table verse; many families say it every morning until the kids say it first.
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
The graduation verse for this list: longer, and worth it, because it is Jesus talking about them.
Word counts use this site's counting rule in the Berean Standard Bible. Each reference links to the verse in its chapter, and every verse can be practiced in any translation your church uses by pasting it into the memorizer.
How to make it stick (and fun)
One verse a week is the pace that lasts: one small step a day for five days, a few minutes each, with the fifth day's recitation performed for the family like the event it is. Motions matter more for kids than for anyone; invent one per phrase and let the kids pick silly ones, because the sillier the motion, the stronger the memory hook. Bedtime is the secret weapon: a calm run-through at lights-out lets sleep do the finishing work. And when a verse is done, the review schedule brings it back a few days later so it never fades; kids are unreasonably proud of still knowing verse number one months later.
Print them
Every verse on this page comes as a sheet of wallet-sized verse cards, eight to a page, each with the reference, the verse, its first letters as a quiz and a QR code that opens the verse's five steps on a phone, so the card on the fridge is also the practice. The take-home slips, two to a page, carry the verse in large type, the tip for the grown-up wherever it is about the verse rather than this list, a line for the child's name and a five-day checklist. The copywork sheets put each verse on handwriting lines, one page per verse, with a Primary option (tall lines, a dashed midline, the verse in light grey to trace) for a child still learning to form letters. For a classroom or a co-op, the school-year plan is a verse a week for thirty-six weeks, short to long, as a two-page checklist. Every collection on the site has its cards, slips and copywork at printable Bible verses.
Questions
What is a good first Bible verse for a child to memorize?
Psalm 56:3 is the classic: When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. Ten words, concrete, and useful the very next time there is a thunderstorm or a first day of school. Rejoice at all times works for the youngest, and Genesis 1:1 and the Golden Rule follow naturally.
How do I help my child memorize Bible verses?
Say it aloud together, add a hand motion for each phrase, and keep sessions to a few minutes: one small step a day for five days beats one long drill. A run-through at bedtime helps sleep lock it in, and reciting the finished verse for the family is the victory lap that makes kids want another. The five-step method walks all of this for you.
How many verses should a child memorize a week?
One a week is plenty, and it is the pace many kids' programs use. Fifty-two short verses a year, kept fresh with quick reviews, builds a real library by heart before the verses ever get long.
Half remember a different verse?
The words don't need to match exactly, just type what you remember.