Help your students remember the names and order of the 66 books of the Bible with these fun activities. The games and songs are not only enjoyable, but more importantly, they will help your students become familiar with the organization of the Bible and ultimately make it easier for them to locate the verses. For a printable pdf of these activities, click here.
the cards printed with the names of the books can be used in multiple games and activities. Click the link below for a pdf file of cards that can be printed on cardstock and then cut.
You are reading: Books of the bible memorization chart
books of the bible cards
A demo board with the names of all the books is also helpful.
Click the links below for pdf files of the divisions and names of the books of the bible, as well as the old and new testament banners. these are color coded and can be printed and arranged on a board as shown above.
books of the bible and divisions
old and new testament banners
book order races
Form teams and have them race using the Old Testament or New Testament book cards to see which team can put them in order the fastest. Variation: Remove a card from each deck and see which team turns up first.
or
Hand out the Old or New Testament Book Cards to all students. time the class to see how long it takes them to put the cards in order (on the floor at the front of the room). repeat and ask them to try to beat the previous time. (Record your best time so they can try to beat it next week.)
book change
Arrange the books of the old and/or new testament in order. then trade two or more pairs. ask students to find out which pairs are swapped. repeat, putting the cards back in order and having one student trade a pair of pairs.
or
have someone put all the cards (old testament, new testament, or both) in order, but leave a couple of them out. then ask other students to see how quickly they can identify the missing cards.
old or new (mix decks of old and new testament books for these games).
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Have a student draw a card at random from the deck and say the name of the book. then choose a student to say whether the book is in the old or new testament. if correct, you can draw the next card.
or
Display the books on the Bible demonstration board at the front of the classroom. have students stand in a line (or if you have a larger class, just have them stand in their seats) facing the board. make sure the cards are mixed up, and then have a student start flipping the cards over and saying their names. if the called book is from the old testament, students step to their left; If it’s from the New Testament, they take a step to the right (because, facing the books on the Bible display board, the Old Testament is to their left and the New Testament to their right). let the calling student draw and call various cards; then choose a new person she calls. continue in this way as long as you have time or until you have read all the Bible book cards.
or
form two teams. have one member from each team come to the front of the class. randomly choose a card from the deck and say the name of the book. As quickly as possible, each team member says “old” or “new.” award one point for the fastest correct answer (or award one point for each correct answer). continue, bringing a new player from each team to the front.
sing the books of the bible
sing the books of the old and new testament. you might know a song (try to use one that doesn’t have a lot of extra words added). Or you can click on the pdfs below to see an example of the old testament books set to “yankee doodle” as well as lyrics to a song from the new testament books I learned as a kid (author unknown). there are also links to audio files of the two songs (sorry for the quality, just for information :)).
note: you can have a student point to the names of the books of the bible on the demo board while the group sings. my students love to lead and use the pointer. We’ve got a telescoping pointer that retracts to the size of a pen when not in use, and we’ve also used a plastic sword (God’s word is a sword!). Giving several different students a chance to guide and use the pointer keeps their interest as you repeat the songs multiple times.
old testament books with yankee doodle lettering
old testament books with yankee doodle audio
books of the new testament song lyrics
books of the new testament song audio
here is a video of one of our 5 year olds singing the books of the old testament:
old testament song video
call – repeat
See Also: David Eddings – Book Series In Order
Say 3-5 books (eg, “Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus”) at a time and ask students to repeat them. repeat the call/answer several times. then say the next 3-5 books and ask them to repeat them.
variation: Have a student lead the call.
pass the card (musical cards)
Choose consecutive books from the Bible cards equal to the number of students playing the game. have the children sit in a circle and tell them which books will be up for grabs. shuffle the cards and distribute one per student. play music. As the music plays, ask students to pass the cards to the right. encourage each to hold only one card at a time. when the music stops, make sure each person only has one card. whoever has the first card in the series of books is out (he or she gets to play the music for the next round). the card is removed and the game continues (place the cards on the table in order as they are removed). whoever ends up with the last card of the series in the last round is the winner.
I declare the truth! (variation of the card game “war”)
divide the books of the old or new testament or the entire bible into two equal piles. have two players face each other, taking three cards from the pile, saying: “i (first card), i declare (second card), true (third card)!” The third card is turned face up, and whoever has the card closest to the end of the testament or bible wins that round. have another student challenge the one who won the first round. continue in this way until all the cards are gone. you can let the students, when they finally run out, keep the cards they won and then add them up at the end to see who has the most.
pass the bean bag (or ball)
Have students stand or sit in a circle. pass a bean bag (cannot roll like a ball). As each person receives the bag, name the next book of the Bible (start where you want).
or
Have the whole group say the next book as each person receives the bean bag.
variation: from time to time say “freeze”. the person holding the beanbag must name the following three books in order.
before or after
Randomly choose a card from the Old or New Testament deck. do not let students see the card. have them try to guess the name of the book on the card by naming a book at random. If the card in your hand comes before the guessed book, say “before”. if it comes after the guessed book, say “after”. keep narrowing it down until someone guesses the correct book. whoever guesses the book, chooses the next one.
memory game (concentration)
Choose several pairs of identical book cards from two decks of the old or new testament. shuffle the cards and place them in a grid on the floor or on a table. have students take turns turning over two cards at a time, trying to find matches. if a match is found, the student keeps the cards. (although in normal “memory game” rules the player gets another turn after finding a match, we usually make the game go to the next player). the player with the most pairs at the end wins.
Variation: Divide into several smaller groups instead of playing with the whole group.
guess the letters (hangman)
Have a student randomly choose a card from the book deck of Bible cards by writing on a board the number of blanks corresponding to the number of letters in the book name. then the student asks his classmates to guess the letters of the alphabet. if there is a guessed letter in the book name, the student fills in the corresponding blank. if not, the student begins to draw a stick figure, starting with the head. the class tries to guess the name of the bible book before drawing the complete stick figure (decide ahead of time how many details will be drawn: ears? fingers? toes? etc.). the student who correctly guesses the name of the book gets to lead the next game. If a student guesses a word instead of a letter and the word is incorrect, decide how many parts of the stick figure to draw as a penalty.
note: you may or may not want to have the bible demo table books available for reference during this game.
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See Also: Importance of Books in our Life- Can a Book Change Life? – Leverage Edu