Keep it Brief

Since our children have started getting more active scripture study has gotten a little harder to do. One thing that really helped us was to keep it short and to the point.

For example:

One of the very first scriptures I remember reading with my boys was 1 Nephi 3:7.

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

With this scripture we actually only focused on the bolded words and not the entire verse. So feel free to get to the heart of the scripture. If their attention and ability is anything like their picky and sometimes tiny appetites as toddlers (I don't know about you but mine that don't like to eat;) then give them a bite-sized scripture. Sometimes the bigger words or multiple ideas in a scripture can make their heads spin when they are so little. And this way you can focus on simple principles like obedience or faith. Later you can build on that and talk about God's commandments promises.

Rosemary M. Wixom shares the experience of how another family found that having each child read just one scripture each day was a good method as well.

"One such family with four young children writes: “We decided to start small because of our children’s short attention spans. Our oldest child was not yet reading, but she could repeat our words, so we began reading the Book of Mormon, just three verses each night. My husband and I would read one verse each, and then Sydney would repeat a verse. We progressed to four verses and then five verses as the boys began to repeat their own verses. Yes, it was tedious, but we kept going. We tried to focus on consistency instead of speed. It took us three-and-a-half years to finish the Book of Mormon. It was a great feeling of accomplishment!” Oct Conference 2010 -


Here is a little list on how to keep it brief:


Focused on only one scripture at a time
Study the same scripture for a few days or even a week
Give them a bite-sized scripture by focusing on a small portion of an important scripture
Focus on one simple principle in the verse
Have each child read or repeat just one scripture each