Little Kids and Daily Devotions: A Tool to Encourage Independence

One of my biggest burdens for my kids is that they learn, from an early age, the value of spending time alone with God. But I’ve always struggled with how to develop this habit in my youngest kids.

I’m a father to twin 4-year-olds. They do everything together. They share a room, share clothes, share toys, and nearly everything in their schedule is done together. They are inseparable. They are each other’s best friends (when they are in the good mood) and worst rivals (when they are in a bad mood).

We’ve tried establishing a time in the morning when they can each spend time alone with God, but it’s proven to be a difficult habit to start.

• They’re not reading yet, so plopping a Bible (even a children’s Bible) in their lap doesn’t work.
• We’ve tried reading aloud to them, but this quickly turns into a social time—with me and with each other.
• We’ve tried using Bible apps, but they easily get distracted by the “bells and whistles” of these apps, so it ends up being more time goofing off with technology.
• We’ve tried using audio Bibles, but they easily get distracted without something to look at.

This is why I’m so glad to have been introduced to LuvYa Reader.

(This post is sponsored by LuvYa Reader, but we never promote products we don’t personally use and enjoy ourselves.)

What is LuvYa Reader?

LuvYa Reader is a pretty simple service. Here’s how it works…

1. You buy an online book from the LuvYa Reader website. They have books for kids ages 0-7, divided by age group, including a variety of Bible themes and characters. Each book costs $7.99 a piece—like what you might spend for a typical children’s book—and devotional lessons cost $1.99 each.
2. Once you buy your digital book or lesson, you use your computer to record your own voice reading the book aloud. Recording your voice is super-easy (below is a video that shows you how).
3. Then when you want your kid to listen to the book, you can play it right from your computer or tablet. They flip the pages of the book themselves right on the screen, and the audio reading follows along with them as they turn the pages.

Why I Love LuvYa Reader…

1. It is personal. When my wife or I record our voices reading these books, my kids know it is us talking. I love watching their faces light up as they hear our voices reading aloud to them through the computer. I can include personal touches, like addressing them by name when I record or even little messages.
2. It encourages independence. I don’t have to sit with them while they listen to their Bible stories. They can do it all on their own once I hand them the laptop or tablet.
3. It is spiritually rich. The books are high quality, simple stories from the Bible that give kids a foundational understanding of God’s truth.
4. It is easy to use. From buying the book to recording my readings to playing the readings back to my kids, it is a smooth and slick website and/or app to use.
5. It is cheap. $1.99 for a devotional lesson and $7.99 for a book is pretty cheap, especially considering how personalized they are.
6. It’s a great gift idea for out-of-town relatives. Extended family is always asking for good gift ideas for my kids. Now I can tell them to buy them a book from LuvYa Reader and record their own voices reading aloud to them. It is a great way for my little kids to feel connected to their grandparents and other family members who live far away.

As my collection of LuvYa Reader books and lessons grow, I eventually want to have many books our children can listen to, books read aloud by me, my wife, and many of my kids’ relatives. I want my kids to continually hear the voices of their elders teaching God’s truth to them.