Family Finances
After writing the wildly-successful “32 Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Men” post, my hubby Will decided to write another! (Perhaps he should just become a regular contributor now?!) In all transparency, we had a hard time coming up with a spiritual gift for our girls this year–until we got to brainstorming. With that, this post for spiritual gift ideas was born. I hope you find it helpful! ~Erin
Guest Post by Will Odom (Erin’s husband!)
Most of you know or have read that we give our children 3 gifts: a want, a need and a spiritual.
As my wife and I were discussing the girls’ gifts for this year, we were having a hard time coming up with a spiritual gift. We did not want to give them another Bible or DVD because they had already gotten those.
Previously, I had made them Give, Save, Spend jars to start teaching them about managing money. I had also given each girl a journal that I will write in two or three times a year and give it to them at a certain age or if they marry. They also typically pick gifts from the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog to give others.
So as we started planning, we hit a little road block. As such, I thought there might be some others out there who have the same problem.
Bibles
There are a plethora of Bibles for children on the market.
Which Bible you choose will depend on age, reading level, focus, version preference and other factors. Some of these are also available in other languages.
These are just a few to get you started with your search. I have put an * besides the ones that we personally have and use.
- The Big Picture Story Bible*
- Jesus Storybook Bible*
- A Child’s First Bible*
- Day by Day Begin-to-Read Bible
- The Action Bible
- The Adventure Bible
- My First Hands-On Bible* and Hands-On Bible
- Read With Me Bible*
- Read and Share Bible*
- The Beginner’s Bible and for Toddlers
- The Beginner’s Bible: Holy Bible (NiRV) and (KJV)
- Early Readers Bible
- Brave Girls Bible*
Devotionals
Along with reading Bible stories, parents can use devotional books to encourage application of biblical lessons and conversations.
- Princess Stories: Real Bible Stories of God’s Princesses
- God’s Little Princess Bedtime Devotional
- Goodnight Warrior: God’s Mighty Warrior Bedtime Bible Stories, Devotions, & Prayers
- God’s Might Warrior Devotional Bible
- Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for Kids
- Five-Minute Devotions for Children: Celebrating God’s World as a Family
- One Year Devotions for Preschoolers
- What Happens When I Talk to God? The Power for Prayer for Boys and Girls
- The Beginner’s Bible: Kid-sized Devotions
- Rise Above: A 90 Day Devotional
- The Action Bible Devotional
- Gotta Have God (for Boys) and God and Me (for Girls)
- Brave Girls Devotional
Books
There are way too many books to list them all, so hopefully this will give you somewhere to start looking.
Amazon typically gives other suggestions similar to the one you are looking at.
The ones here are mainly for toddlers and younger children (since that’s the season we are in), but there are also many young adult or tween books that could fall into this category.
- Gigi, God’s Little Princess or Will, God’s Mighty Warrior
- A Warrior Prince for God
- You Are Special or Hermie: A Common Caterpillar (several by Max Lucado)
- God Loves You Nose to Toes* (from Erin: One of our favorites!!)
- God Gave Us You*
- Fisher Price Little People Noah and the Animals (Lift-the-Flap)*
- Chronicles of Narnia Box Set
- The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
- The Parable of the Sunflower, the Pine Tree, the Pumpkin, the Lily
- The Legend of the Easter Egg, the Candy Cane, the Sand Dollar, the Christmas Tree
- Tale of Three Trees
- Berenstain Bears (numerous titles)
- Wingfeather Saga * (an absolute favorite of ours)
DVDs
Movies can be a fun way to introduce a variety of topics. Everything from Veggie Tales to Narnia provide excellent ways to discuss life lessons or aspects of God’s character with your children. There DVDs below are mainly geared toward children, but there are many others for teenagers or adults as well: Soul Surfer, The Blind Side, To Save a Life, Grace Unplugged, and many others.
- Gigi, God’s Little Princess DVD Treasury Box Set
- What’s in the Bible
- Veggie Tales
- Ten Commandments (Animated) or 12 Bible Greatest Heroes and Legends
- Hermie & Friends: A Bug Collection Volume 1
- Theo: God’s Grace
- The Praise Baby Collection
- Adventures in Odyssey
- Iesodo: Where Fun and Faith Take Flight
- Boz the Bear
- Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings
- Berenstain Bears
Toys
Toys or Games are a great way to encourage imagination and exploration. Being able to manipulate and create stories work on various skills that kids are learning and practicing.
- Fisher Price Noah’s Ark, Melissa and Doug Noah’s Ark, KidKraft Noah’s Ark, Plush Noah’s Ark
- Bathtime Noah’s Ark or Noah’s Art Rubber Ducks
- Creation Nesting Blocks or Noah’s Ark Stackers
- Nativity Play Set, Trinity Toys Nativity, Little People Nativity, Melissa and Doug Nativity
- Handmade Wooden Puzzle Nativity Set
- Old Testament Puzzle or New Testament Puzzle
- Flannel Board Stories
- Veggie Tales Plush or Larry Boy
- Beginner’s Bible Color Wonder or Princess Parables or League of Incredible Vegetables
- Coloring Books or Craft Book
- Children’s Bible Trivia or Card Games
- Cranium Bible Edition, Bible Taboo, Apples to Apples Bible
Misc
A few items were outside of regular category, so I listed them there. Music, whether Chris Tomlin or something more age appropriate, is always an excellent gift. And what better gift can you give them than teaching them to manage the resources that God has given them.
- Seeds Family Worship
- Praise Baby CDs
- Letters (parents write in and give to kids when older)
- Journals for Girls or Boys
- Resurrection Eggs
- Give, Save, Spend Wallets * (a favorite in our house)
- Moonjar Money box
- Bible Cover for Boys or Girls
- Girls’ Necklace or Bracelet
- Boy’s Bracelet or Necklace
You can read our last few years of gift choices here:
Image from pixabay.com
What are your spiritual gift ideas for kids? Do you give your children a gift to nurture their spiritual growth?
See all of our previous gift guides HERE!
Amy Knowles
Thank you for this great list! We also give our children three gifts (want/need/spiritual) and I am really struggling with the spiritual gift for our 9 year old and 4 year old. It is difficult to find meaningful spiritual gifts for these younger ages that aren’t clutter. Your list will definitely help get those creative juices flowing!
Erin
Thanks for sharing!
Miyoshi
CD’s by Go Fish Guys are great for kids of any age. Also, Scripture Lullabies, Hiddeni n my Heart series are great.
Colleen
My daughter just turned 13 and is really enamored with the idea of a purity ring (I think from the beautifully moving scene in Courageous), so we will be getting her a ring from SonGear.
My son is 8 and his old Bible cover was a fuzzy VeggieTales one from when he was a toddler, so he was asking about getting a new Bible cover and we found a really cool camouflage one in the CBD catalogue.
Laura Hanly
Slugs & Bugs Sing the Bible CD. Literally scripture set to kids music but really good kids music.
Carissa
We used to do things like this for our spiritual gift, but as they got older we needed something more. So we started doing something that would help them serve others. A ministry gift… piano or music lessons, Art or drama classes. Things that they can use and develop (within themselves) to one day use to minister to others in some way.
Erin
I love this!
Miracle Quelle
We also love audios. Lamplighter, Jonathan Park, Heirloom Audio are a few we have really enjoyed. All the kids from 14 down to 4 love them and enjoy listening.
Erin
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah
We’ve done Majesty Music Patch the Pirate adventure CDs to listen to in the car but we’ve bought them all now. We’ve also done the Whats in the Bible DVDs (my kids weren’t thrilled with those but my nephews love them) My kids are 7, 9 & 10 so I’m a little stumped…..we may do Adventures in Odessey CDs this year.
Sarah
Another gun thing we’ve done is on Christmas eve they get to open one present (a pair of new PJs…..they know what it is so they aren’t expecting a toy!). We get changed into new jammies then listen to a Nativity CD with a nativity to set up. It’s from Family Life Today called What God Wants for Christmas and I highly recommend it! When they were little it was hard to get them to sit still but now they look forward to it and love opening each “present” (a piece of the Nativity). It is wonderful!
Jenn
We also have implemented the 3 gifts on Christmas morning, but it can be anything, but 1 gift is from Santa, 1 from parents, 1 from sibling. My question is…do you also recognize Santa? I love the idea of the spiritual gift.
Niki
We do not but this explains it better than I can type or say. Definitely nothing against those who do involve Santa. There is also a kids DVD available that explains it very well if you choose that route. https://www.focusonthefamily.com/media/daily-broadcast/teaching-kids-about-christmas
Angie Moore
I really love these ideas! I’ve already bought gifts for my grandchildren for Christmas this year. (I wish I could have seen this post sooner). Next year though! Also great ideas for birthdays!
Erin
Have a merry Christmas!