10 Psalms for Children to Memorize

10 Psalms for kids to memorize - These scripture passages are perfect for children to know and learn about God. The Lord says to hide his word in your heart, and these are perfect for memory verses and even memorizing entire passages.

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I am big on scripture memorization. When you know God's Word in your heart, you can call it to mind during prayer, when you're sad, when you need a source of comfort, and anytime at all.

I have written before how we have done family scripture memorization in the past, all gathered around the dinner table, using the Simply Charlotte Mason method of memorizing and review. This worked really well for young readers (when we actually did it), but for our new school year, I wanted to try something a little different.

I started skimming through the book of psalms looking for celebrations of God's goodness and passages that would readily apply to children. I didn't want them to just memorize individual verses this year (as we have done in the past - see 50 Bible Verses Every Christian Should Know), instead focusing on longer passages that would provide some context.

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10 Psalms for Children to Memorize

Here's what I found. I have printed them all out in the International Children's Version (ICB) since I think that is the most readable and understandable resource for kids. It is different from the King James and NIV versions that I have memorized, but the idea is that my kids will read, understand, and internalize the verses for themselves, and for that, there is no better version than ICB.

1. Psalm 23 - Isn't this everyone's favorite psalm? The Lord is my shepherd and green pastures and dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and all that? I know it by heart, and I would like my girls to know it by heart, too. This is definitely going to be our first one.
2. Psalm 136 - This is like a conversation. Almost every line starts with Give thanks to the Lord... and ends with His faithful love endures forever. I think it will be easy to learn.
3. Psalm 118 - This one is a little longer, taking up 2 entire printed pages, but I think we can learn it if we do it slowly over a long time.
4. Psalm 1 - This one is very short and talks about a person who loves God and how she should behave. Definitely good for kids to have in their pocket.
5. Psalm 63 - This is another short one that talks about meditating on God in the morning, noon, and night.
6. Psalm 145 - This is a longer psalm about the glory of God. It is pure worship, and I like how it reminds us of all the different ways God is good to us.
7. Psalm 51 - This is a longer one about sin and being a sinner. It is a poem of confession and repentance which is really helpful for our kids to learn.
8. Psalm 103 - This is another long one about praise and the benefits of having a personal relationship with God.
9. Psalm 133- This is a very short one about the unity of the body of Christ and how God blesses that. It would be a nice one to start out with.
10. Psalm 139 - I love this psalm. It includes the verses about being knit together in your mother's womb and being fearfully and wonderfully made. It is a little longer than some of the others on the list, but it would be a wonderful addition to your scripture memory or even just for family reading.

The psalms are a great place to introduce your children to Bible verses that aren't part of the stories that everyone knows. They are poems, usually meant to be sung, but valuable on their own as wisdom and poetry. The ones I've listed above are short enough to memorize even for younger elementary students (maybe even younger than that if you practice it often enough), and I am looking forward to memorizing them as a family this year. The beauty of knowing these verses will be a blessing to your children, and it will help to cement God's promises in their little hearts.

My plan is to work on one per month, so that should give us ample time to learn one before moving on to the next. Grace is an excellent reader, so she will have a copy of the psalm written out in front of her as we recite (as will I). Allie, who is not yet a strong reader, will have to recite from memory but I'm sure will learn quickly as well. I also plan to use these Psalms as part of their copywork which we do usually once or twice a week, and I have been thinking that I would read the psalm we're working on to them at bedtime as well, just for some additional exposure.

Get the full text of all 10 Psalms in the International Children's Bible (ICB) translation in a convenient black and white printable below. You can work on memorizing them with your kids, one at a time.

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Looking for a method to help your kids learn these Psalms? Check out the family scripture memorization method I share over in this post.