The Keys for Kids devotional is a daily devotional for kids ages 6-12. The devotional uses contemporary fiction stories to illustrate spiritual truth and connect the gospel to everyday life.

Elements of the Devotional

Each devotion includes a main story, practical application, key verse, and key thought. To see samples, download the PDF of our quarterly issue at www.keysforkids.org/pdf

Main Story

The main text of the devotion should be a third-person contemporary fiction story of around 350 words. Each submission should include a proposed title and an appropriate Scripture passage (3-10 verses with the references only). Each story should focus on a single spiritual truth that connects to the gospel (what Jesus has done and why His life, death, and resurrection matter). Include an illustration of the lesson being taught—some everyday happening or object that illustrates a biblical truth. (See the examples in the Story Examples section below.) We rarely accept stories without an illustration of this kind.

Story tips

• Avoid Pollyanna-type children—make them normal, ordinary kids, not goody-goodies.
• Avoid fairy tale endings.
• Avoid using biblical or theological terms without explanation.
• Include action and description, not just conversation.
• Some humor is good.
• Don’t be afraid of down-to-earth subjects kids face today. Tough topics such as divorce, abuse, pornography, racism, bullying, violence, substance abuse, peer pressure, etc. can all be handled with grace and truth.

Practical Application

This section speaks directly to the reader and helps them apply the story to their lives. Be as specific as possible. The practical application should be 50-65 words. (NOTE: This does not apply toward the word count of your story.)

For example, here’s one practical application we received:
Do you worry about the future? Just live the way Jesus wants you to, one step at a time, and the future will take care of itself!

It was changed to this:
Do you worry about the future? Do you wonder what you’ll do for a living? Maybe you’ll be an engineer or a doctor, or perhaps a scientist or a teacher. Be willing to do whatever God wants you to do. As you learn to trust Him and let Him lead you one step at a time, He will take care of the future.

Key Verse

Choose a short verse that fits the theme of your story and write it out with the reference. (NOTE: This is separate from the Scripture passage you suggest to go along with your story; it can be one of the verses included in that passage or a different one altogether.)

We use the following Bible translations in Keys for Kids: CSB, ERV, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NLV.

Key Thought

Suggest a short key thought (2-6 words) based on your story’s message.

Story Examples

We received two stories that were very similar. They both include a spiritual truth that is conveyed through the story. In each story, a boy stopped to see his grandmother after a rough day at school. Everything had gone wrong, and he was feeling dejected.

In the first story, Grandma listened to the boy’s problems and sympathized with him. Then she reminded him of a verse he had memorized in church. It was Romans 8:28, which says, “All things work together for the good of those who love God.” Grandma explained that although we don’t know why certain things happen, we can trust Jesus in everything. He loves us and died to save us, and we can take comfort in the fact that He promises to use even bad experiences for our good. The boy felt better as he realized God cared about him and would use the difficulties in his life for good.

In the second story, Grandma was mixing batter for a cake when the boy arrived and told her all about his problems. She was very sympathetic. “Here, have a spoonful of flour,” she said. “Perhaps that will make you feel better.”

The boy declined, of course. Then Grandma offered him a bit of raw egg, a taste of oil, a sip of vanilla, and so on. He refused each one.

“None of those things taste good alone!” he told her. He was waiting for the finished product—the cake! Then Grandma pointed out that, just like many of the cake ingredients didn’t taste good on their own, some of the things we go through may not seem good to us, but God works everything together for good. He takes all the things in our lives and blends them together to make us more like Jesus.

Both stories have the same message and include the gospel, but the second story offers a tangible illustration for readers to remember during difficult or challenging times. We accepted the second story.

Submission Information

Payment

We pay $30 for each story accepted. We reserve the right to revise the text as needed. We do not critique stories we cannot accept.

Reprint Rights

Because of our unique ministry needs, we purchase and retain all rights. Our Keys for Kids devotions are posted online, recorded in an audio version, and are translated into other languages. They may also be published in book compilations or other resources. We typically reprint Keys for Kids on a rotating basis, which means each volume will be edited, reprinted, and rerecorded every eight years.

PLEASE NOTE—We are not able to accept the following:

• Stories that have been published elsewhere in print or online (including blogs and social media)
• Stories that contain branded or trademarked material (for example, a story with kids discussing characters from a Disney movie)
• Stories that include song lyrics (due to copyright restrictions) 
• Stories that have been written fully or in part using AI (artificial intelligence) such as ChatGPT

Submitting

We prefer stories be submitted in a Word document via our online submission form below. On your Word doc, please include your full legal name (and your byline if different from your legal name), address, and email at the top, followed by the devotional elements in the order they appear in our publication:

Title
Scripture passage
Story
Key thought
Key verse
Practical application

Please do not use any special formatting that will need to be removed, such as page/section breaks or border lines. The simpler, the better!

If you have limited access to the internet, you may mail your submission to: Manuscript Submissions, Keys for Kids Publishing, 2060 43rd St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508. Please include an SASE with your submission.

Since we review submissions on a quarterly basis, it may take 6-9 months for us to contact you regarding your submission. Email [email protected] with any questions (no phone calls, please).

Submissions Cap: The Keys for Kids editorial team recently made the decision to place a cap on how many submissions any one author is permitted to submit each quarter. We ask that no author submit more than 20 stories per quarter. Our quarterly submissions deadlines are February 28, May 31, August 30, and November 30.

Current Needs

Kids and families from around the world enjoy our devotional. We encourage you to be creative with your ideas and consider how kids from all sorts of backgrounds might feel seen in the characters portrayed. Some of our specific needs at this time include:

• Stories that are accessible to an unchurched audience (i.e. explain the gospel using language kids from a non-church background would understand)
• Stories featuring kids from single-parent or blended families
• Stories that take place in urban or multi-cultural communities
• Stories featuring kids who live outside the United States
• Stories with action and/or suspense

We’re also looking for content for Unlocked, our daily devotional for teens. For more information, go to www.unlocked.org (please do not submit stories for Unlocked here).

***We are always taking submissions! If you encounter an error trying to upload, please try it again until it successfully uploads. Our tech team is aware of an issue some users have encountered. If you still have problems, please let us know at [email protected]