Kids love a good puzzle, especially one made of pictures! A rebus Bible verse turns each word of a verse into a picture, sometimes with letters taken away, and kids work together to figure out what God’s Word says. When I was a children’s director, my teachers told me again and again how much they loved these.

What is a Scripture picture? A Scripture picture uses the age-old puzzle form of the rebus. We take a Bible verse and break each word up into pictures. For example, the word “the” can be illustrated with a picture of a thumb minus the letters “MB.” The word “of” 

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can be shown as a picture of a shirtsleeve cuff minus the letter “C.” And the word “law” can be presented by a picture of a bear claw minus the letter “C.”

Rebus Bible verses for kids will turn memory verse time into a fun puzzle challenge, and for this one you will need the following:

• The free rebus puzzles below (printed, or displayed on a screen)
• A pocket chart, whiteboard, or wall space
• Sticky notes (for the “Concentration” game)
• Paper and markers (if kids will make their own rebus)

5 Ways to Use Rebus Bible Verses:

1. Team Race: Split your class into two teams and give each team the same rebus. The first team to decode the whole verse wins.
2. Concentration: Cover sections of the rebus with numbered sticky notes. Kids call out a number, you reveal that section, and they try to guess the verse before every note comes off.
3. Memory Verse Kickoff: Introduce a new memory verse by showing it as a rebus first. Kids remember a verse better when they’ve worked to uncover it.
4. Make Your Own: Give kids a verse reference and let them create their own rebus. Keep a class rebus “dictionary” of pictures they can reuse.
5. Wall Posters: Print the puzzles large and hang them as posters. Kids will keep decoding them all week.

The Puzzles:

• Puzzle 1 – Nehemiah 8:10, Answer Key
• Puzzle 2 – Psalm 119:97, Page One, Answer Key
• Puzzle 2 – Psalm 119:97, Page Two, Answer Key

Rebus Bible Verse for Psalm 119:97 Page Two

• Puzzle 3 – Romans 3:23, Answer Key

• Puzzle 4 – 1 John 4:19, Answer Key

Check out these other Rebus puzzles:

Psalm 40:1

John 14:27

Acts 1:8

1 John 3:1

John 3:16

Colossians 3:14

Mark 12:30

Luke 2:14

John 14:6

James 5:20

Romans 3:23

Romans 6:23