A few years ago my mom’s group worked through Lisa Welchel’s Creative Correction. Throughout the book, Lisa provides scripture for parents to use in training kids. For example, have a drama-loving daughter who frequently rolls her eyes at you? There’s a verse for that. Frustrated by a son who bullies the neighborhood kids? There are verses for that. Have a tween feeling the effects of peer pressure? There are verses for that.

I know there are new parenting guides and strategies for every generation, but the idea of using scripture to teach our kids is one that has withstood the test of time. So I took Lisa’s suggestions, as well as those of others in my mom’s group. Then, I added a few that pertained to stuff my kids were dealing with at the time. Finally, I “made it pretty” (because I certainly couldn’t leave it as plain text; it’s the curse of being a designer).

The result is my Scripture Toolbox for Kids, and can be downloaded here. Note that it’s set up with two toolboxes per page and is intended to be printed on an 8.5 x 11″ sheet of paper. My printer has a setting to print borderless, which allows the color to run all the way to the edges. If your printer doesn’t have that setting, you can “shrink to fit.” Cut down the middle to separate the two copies. Then, post it on your fridge or use as bookmarks in each child’s Bible.

Wondering how it works? I used this toolbox a lot particularly when my kids were in those precious elementary-school years. Usually I’d ask them to find and read the verses that applied to their particular situation. Other times, they might need to really ponder a verse, in which case they might find themselves writing it several times (maybe four or five times their age depending on the offense). I found it worked really well because the correction comes from our Creator, and not mom or dad. In other words, these are God’s rules, not ours (and He’s the one who made us all!). I found that when we explained it to our kids this way, they were less likely to argue about it. Of course, you can use it however you’d like. 🙂

Keep in mind these are not the only verses that apply to each situation. Thankfully, there are usually dozens of verses for each item listed. Those included are simply meant to help your child see what God says about things like sibling rivalry and modesty. If a particular situation warrants additional study on a subject, check out an online topic Bible search like Open Bible’s Topical Bible or Nave’s Topical Bible.

Preview my Scripture Toolbox for Kids below, or download it here:

Portions of this post were originally publishing on my personal blog in March of 2010.