Sharing the Gospel in Little Bites

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.

The timing of getting the Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App to review could not have been better. I am always looking for ways to capture the interest of the kids in our after school program. The Bible is very new to many of them. The idea of the interactive Story Bible appeals to our situation because, let’s face it, tech is king to these kids.

Turning Their Tools Toward the Gospel

Most of the time I am holding a pocket or two full of phones or if I catch them soon enough I tell them to put away their phones, but with the Bible App from Planet 316 and Worthy Kids/Ideas, instead of always telling them to put it away, I can use their phone as a tool to engage with the word of God.

Digital Kids Respond to Digital Tools

No matter what we want to believe, we are raising a digital generation. If not in your own house, than defiantly in the kids we minister day to day. The tools we use might not be our favorite, but if we are goin to reach kids we are going to have to use their language. The language of kids these days is digital. Planet 316 has created a tool that is a bridge to getting the word of God in front of this digital generation.

Stories That Build Familiarity

We volunteer in an after school program that is populated with only about 20% churched children. This means that most of our kids do not have enough background in Bible stories to answer the simplest trivia. We have ministers visit for our story time, but getting children to love their physical Bible is still a leap.

Lay a Foundation — Short stories like the ones in the Planet 316 Story Bible build Biblical Knowledge as well as familiarity with stories and characters.

Planet 316 Story Bible is a great fit for our after school kids because the stories are very short. We can have a Bible minute (more like 5, but kids don’t need to know) where we read a quick Bible story and then the kids can interact with the app on my phone or if the situation allows their own device too.

A Digital Treat Without Drama

At home the kids are always asking to play a game on my phone. I have NO games loaded on my phone for that very reason. Last year I finally ran into a situation; I felt the kindest thing to do for my kids was to let them play a game while they waited for some long, adult-oriented ordeal to end, so I loaded a Bible Story Game. The kids liked the game enough to play periodically, but I liked the idea of having something that wasn’t an amped up coin fest or source of new obsession.

When I got this review, I was glad to add the Planet 316 Story Bible App to my phone to check it out. The kids love sitting down with the Story Bible and watching the illustrations jump off the page with the augmented reality technology. Many of the characters speak lines when you click to interact with them from your phone screen. They can spend a good chunk of time exploring the pages.

My daughter took this quick video for you to see. It is hard to click the characters while you video so they don’t speak but you can hear the ambient sounds on several pages and you can get an idea of the story length.

https://www.200fingersandtoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_1356.TRIM_.mov

They Ooo and Ahh, over the pages delighted the each take turns looking for fun details.

The Perfect Introduction Bible for Little Ones

I read a long list of reviews of several Children’s Bibles a few weeks back. Some reviewers were severely adamant about the dangers of changing Biblical text and keeping context on the original story. I read through the Planet 316 Story Bible with that article in mind. I feel like the folks at Planet 316 and Worthy Kids/Ideas have done a good job at introducing Biblical Stories and characters to begin a relationship of familiarity that will help them build on.

In all other subjects we introduce a stripped down to the essence version the first time around. Math starts with 2+2. Science starts with a seed and a Styrofoam cup. This Bible Starts with names and basic details of each characters story.

This Beginner Bible is perfect for little ones with short attention spans as well as kids with no church background, to begin to put names and stories together. This simplified version actually made it easier for my kids to quickly connect names to characters and summaries of the situations. Lack of other details meant less other details to get in the way.

The Bible for Home, Sunday School or Young Children’s Program

Overall, this is a great tool for ministering to new little believers and introducing the bible to kids who are unfamiliar with it already. I will use it in my Sunday school class room next month when I teach for a quick Story time. In the meantime, I will I leave it out for my kids to explore freely at home. We use the app after we have our Family Bible Time in our homeschooling morning routine.