Earlier this year, my daughters and I began an ongoing project that has been a true blessing. In fact, it has garnered enough attention on social media that I thought I would go ahead and do the first ever DIY article here on the blog. In short, this project developed out of a problem I noticed in our daily Bible studies. Jolie was able to understand the most complex of Bible stories, but she was having trouble getting the chronology down. “After the angels left Abraham, they went and visited who?” I might ask. To which, my daughter would guess, “Peter!” Hence, the problem.
I figured, if we could have a visual representation, always on hand, then the girls would be able to remember. Perhaps we could place sections of the finished project on their walls, or have them laminated. That’s when the idea emerged to create a flowing and ongoing chronological mural that includes pictures drawn and colored by the ladies - from Genesis to Revelation.
What You'll Need
The only thing that you might not already have around your house is an easel paper roll. Many places have them, but we got ours at IKEA (not that I'm buzz marketing for IKEA) on a visit to Atlanta. Aside from that, you'll need crayons. That's it. Seriously.
How It Works
You'll graph out a single section to get started that looks like the image (below) on the left. The purpose of each box is listed in the graph on the right. The remaining blank space to the right of the long blue line is for next time. When you do the second installment, simply repeat the format of the graph. If you have only one child, you'll only need one box. If you have three or more children, you just need to divide the section into smaller boxes to acommodate.
Troubleshooting
The only real problem is that "kid 1" sometimes has to get into an awkward position if she's working on her image at the same time as "kid 2." You could either have them work on the images at separate times, or have "kid 1" do the picture upside down. Also, you can get involved. If you have a small child, like my Jaclyn, you can draw the picture for them, and just let them color. This makes it a family deal where everyone is involved.
The Result
I can't tell you how much this has helped in solidifying the details of the various Bible stories, and it has also satisfied my original desire to help the girls learn the chronology of the events. In fact, because the paper can easily tear, we have to constantly remind ourselves to be delicate. This has, in turn, led to a great respect for the Word of God.