Using Visual Aids in Presenting the Gospel to Children

By Sue Harmon

A visual aid can be a helpful tool in learning, whether it is a math lesson or a Bible lesson. The absolute best visual aid to use in sharing the gospel with children is…are you ready for this? ... the Bible!

No greater tool exists, and there is no better method than to help a person read for themselves what God says in His Word about how to be saved. When counseling with a child about salvation, have him open his own Bible, read the verses out loud, and then tell you what he thinks they mean. Through your conversation with the child about what the Bible says, you will be able to see where the child is in his understanding of God, sin and salvation.

Often people rely on other tools in addition to the Bible when presenting the gospel. They’re great because they can help you cover all the steps involved, use a logical order, and remember which Bible verses to use! But we need to use good judgment in choosing aids to use with children. Here’s why:

·        Developmental research has shown that children usually do not reach the point in mental development where they can understand the connection between a symbol and the abstract concept it represents until the preteen years or early adolescence. Therefore, presentations that rely on symbolism (e.g. colored beads, items in Easter eggs) are not appropriate for most children. Memorizing a color scheme is not the same as understanding spiritual concepts.

·        Cartoon characters and talking animals are associated with being fun, silly, not real, and frankly today they are often disrespectful and/or mean! We need to consider whether we trivialize or make light of the gospel message when it is presented through cartoon-like characters in tracts or other gospel presentations.

·        A gimmicky presentation or attention-getting item can actually distract a child’s attention from the message. Many of the gospel presentations designed for children are gimmicks. Children are often more engrossed in how the item folds or what the next hidden item is than they are in what you are sharing about the plan of salvation. Even special events contain distracting gimmicks: three children wanted to respond to an altar call at a special event, and when questioned carefully by their leader, it became apparent that they were more interested in seeing “Psalty,” the mascot character, than in salvation!

A person under conviction of their sin against God will have a Spirit-given willingness to listen to an explanation of the gospel. You will not need symbols, gimmicks or cartoons to hold their attention. When a child is truly ready to hear the plan of salvation, you can use appropriate helps to give them a simple, straightforward, honest gospel presentation.