When choosing activities for eight to ten year olds keep the following in mind:
Eight to ten year olds love to learn and have a large capacity for memory. They are usually energetic, creative, affectionate and like to laugh. They have respect for adults and admire heroes. Children of this age love to learn about Bible characters and people of faith.
More About Understanding Age Groups
What are Eight to Ten Year Olds Like?
- They are becoming more graceful with movements and abilities.
- Their faith in God is maturing. They are:
- Beginning to connect their obedience to morality instead of simply reward or punishment.
- Beginning to experience guilt and some children this age can worry.
- They can feel a personal closeness to God
- They pray with tremendous faith
- They begin to display discernment but are rigid in viewing things as either right or wrong.
- Gender identity becomes more apparent:
- Tensions develop between opposite sexes.
- Become modest about their body.
- Can become interested in boy-girl relationships, but do not admit it
- They arebeginningtosocialise with others more. They are:
- Beginning to understand another person’s point of view.
- Developing a sense of humour.
- Gaining more control of emotional outbursts.
- Beginning to to understand subtle undertones.
- Experiencing, for the most part, a time of high self-esteem.
- Their logic is more developed and they think in terms of steps and processes.
Learning Activities Eight to Ten Year Olds Enjoy
- Singing
- Drawing and painting
- Collecting objects and sorting
- Competition and and games
- Memorising Scripture
- Expressing themselves in writing
- Reading out loud
- Acting and dressing up
Teaching Tips
- When a child uses good judgement be specific in praising him or her for it. For instance, “Sophie, I noticed you moving to stand by Julie when she was embarrassed. Thank you for being kind.”
- Plan activities that will utilise their ability to interpret what they read. Allow them to think about what took place in the story and whether it was right or wrong or why someone acted that way.
- Encourage them in their faith and habit of prayer.
- Gently lead them in connecting appropriate feelings of guilt to Godly sorrow which leads to repentance.
- Teach them the unconditional nature of God’s love.
- Point them toward Christian heroes and role models.
- Encourage the memorising of Scripture. Choose Bible verses that apply to the experiences of this age group.
- Bring humour into your teaching style. Talk about the joy of being a Christian.
- Use games and competitions to review what has been learned.
Relating to the Bible at This Age
- Depending on reading level children of this age might be able to read a few verses in a row or even a very short Bible story. You will have to plan this carefully if children are reading out loud in class. This can be embarassing for some children and it does take time.
- Children in this age group can copy verses onto paper. These can be used in the classroom or taken home as reminders.
- Children aged 8-10 years are often able to confidently find a verse from a book, chapter, verse reference. A fun game is for the teacher to call out a reference (like Ephesians 6:1). The children then “race” to find the verse in their Bible and begin reading.
Mission Bible Class Resources to Help You Teach
- How to Plan a Bible Class
- Songs Children Enjoy
- Teaching Ideas
- Quick List of Bible Stories and Suggested Themes
References and Other Helpful Online Resources
- The ABC’s of Spiritual Growth
- Power Point Slides about Age Characteristics
- Collection of Child Development Articles
- Child Development Information
- Play and Developmental Stages
Help for Teaching Children of Various Ages
