Mesa Valley Church of Christ Grand Junction, Colorado
Children sitting with an open Bible under a mesa sky

Bible stories for children

Real people. Real events. God at work.

These lessons follow men, women, and children the Bible names—and what God did in their days. Read the story. Talk about it. Try the family activity. Print a coloring page and kid sheet.

Memory verses are ESV. Stories stay close to the plain Bible narrative. For older family reading, see the family Bible study guides.

  • Ages on each card — a guide for parents and teachers, not a hard rule.
  • Age-band talk prompts — each lesson has simpler questions (~4–7) and deeper ones (~8–12).
  • Print the PDF — coloring on page 1; memory verse and activities on page 2.
  • Memory verse cards — printable ESV index for the whole path (open / print).
  • Baptism stories — in Acts, baptism follows hearing and believing (as in Acts 2, 8, 9, and 16).

Start here

New to this hub?

Begin with story 1, then keep going in order. Cards below are the same 25 lessons grouped by series.

  1. Open God Made the World (Genesis 1 · Ages 3–8).
  2. Read the story together, then use the age-band talk prompts.
  3. Print the take-home PDF (coloring on page 1; verse and activities on page 2).
  4. Review with the ESV memory verse cards.

Start story 1 Print story 1 PDF See full path

How parents use the take-homes

Each lesson ends with a short Parent take-home: a one-paragraph nudge plus “Talk on the way home” questions. Use it in the car, at the table, or at bedtime—no extra curriculum.

  1. Read (or re-read) the story page together.
  2. Ask the take-home talk prompts out loud.
  3. Print the PDF so kids can color and fill the verse blanks.
  4. When you want a longer sitting, follow the link to the matching family guide.

Print tip

Lesson PDFs: page 1 is the coloring page; page 2 has the ESV memory verse (with blanks) and kid activities. Print letter size, one-sided or duplex—either works.

Memory verse cards: open memory verses, use your browser’s Print, then cut along the dashed borders for fridge or class cards.

Every story below also has a Print PDF link on its card and in the full path list.

Scope and sequence

One path · 25 stories

Follow in order when you can: Old Testament (14) → Jesus (5) → Acts (6). Each row opens the lesson and its printable PDF.

  1. 1 OT God Made the World Genesis 1 PDF
  2. 2 OT Adam and Eve Genesis 2–3 PDF
  3. 3 OT Noah and the Ark Genesis 6–9 PDF
  4. 4 OT Abraham Believes God Genesis 12, 15, 22 PDF
  5. 5 OT Joseph Forgives His Brothers Genesis 37–50 PDF
  6. 6 OT Moses and the Red Sea Exodus 2–14 PDF
  7. 7 OT Joshua and Jericho Joshua 6 PDF
  8. 8 OT Ruth Chooses God Ruth PDF
  9. 9 OT Hannah Prays and Samuel Listens 1 Samuel 1–3 PDF
  10. 10 OT David and Goliath 1 Samuel 17 PDF
  11. 11 OT Elijah on Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18 PDF
  12. 12 OT Esther Speaks for Her People Esther PDF
  13. 13 OT Daniel in the Lions’ Den Daniel 6 PDF
  14. 14 OT Jonah Goes to Nineveh Jonah PDF
  15. 15 Jesus Jesus Is Born Luke 2 PDF
  16. 16 Jesus Jesus Blesses the Children Mark 10:13–16 PDF
  17. 17 Jesus Jesus Calms the Storm Mark 4:35–41 PDF
  18. 18 Jesus Jesus Feeds Five Thousand John 6 PDF
  19. 19 Jesus The Cross and the Empty Tomb Luke 23–24 PDF
  20. 20 Acts Peter Preaches in Jerusalem Acts 2 PDF
  21. 21 Acts Philip and the Ethiopian Acts 8 PDF
  22. 22 Acts Saul Becomes Paul Acts 9 PDF
  23. 23 Acts Timothy Learns the Scriptures Acts 16:1–3; 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14–15 PDF
  24. 24 Acts Lydia Opens Her Home Acts 16 PDF
  25. 25 Acts The Philippian Jailer Acts 16 PDF

Old Testament

Old Testament people (14)

People God worked with before Jesus came

Jesus

Jesus (5)

His birth, kindness, power, cross, and empty tomb

Acts

Acts — the church begins (6)

How the gospel spread and the church began