It is my number one priority to teach my students that Jesus loves them.
So every year when I get a new class of precious littles, I go about slowly introducing them to my Savior and His great love!
Here are a few ways I go about this…
I print out a picture of Jesus and then laminate it for longevity.
I keep Jesus on our bulletin board. He moves around every day, but He is always watching over us!
At the end of our Morning Meeting or Circle Time, I will take Jesus off the bulletin board and hold him out in front of the kids. I will ask, “Does anyone know who this guy is?”
They respond with a loud, “JESUS!”
Then I say, “And who does Jesus love?”
And they say, “ME!”
I say, “That’s right! Jesus loves you!”
Next, I take Jesus and hold him above each child’s head and one-at-a-time say, “Jesus loves JAMIE!” and “Jesus loves OLIVER!”
The children all think this is very exciting and I believe it makes them feel special.
And it should – because they most certainly are special – precious in His sight!
We repeat this activity over and over.
I like to drill it into their little brains so they never forget the awesome promise of the Lord’s great and unfailing love for them.
Other ways I teach toddlers about Jesus’ love for them…
- Sing Jesus Loves Me and God is so Good.
- Repeat “Jesus Loves Me” while pointing to heaven on ‘Jesus’, hugging yourself on ‘Loves’, and pointing to yourself on ‘Me’.
- Give each child a small mirror and while looking into the mirror say, “Jesus Loves Me!”
- Coloring pages that say “Jesus Loves Me” (I use THIS ONE).
Finally, every day before the kids leave my classroom to go home, I line them up by the door and bless them by giving each child a sticker and saying,
“Mrs. B. loves you and JESUS LOVES YOU MOST OF ALL!”
I hope you found a few ideas here! Let’s daily ask God to use us in raising up the next generation of children of the King!
– Julie 🙂
Love these ideas!!!! They’re so great!!! Can you tell me where you found your figure of Jesus? Love it! Thanks!
I searched ‘Jesus Clipart’ and found it on Pinterest here – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/224828206373279401/. Enjoy!
Thanks so much!!! So thankful for your wonderful ideas! You are such a blessing!!!
Thank you so much, Debbie. This comment was such a blessing!
This is so simple but powerful.
I just stared teaching Sunday school at my church 2-4 year old
Thank you for your ALWAYS awesome ideas…..you never disappoint me!
What a wonderful way to introduce Jesus!
I love your idea of a little Jesus to help the children realize He is always watching us! The website DLTK has a nice cartoon type Jesus coloring sheet that works to have children make their own Jesus. I’ve printed it out, colored the draped part of His clothes, cut it out and taped it to a straw. It’s a nice puppet. Card stock is great to print it on and a tongue depressor makes a great handle if you have it. On a side note, I made your zucchini bread yesterday. My adult son said he was leary of it because of the zucchini but he tried it and said it was excellent. Thanks so much for your ideas. Congrats on your new site and upcoming book. You are a blessing!!!
Aw Debbie! Thank you! This just made my day! My husband LOVES that zucchini bread recipe!!!
I love the title of this post and allllll the ideas included!
Just want to add two more ideas that came to me when my daughter was born and they’ve become precious to me. I whisper into her ear at random times throughout the day “pstt Jesus loves you – and I do too!” It’s a reminder to me that He loves them much more than I could ever understand- and now I can say it in Spanish and add to it but she says it to me randomly too.
And, because we want our kids to know with their whole being that we did not make ourselves, I say wow God made your legs strong or gave you beautiful hair etc. It’s a way to acknowledge He did it and we must trust Him if we have these things and when we don’t.
Again, thanks for your ministry and I look forward to learning and sharing much more!
Wow! So simple yet so effective! Ive been looking for a way to start teaching the little ones in our church. Right now I have the 1-3 year olds in my care so I have been trying to find a way to teach across the different developmental levels. This is a great example.
Do you have anymore?
I love this so much! I want to be a teacher myself but I want to be able to teach the children about Jesus are you a private school teacher or public? I’m just wondering g because I’m trying to figure out my boundaries you know? Your feed back but be soo greatly appreciated that my out so much and godbless! (:
Hi Melissa! I love your heart! It is so amazing that you want to share Jesus!!! Honestly, I don’t know what public schools are doing these days… I work in a private Christian school. It would be wise to ask your school administration first about what you can share. I wouldn’t want you to get fired before you found out the protocol! But rest assured that even if you cannot share the Gospel openly, your love and kindness and grace for those kiddos will let your kids know there is something different and wonderful about you! 🙂
Thank you so much for the information you have provided here!
Love and Light!
My two year old granddaughter asks me every day to tell her
about Jesus. “Yamma, tell me about Jesus.” I tell her the story of Jesus and the lost sheep, and that Jesus loves her. What stories do you tell your little ones?
I am so excited by this, but I also don’t know what to say 🙃
I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
One happy grandma,
Katie