When children are little, we have a lot to teach them. They have to learn their colors, their numbers, their ABCs... all of the things that will make them successful as they enter school. We teach them to say please and thank you, to show kindness and to take turns. All of these are essential lessons to teach our children, but there is another lesson that many don't think about as often: teaching our children to pray.
As a Christian mom, I want my children to develop a relationship with God from a very early age. Prayer is such an important part of this... after all, isn't communication key to ANY relationship?
But how do we teach our children about prayer? Today I'm sharing a few simple tips:
- Lead By Example. Kids are like sponges and they love to imitate what we do, so make sure the example we are setting is a positive one. If kids see US praying they will naturally pick it up.
- Make It Fun. Remind them it doesn't have to be formal or specific... you can do so with fun crafts (like this cute prayer jar) or just by letting them pray in their way... how they speak to us, is just how they can speak to God.
- Teach Them Existing Prayers. While I want to make sure that my children know that they don't have to use memorized prayers to talk to God, showing them examples of a variety of prayers can teach them that there is no right or wrong way to pray, and give them some starting points to go on.
Today, I'm excited to share a cute new book from Worthy Kids that can help in our efforts to introduce kids to prayer at a young age, 'My First Book of Prayers':
This book is absolutely adorable. We were first drawn in by the illustrations. They were simple drawings of kids in their typical environments--- waking up, going to bed, eating, playing, etc. As we were reading through one page stuck out to me- a dinner scene featuring a boy in a wheelchair. I loved this inclusion, subtle as it may have been. This made me go back and look more closely at the other pages and I realized there truly is a wide variety of children featured... different races, blond hair, dark hair, glasses, no glasses. Every child can see themselves among these pages. Again, it's not something overt, but I loved seeing this.
The prayers featured throughout the book are from various writers, so the styles can very a bit, but all are perfect for children. I loved this because it truly did show that prayers don't all have to sound just the same. Some of these were prayers I'd heard before, others were new to me. Like I said, it truly was a great variety.
My daughter loved to read it through all at once, which is great. It's very short so we could read it over and over again as she desired. You can also pick and choose to read the individual prayers thrughout your days as they are relevant. There is a prayer for the morning, a prayer for mealtime, a prayer for nights... and various prayers ideal throughout the day.
If you're looking for a cute book to introduce your littlest ones to prayer, this is a must see. It is available to purchase now at your favorite Christian book retailers.
With ten short prayers, this introduction to the act of praying will fast become a family favorite. Now I lay me down to sleep and other classic prayers show children how simple and reassuring talking to God can be. Each prayer is written in soothing verse and is accompanied by Gillian Flint's soft and comforting watercolor illustrations. Newly illustrated and reformatted from its previous edition to better suit today's families, this collection of prayers is a timeless treasure. Ages 2-5 years.
This book is absolutely adorable. We were first drawn in by the illustrations. They were simple drawings of kids in their typical environments--- waking up, going to bed, eating, playing, etc. As we were reading through one page stuck out to me- a dinner scene featuring a boy in a wheelchair. I loved this inclusion, subtle as it may have been. This made me go back and look more closely at the other pages and I realized there truly is a wide variety of children featured... different races, blond hair, dark hair, glasses, no glasses. Every child can see themselves among these pages. Again, it's not something overt, but I loved seeing this.
The prayers featured throughout the book are from various writers, so the styles can very a bit, but all are perfect for children. I loved this because it truly did show that prayers don't all have to sound just the same. Some of these were prayers I'd heard before, others were new to me. Like I said, it truly was a great variety.
My daughter loved to read it through all at once, which is great. It's very short so we could read it over and over again as she desired. You can also pick and choose to read the individual prayers thrughout your days as they are relevant. There is a prayer for the morning, a prayer for mealtime, a prayer for nights... and various prayers ideal throughout the day.
If you're looking for a cute book to introduce your littlest ones to prayer, this is a must see. It is available to purchase now at your favorite Christian book retailers.
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