Keys for Kids - daily devotions and Bible stories for kids and families

Read: Acts 11:27-30

Caden tugged his mom’s sleeve in the church hallway. “I need some money for our offering.”

“Okay,” Mom said, opening her purse. Caden took the money she held out and dashed off to class.

“I’m guessing many of you get your offering money from your parents,” Mrs. Hallman said after the class had taken the offering. “I have a suggestion. For the next month, why don’t you only put your own money in the offering? Missionaries will be using it to set up a school. You’ll be giving your money t...

Read: Psalm 61:1-8

Reid sighed happily at the sound of a mountain stream trickling nearby. “I sure love hiking!” he said.

“Me too!” said his twin sister, Nicole. “It’s so pretty out here today!”

“Yeah,” said Reid. “I’m so glad school is over for the summer so we can do this again!”

“Hey, you two, don’t get too far ahead!” Dad called from further down the mountain. The twins decided to rest and wait for their parents.

“Hey, look at that,” Nicole said, pointing to a nearby tree branch.

“What’s...

Read: 1 Peter 3:3-4

Luca’s grandfather patted the tire of the four-wheeler he had purchased. “I found this quad online and got a good deal on it,” he said with a smile.

Luca wasn’t so sure. The fenders were dented, and the seat had a tear in it. The rack behind the seat was bent, and a headlight was cracked. “It doesn’t look very good,” he said. “Why didn’t you buy a new quad, Grandpa?”

“Well, this was much less expensive than a new one, and the engine is in excellent running cond...

Read: Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 2:1-4

Lisbeth was shocked at the amount of noise that hit her ears when she stepped into the animal shelter behind her best friend. She had never heard so much barking before.

“It’s not always like this,” Jenna said. She had been volunteering for a long time, but this was the first time Lisbeth had come with her and her mom.

They walked down a hallway lined with cages, and it seemed like every dog was barking. Lisbeth smiled when she saw one dog just lying in her cage...

Read: Isaiah 61:10; Matthew 20:28

“Jordan, could you please put Athena’s toys away while I give her a bath?” called Mom as she carried Jordan’s little sister to the bathroom.

Jordan groaned. He was right in the middle of a video game. He slammed his controller down and stomped into his baby sister’s room. “This is so unfair!” he said as he threw Athena’s toys into the toybox. “I didn’t make this mess. It’s not my job!”

After soccer practice the next day, Coach handed Jordan a big bag of dirty laundry. It was...

Read: Psalm 136:1-3, 23-26; Philippians 4:4-8

"I hate that we don’t have money to do stuff!” Don wailed when he saw his mom in the garden. It was the last day of school, a day he’d looked forward to, but he came home pouting. He sat down beside Mom in a huff. “I love summer, but I hate hearing about all the cool stuff my friends get to do. One of them’s even going to Japan, and his hotel room has an indoor slide! Before they could ask me what I’ll be doing, I ran home...

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

When he got home from school, Jason found his mom in the laundry room. “How was your day?” Mom asked as she looked up from a shirt she was ironing.

“Terrible!” said Jason. “I failed a math test and have to take it over again. Then I found out my favorite teacher is moving away. And then I accidentally knocked down the principal’s daughter!”

“Knocked her down? How did that happen?”

“I came around a corner really fast and ran right into her,” Jason said. “I apologized, but she’s probably still...

Read: Psalm 1:1-3; 119:97-104

Naomi couldn’t wait! Any minute now the bus would arrive to take her and her dad to the chocolate factory. “Do you think we’ll get to taste any chocolate?” she asked eagerly.

“I’m sure there will be some samples,” her father replied. “But don’t get too excited. We won’t eat more than a few bites, most likely.”

Naomi’s face fell. “Oh.” She sighed. “Can we buy some to take home then?”

Dad smiled. “Of course. I know your mom and Ethan would like some.”

Screech...

Read: Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 8:28-30

Hope sat on the porch swing, staring at the blue cast on her arm. It stretched from her wrist to above her elbow and was covered in scribbled messages and doodles from her friends.

She held out her arm and frowned. “This is not how I wanted to spend my summer.”

Dad sat down beside her, holding two popsicles. He handed her the blue one—her favorite. “How are you doing, kiddo?”

Hope didn’t answer at first. She peeled back the wrapper and took a bite. “I was...

Read: Psalm 18:28; John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:6

“We’re almost there!” said Jeff. He sprinted along the path toward the lighthouse in Peggy’s Cove. He crossed the large flat rocks surrounding the building. He didn’t notice his mom pause to help his little sister, Sarah, clamber onto a boulder. While his family admired the ocean, Jeff climbed a few concrete steps built into the rock leading to one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world.

He tilted his head back, gazing in awe at the white building with the red top. “Can we go inside, Mom?” When s...

Read: Romans 12:10-15

Emerson angrily kicked a stone and sent it flying along the sidewalk. When he heard someone coming up behind him, he turned and saw that it was Isaac, one of his classmates. “You mad about something?” Isaac asked when he saw how upset Emerson looked. “What’s wrong?”

Emerson sighed and kicked another stone. “I’m just so sick of being bald. Some of the kids at school make fun of me.”

Isaac frowned. “Having leukemia doesn’t make your hair fall out, does it?” he asked cautiously. “That just happens because of the t...

Read: Numbers 13:25-33; 14:6-9

“Slug bug blue!” Zac exclaimed when he spied a blue Volkswagen. As he spoke, he slugged his brother Teague, who was sitting beside him. The boys were playing their favorite game on the way home from school—seeing who could spot a Volkswagen first and slug the other guy. They kept count to see who got the most.

Violet sighed. She pulled down the mirror on the sun visor and looked at herself. “My freckles look awful,” she said.

“Slug bug yellow!” Teague yelled and slugged Zac as a yellow Volkswa...

Read: John 1:44-49

“Hey, Tristan,” Antonio called as he caught up with his friend in the school hallway. “There’s going to be a special kids’ program at my church on Sunday. There’s going to be music and games and prizes and other cool stuff. Why don’t you come?”

“Nah,” said Tristan as he stopped to get some books out of his locker. “I’m gonna watch the baseball game on TV. Nothing’s gonna get in the way of me watching the Tigers!” He laughed. “Even if there wasn’t a game, I wouldn’t want to go to church...

Read: Hebrews 10:1-10, 17-18

“Mom, in Sunday school today we learned about Abraham and Isaac.” Myra climbed onto the stool and watched as Mom kneaded some dough.

“Which story did you learn about?” Mom asked.

“The one where Abraham almost sacrifices Isaac. God was just testing Abraham to see if he would give up his son for Him, so He didn’t let him go through with it.” Myra scrunched her nose. “But then God provided a sheep for Abraham to kill instead, and Abraham put that on the altar. People in the Bible sacrificed...

Read: Psalm 32:1-5

Asher looked up when he heard a knock at the window. Mom was outside motioning for him to join her. He pressed the pause button for his video game and ran out to the backyard.

Mom was standing behind the garage, looking at the ground. “There’s something here I want you to see,” she said, pointing down. “Look at those plants.” There, almost hidden by tall grass, Asher saw a cluster of green vines. “Those are watermelon plants,” Mom said. “The funny thing is, I never planted any watermelons.”

“Maybe they got plant...

Read: Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 6:26-27; Philippians 4:6-7

“I’m worried I’m not going to pass my math test!” Clara told her dad as they walked barefoot in the grassy yard after dinner.

“You’ve been studying and doing math problems for weeks, Clara,” Dad said. “I’m sure you’ll pass.”

“But I’m not going to be good enough. I just know it!” Clara looked up and wished she was one of the birds soaring overhead. They didn’t look worried at all.

“Hmmm.” Dad pulled open the door to their shed, which let out a metal...

Read: Colossians 3:12-14

“Knock off that noise!” Mrs. Steele yelled in Lila’s direction.

Lila was startled. She’d been curled up with a book, reading quietly on the porch. Surely Mrs. Steele wasn’t talking to her. But she was.

Later, when Lila’s dad came home, he noticed that the small windchimes from the front porch were now on the kitchen table. “Did the chimes fall down?” he asked Lila.

Lila shook her head, clearly upset. “They were bothering Mrs. Steele. She yelled at me because they woke her up. Dad, why is sh...

Read: John 10:25-30

Brayan and his parents lived out in the country, right next door to the McNairs’ alpaca ranch. Brayan was fascinated with the alpacas. He would often sit outside and watch them grazing.

“Brayan!” Mom called to him one day. “Mr. McNair invited you to come over at six-thirty this evening to help feed the alpacas.”

“All right!” Brayan rushed through his homework and dinner and arrived at the McNairs’ barn right on time.

“First we’re going to fill the hay bins and pour the feed into the troughs,” Mr. McNair...

Read: Philippians 4:11-13

Moooooo.

“Whoa!” Jordan shouted. He’d been so deep in thought that he almost plowed right into a large brown cow standing in the middle of the path.

Uncle Tim appeared in the doorway of the barn. “Oh good, you found Clarice!”

“Well, we kind of found each other,” Jordan said. “She wouldn’t moooove.”

“Good one!” Uncle Tim grinned. “So tell me, how was your first day? I know it had to be tough changing schools in the middle of the year.”

Jordan shrugged. “It was okay. I ho...

Read: Romans 5:6-8; 8:38-39

Cali opened her eyes. “Ready or not, here I come!”

Her three-year-old sister, Nora, stood behind a scrawny tree hugging her teddy bear. Cali pretended to look around. “Where could Nora be?” she wondered aloud.

Ruff, ruff! Cali’s dog ran out of the house and straight to Nora.

Nora laughed. “Cocoa found me!”

“Lunchtime!” Mama called from the porch.

A wonderful aroma met them inside. “Cookies!” squealed Cali. “Can I have one?”

Mama took a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge. “No cookies until...

Read: Matthew 6:19-21

“Look, Malachi!” Nevaeh said as she pulled a small worn book out of an old trunk that had belonged to their great-grandmother. Her voice echoed a little in the big attic where they were cleaning. “This looks like a journal Grandma Baker wrote in. She gave it the title ‘My Trophies.’”

“I wonder what kind of trophies she won,” said Malachi. “Was she an athlete?”

“Well, let’s look.” Nevaeh opened the book and read out loud. “May 10. Thank You, Lord, for letting me talk to Abigail today and help her understand how much You...

Read: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; James 2:1-4, 8-9

“Look what I found!” Juniper called as she ran down the steps of her aunt’s house. She had been looking through a pile of old stuff in the attic that her aunt was going to throw out. “Look! This old fruit jar has 1898 stamped on the bottom!” Juniper said, showing her find to her aunt. “It looks like one I saw that was worth a lot on an antique show my dad watches.”

Aunt Claire smiled. “Well, you found this one, so you can keep it. But you’ll have to clean i...

Read: Genesis 1:1-3, 26-31; John 3:16

“Good morning, Amelia,” Heidi, Amelia’s stepmom, greeted her.

“Good morning.” Amelia rubbed her eyes. “What are you making?” she asked, noticing all the ingredients Heidi had out.

“Breakfast cookies!” Heidi smiled and held up a bag of raisins. “Would you like to help? I need some eggs cracked.”

“Sure,” Amelia replied, pulling over a stool. “My mom says I’m good at cracking eggs. I love cooking.”

“Then you’re the perfect person to help me make these cookies!” Heidi set the eggs on the counter. “You can crack two int...

Read: Proverbs 16:19-24

“Milo, listen to me say this verse,” Joel said as he helped his little brother learn a memory verse for Sunday school. He recited each word slowly. “Okay, now see if you can repeat it.”

Milo tried to repeat the verse, but he stumbled over the unfamiliar words. Joel tried to help him, but eventually gave up. “You’re hopeless,” he said. “Go practice on your own. I have to finish my homework.”

Milo looked forlorn. “I’ll do better,” he said.

Joel rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

As Milo got up from th...

Read: Psalm 139:5-12

Tyler sat up in bed. What’s that noise? he wondered. He and his family had moved to a new house, and now he slept in a strange new room. Somehow he didn’t feel safe the way he had back in his old, familiar home. Tyler heard the noise again. I don’t like this room! I don’t want to sleep here! he thought. He jumped out of bed and bolted down the stairs to find his mom.

“Tyler!” Mom said when he rushed into the living room. “What’s wrong?”

“...

Read: John 15:13-15

Cara took her cookie and a glass of milk into the utility room where Mom was folding laundry. “Mom, can I invite Amber over?” she asked. “She’s my new friend.” Cara dunked the cookie into her milk.

Mom added a towel to the stack on the dryer. “And you probably want to invite Jasmine too, right?”

Cara shook her head. “No, I don’t want her over. We had a fight. Anyway, Amber is much more popular.”

“Oh?” Mom frowned slightly as she handed Cara a stack of towels. “Take these t...

Read: Zephaniah 3:14-17; Hebrews 13:5-6

Ding dong, chimed the doorbell. “Wyatt!” Mom called. “You have a package!”

Wyatt galloped down the stairs. “Who’s it from?” he asked.

Mom squinted at the return address on the package. “It looks like it’s from your Uncle Dale in Texas. I think it’s your birthday present,” she said, handing it to Wyatt.

“All right!” Wyatt ripped open the package. A few minutes later his bare feet were hidden in genuine cowboy boots.

“Very nice. Now all you need is a horse,” Mom said with a grin...

Read: John 20:24-31; 2 Corinthians 5:7; James 2:23

“We’re going to have pen pals for an English project this semester!” Moriah told her parents. “We each got the name of a kid our age in another state, and we’re supposed to exchange letters—real letters, no texts or emails or anything like that. My pen pal’s name is Ryleigh.”

Moriah sat down that evening and wrote her first letter to Ryleigh. She told all about herself, her family, and her church. Soon a reply came from Ryleigh. It contained a picture and told about Ryleigh’s big family and t...

Read: 1 John 1:5-9

Taya sighed loudly when Mom had to stop because of a roadblock. Workers were repairing the bridge ahead, and traffic was temporarily stopped. “How long will we have to wait?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Mom replied. “It might be a while.”

Taya looked out the window. She saw a red van, a delivery truck, some cars, and a motorcycle. Drivers craned their necks, trying to see if they’d be able to move soon.

“Are we going to be late to swim class?” Taya asked. The class at the communi...

Read: Isaiah 40:28-31; Matthew 11:28-30

“Finally, something in science I like learning about!” Marissa loosened the binocular cord around her neck. “I wonder what birds we’ll see on our nature walk?”

Mom headed down the boardwalk at their local nature preserve. “Or what birds we’ll hear!”

“I’m on it.” Troy pulled up the bird call identification app on his phone.

The family didn’t have to walk too far over the wetlands before Marissa pointed above them. “Isn’t that a bald eagle?” They watched the elegant bird turn circle after circle, seem...

Read: Psalm 55:16-18

“Pick up, Dad.” Harlow held her mom’s phone. “I need to talk to you.”

She heard her dad’s voice and smiled, then she realized it was just his voicemail.

“We’ll try again later,” Mom said. “He must be busy with work.”

Harlow sighed. Ever since her dad had gotten remarried, he was always too busy for her and her sister. Either he was working or he was hanging out with his new wife and her kids. He didn’t have time for them anymore.

After dinner that even...

Read: John 5:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-10

Stretching sleepily, Camden wondered why he had a strange, empty feeling in his stomach. Then it all came back to him. He glanced over at the empty bed on the other side of the room. It really was true—his brother Aaron was gone. It had been almost a month since Aaron had left for school in the morning and had not come back. Tears rolled down Camden’s cheeks as he remembered. There was an accident, and Aaron had been killed.

The door to Camden’s room opened and Mom ca...

Read: Psalm 27:4; Luke 24:44-49

“And now, I would like to present the class of 2026!”

Kendis squinted to see her sister, Derica, in the crowd of high school graduates donned in robes of black and maroon. She stood next to her mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and grandma, all of whom were cheering and clapping and stomping in response to her sister’s graduation.

At dinner, Derica talked excitedly about all the things she was looking forward to. “I can’t wait to find a church and other students at college who also love Jesus. We could s...

Read: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

“I hate weeding,” Lynnie huffed, yanking another scraggly weed away from the green beans and throwing it into a pile.

Jayson sat on the soft grass, picking blades and throwing them into the air.

Lynnie watched the wind blow the grass away. “I don’t want to weed anymore, Mom. I want to go play. Weeding is boring.”

Mom knelt in the dirt. “Look at all these weeds. Do you know why we pull them?”

“Punishment,” Lynnie muttered.

“See these tiny pea shoots? They’re so little. T...

Read: Psalm 5:1-3

“Your science project is looking good,” Grandpa said as he looked over Sophia’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” said Sophia. “I’m calling it ‘Means of Communication.’ It’s about how the ways people communicate with each other over long distances have developed over time.” She pointed to pictures on her display board showing handwritten letters, telegraphs, telephones, radios, TVs, and computers. “Hundreds of years ago, the only way you could communicate with someone far away was to send them a letter, which could take weeks or even months to get to them. Over time, we invented new wa...

Read: Acts 16:22-26

Gabby’s grandpa was in a lot of pain. His hands were nearly crippled, and he sat in a wheelchair when he was able to get out of bed. Gabby thought she would be miserable if she were in his place, but every time she visited him, he seemed to have a smile on his face.

“How are you so happy all the time?” Gabby asked as she sat in his living room with him one afternoon.

“God has been good to me,” Grandpa said, humming softly.

Gabby’s brows knit...

Read: John 14:1-6

Cadence and Izabel listened intently as Dad read the story of Finn, a very poor boy who lived long ago in a faraway country. “Everyone said the king was very kind,” Dad read, “so Finn decided to go see him and ask for help.

“When Finn arrived at the palace, he was stopped at the gate. He explained that he wanted to see the king, but he was refused admission. Now what can I do? he wondered. I know! I’ll climb over the wall. He looked around to make sure no one was wa...

Read: Acts 17:24-27

Allison sang out the words of a song. “Yesu yana kaunar yara.”

“What language is that?” asked her friend Gianna. “Like my grandma always says when she doesn’t understand something, it’s Greek to me!”

Allison laughed. “It’s not Greek,” she said. “It’s Hausa—a language spoken in Africa. I learned that song from my Aunt Mary, who’s a missionary in Nigeria.”

“What does it mean?” Gianna wanted to know.

“It means ‘Jesus, He loves the children,’” Allison explained.

“Oh, those sound like the words to a song Mom taugh...

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:14, 21-28

Brighton watched as Mom tied the sash of Kayleigh’s sparkly new dress and handed her a basket of flower petals. “It’s not fair,” Brighton muttered. She had never gotten to be a flower girl, but her little sister had been picked for that job in Aunt Erin’s wedding. “All I get to do is stand at the door and hand out programs,” Brighton said.

Mom frowned. “Brighton, please stop whining.”

“I’m not whining,” said Brighton, but she couldn’t make herself smile. It just isn’t fair! she thought again.

Read: Colossians 3:20-25

Daniel plopped down on the top step and scowled. His sister, Nia, found him there. “Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, and we don’t have a gift for Mom yet,” she said. “Let’s go see what we can find.”

“I can’t,” Daniel said. “Mom says I can’t go anywhere. I didn’t clean my room right away like she told me to, and then when I did do it, she still wasn’t satisfied. I told her it was my room and it looked fine to me, so I didn’t care what she thought...