As children get older, Bible study can begin to look a little different.
The little ones may be happy to draw a stick figure, color a map, or listen to the story. But older students often want to know why. They want to investigate, ask questions, form opinions, connect what they are learning to the world around them. For some who are familiar with the Bible they also want to wrestle with difficult ideas or beliefs of others.
That doesn't mean they need a completely different Bible curriculum.
Instead, take the Bible lesson you're already teaching and give your older students opportunities to go deeper.
A chronological Bible study is a great foundation because students can see where people, places, events, and books fit into the larger story of Scripture. From there, you can add projects and challenges that encourage older students to research, think critically, create, teach, and apply what they are learning.
Here are some ideas to try.
1. Connect Bible Locations to the World Today
When you study a biblical location, don't stop with what happened there thousands of years ago.
Have your student find the location on a modern map. What country is it in today? What is the city or region called now? What does the area look like? Has the region changed in climate from what the Bible records?
Then take it a step further.
Have them search for current events happening in or near that biblical location.
For example:
- What is happening in Jerusalem today?
- What is happening in Egypt?
- What is happening in modern-day Turkey where some of Paul's journeys took place?
- What is happening in Greece?
- What is happening in Bethlehem or the surrounding region?
Have your student locate the modern city on a map, read a few news reports, and then compare the modern location with what they have been studying in Scripture.
This is a great opportunity to teach students how to evaluate sources, distinguish fact from opinion, and think about the world through a biblical worldview.
2. Let Them Go on a Deep Dive
Give your older student assignment of bringing an interesting fact or insight int one part of the lesson.
Let them choose something that interests them:
A person.
Who was this person? What do we know about their family, culture, background, and role in biblical history?
A place.
Where was it - show a map? What was it like during Bible times? What is there today?
A topic.
What does the Bible teach about this subject? Where else does it appear in Scripture?
A belief or practice.
Why did people believe this? How does it compare with what Scripture teaches?
Give them time to research their topic and then have them share what they discovered with the family or class.
The goal isn't simply to give them more homework. It's to help them discover that the Bible is a book worth investigating beyond the plain meaning.
3. Have Them Teach a Younger Student
One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else.
Let your older student prepare a short Bible lesson for a younger sibling, Sunday school class, or co-op group.
They could:
- Tell the Bible story.
- Draw the timeline.
- Explain a person or place.
- Create a few review questions.
- Make a game.
- Lead a map activity.
- Teach a younger child how the event fits into the larger biblical timeline.
This gives older students ownership while giving younger children another teacher who understands what they are learning. This helps them to be part of the disciples making disciples right in your home or classroom.
It also changes the older student's role from “student” to “teacher.”
4. Let Them Journal About the Lesson
Older students don't always need another worksheet.
Give them a notebook and let them respond to the lesson in their own words.
You might ask:
- What stood out to you in this passage?
- What surprised you?
- What question do you still have?
- What does this passage teach us about God?
- What would you have done in this situation?
- Is there something in this passage that challenges the way you think?
- How does this event fit into the larger story of Scripture?
- How could this passage change the way you live?
For some students, writing will be their favorite way to process what they are learning.
For others, drawing, creating a timeline, or writing poetry may help them think more deeply.
5. Tell the Story From Another Person's Perspective
Here's a fun creative-writing challenge:
Choose a person who could have been present during the biblical event but who isn't named in Scripture.
For example, while studying David and Goliath, your student could write a fictional account from the perspective of:
- A young Israelite soldier.
- Someone living in the nearby town.
- A servant in Saul's camp.
- A family member waiting for a soldier to return home.
The student should make it clear which details come directly from Scripture and which details they have imagined. Students should include biblical references.
This teaches an important Bible-study skill: knowing the difference between what Scripture says and what we are assuming.
6. Draw the Scene
Not every older student wants to write a report.
Challenge them to illustrate the passage.
But instead of simply saying, “Draw the story,” give them a research assignment first.
Ask:
What did this place actually look like?
Have them research the geography, clothing, buildings, weapons, tools, landscape, or cultural practices of the time period.
Then have them draw the scene.
Suddenly, they're not just making a picture.
They're asking:
What would this actually have looked like?
That's Bible study.
7. Investigate a Difficult Belief
Older students are going to encounter Christians who disagree about biblical issues.
Instead of avoiding those questions, use them as opportunities to teach students how to study Scripture carefully.
If your passage touches on a major area where Christians disagree, have your student research at least three different interpretations.
For each one, ask them to find:
- What does this position believe?
- What Bible passages are used to support it?
- How do they interpret those passages?
- What are the strengths of this interpretation?
- What questions or difficulties does it raise?
Then have your student explain which position they believe is best supported by Scripture and why.
The goal isn't to teach students that every belief is equally true.
The goal is to teach them how to think biblically, investigate Scripture, and explain what they believe clearly.
8. Ask, “What Would This Look Like Today?”
Take something the student just learned and bring it into their world.
Ask:
If this happened today, what might it look like?
For example:
- What would courage look like in your school?
- What would biblical hospitality look like today?
- What would it mean to trust God when your circumstances look impossible?
- What would idolatry look like in our culture?
- What does loving your enemy actually look like?
- How would this biblical principle affect the way you use social media?
This helps students understand that Bible study isn't just about learning what happened then.
It's about learning how God's Word shapes the way we live now.
9. Let Them Ask the Questions
Instead of always giving older students the questions, let them create the questions.
After reading a passage, challenge them to come up with:
- Three questions they can answer from the text.
- Two questions that require additional research.
- One question they genuinely don't know the answer to.
Then work through the questions together.
This teaches students that it's okay to have questions! Good Bible study often begins with asking good questions.
10. Give Them a Bible Study Challenge
You can even turn the whole lesson into a challenge.
After the regular lesson, tell your older student:
“You choose how you want to go deeper.”
They might choose to:
- Research a person.
- Study a biblical location.
- Create a map.
- Investigate a current event.
- Write a journal entry.
- Draw a scene.
- Write a fictional story.
- Prepare a lesson for younger children.
- Research a theological disagreement.
- Compare several passages on the same topic.
- Create a timeline.
- Prepare a presentation.
- Find another place in Scripture where the same idea appears.
The important thing is that they aren't simply completing another assignment.
They're learning to study the Bible for themselves.
Bible Study Doesn't Have to Feel Like School
As children grow, our goal shouldn't simply be to give them harder worksheets.
We want them to develop the ability to read Scripture, ask questions, research answers, recognize different interpretations, think critically, and apply God's Word to the world around them.
A chronological Bible study gives you the framework.
From there, older students can investigate the people and places, connect biblical history with the modern world, wrestle with difficult questions, teach younger children, and discover how God's Word applies to their own lives.
And perhaps most importantly, they begin to realize that Bible study isn't something they have to do because Mom or Dad told them to.
It can become something they sincerely want to explore.
Give them the Bible. Give them a question. Then let them dig.
