Our nightly routine

A friend recently asked about our nightly routine with the girls and I thought I'd share it here: after getting on pajamas, we sing songs together. We started doing it because we wanted to teach the girls hymns, but it has kind of evolved into somewhat of a dance session for the girls to get out all of their energy My toddler usually spins around in circles and my 4 year old tries to be a ballerina. We take turns picking a song and they can choose any song they want, from Hymns to silly preschool songs. Then we do our memory work. We are currently working through a Questions and Answers book that is a kid's catechism. Then we do Scripture memory. We were doing large chunks of scripture, but we decided to take a break and do a cute ABC scripture booklet I found on Pinterest. Then we calm down by reading a Bible Story together. The absolute best Bible I have found for little ones is the Big Picture Story Bible. Last, we pray together and give silly kisses. My husband picks a different animal or character each night and they give that kind of kiss to everyone.

Now, when I write it out like this, it sounds like we do a ton, but we actually keep it very short and simple. We don't spend a long time on any of it. Probably the most time is spent on the singing because that is what the girls enjoy the most. We kind of play it by ear and see how tired they are and what is keeping their attention each night to determine how long we work on the questions or bible verses. The main thing is to have a routine that they enjoy and look forward to each night and they will learn from it. My suggestion would be to simply start singing a song or two and reading a short chapter from the Big Picture Story Book. Then as she gets used to looking forward to a routine, you can slowly bring in the memorization as a super special and fun addition. But she's still pretty young. I think I didn't even think to try memorizing much with mine til she was about 2.5 years.