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10 Ways to Pray with Kids

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10 Ways to Pray with Kids
FREE BOOKMARK: We have a special gift for you. One of the prayer ideas below is a 5-Finger Prayer, and we have created a unique printable bookmark for you to use with your family, or perhaps you’d want to email it out to families in your church or community. If you would like to download it, click here.
FAMILY RESOURCE ON PRAYER: If you want to check out a brand new resource on prayer, be sure and look into An Illustrated Lent for Families: Reflections on Prayer. You can check it out and download a FREE sample here.

10 Ways to Pray with Kids

Discovering ways to pray with children offers them space for connection with God and, not surprisingly, has been shown to improve well-being time and again. Consequently, we give our children an invaluable and timeless gift when we teach them how to pray. Additionally, it’s a gift they can carry with them throughout all of life. At ICM, we think this is so important we compiled a list of 10 ways to pray with kids. Pick and choose, mix and match any way you’d like.

Pray Through Art

Coloring Prayer: First, gather coloring utensils and coloring sheets. Second, decide what you’ll pray for with each color. For example, use purple while praying aloud for animals, green for family members, blue for the Earth and the environment. Tailor the categories to your own family or classroom. (Also, looking for some fresh coloring sheets? Grab a free sample pack here!)

Ways to Pray with Kids

Prayer in Song: One of the easiest ways to teach children to pray is through singing. There are several options out there. The doxology is one song used as a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. The lyrics are as follows:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God all creatures here below.
Praise God above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father/Mother, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Prayer Journal: Invite your children to begin drawing and writing their prayers to God. Even little ones can draw their prayers. For those who are older, they may want to write letters to God. Additionally, giving children a prompt can offer needed structure. Perhaps encourage them to write God about their hopes for the coming school year.

Pray Using Your Body

Prayer through Movement: There are several ways to pray with kids that teach how their minds and bodies communicate with God. So, try this simple prayer below, especially useful for the kinesthetic learner. Additionally, yoga and dance are great options that can be done with children of all ages.

(3 deep breaths)
God, you are above (reach toward the sky), below (touch your toes), inside (hands to heart) and all around (big arm circles).
I worship you (reach toward the sky), and give my life to you (touch your toes).
And I love you (hands to heart) with all that I am (big arm circles).
(3 deep breaths)

Five-Finger Prayer: Developed by Pope Francis, this prayer practice assigns each finger something to pray for. The thumb is for those closest to us. The index finger for those who teach, instruct and heal us. The middle finger, our tallest, is for our leaders. The ring finger, our weakest, for those who are weak. The pinky is for ourselves. Click here to download your free printable bookmark version of this prayer.

Pray Through Conversation

Fill in the Blank Prayer:  Take turns going back and forth or from person to person, if you’re in a group, saying, “God is great, God is good, thank you God for ______________.” See how long you can keep it going. It’s fun (and sometimes breathtaking) to hear what your children say. Discussing what is inside our hearts and minds with each other is a crucial way to build relationships. Consequently, this practice builds both relationships with God and with each other.

Prayer Walk: Go for a walk together in search for the things you’re thankful to God for. Sidewalks, trees, bird songs, smiles from other pedestrians, flowers in bloom, passing cars and buses that make travel possible. So much to appreciate! Additionally, this is an excellent way to get outside, slow down the mind and get active together.

Pray Through Silence

Centering Prayer: Pray silently in this way to empty the mind and become open to God’s presence. Young children can struggle to sit quietly and still since their bodies often desire movement and activity. Therefore, two to five minutes can be plenty for young elementary children to start with. Now, for older children, try up to ten minutes once they’re acclimated to the practice. First, invite them to close their eyes and imagine that they are standing in a forest along the side of a stream. Second, explain that when a thought comes into their minds, they can imagine the thought landing on a leaf, floating down onto the surface of the stream and away until it’s out of view.

Ways to Pray with Kids

Breath Prayer: First, choose a word or brief phrase to repeat in one breath. Now, if it’s a phrase, say one part on the inhale and one part on the exhale. For example, invite your children to think in their minds or whisper to themselves Psalm 56:3. Next, on the inhale, think or say “When I am afraid.” Then, on the exhale, think or say “I will trust you.” Repeating breath prayers is a meditative practice that can be done with children of almost any age.

Scripture Prayer: First, choose a Bible verse and use it as a prayer to begin and end each day with your children. Try John 3:18, Psalm 46:1 or Romans 15:13. Additionally, it may be helpful to have it posted by their bed to read together.

Ways to Pray with Children

Tell Us Your Prayer Ideas for Kids

Phew, that was a lot to take in! We hope this has given you a few ways to pray with kids that help cultivate spiritual growth and connection. Also, how do you and your kids pray? We’d love to hear in the comments below!

Five Finger Prayer

Engaging and Welcoming Children in Worship

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Engaging and Welcoming Children in Worship

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREEBIE: If you are interested in receiving a FREE PDF that includes seven suggestions for how you might easily engage children in worship, then make sure you grab this freebie. Click here to download our list of ideas – and then pick ONE to try and implement this Sunday.

Summer = Party Time!

During the summer months, many of our churches get a little more creative. Because of this seasonal flexibility, it can be a great time to try something new that will help welcome and engage children in worship. Maybe you’ve moved to a different worship schedule, gone more lax in attire, are testing out new ways of doing liturgy, or have guest preachers in the pulpit. It’s summer! Party time!

So, we’ve thought up one thing you can try out this Sunday. We hope it’ll help you welcome and engage children who come through your doors.

Simplify

It can be overwhelming to think about incorporating one of those “Top 20 Changes You Must Make” articles to engage children in worship. I don’t know about you, but making twenty changes to anything is too much for me to think about. This can also be difficult for leaders to implement. It’s often confusing for parents and their kids, too. And, really, who wants more difficulty and confusion?! Not me.

Engage Children in Worship Beyond Entertainment

To truly engage children in worship, we have to move our thinking beyond entertaining them. Simply keeping them occupied may keep them quiet. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t accomplish the goal of welcoming, engaging and teaching them.

Engage Children in Worship

As children participate in worship they learn how a life of faith looks and feels. We are experiential creatures as humans. The children will take with them how they were involved in worship as they grow and look back on their faith journey. So, it’s important that worship is experiential for them, and really for all of us. If we engage children in worship, we’re almost certainly going to engage the adults, too. Win win!

Invitation to Participate

Leaders who make an intentional effort to do this help children feel welcome in church. And welcoming children doesn’t have to require a ton of preparation. In fact, this one thing you can do on Sunday morning that would engage children in worship is simply to invite them to be a part of it. If there are sections of the service that would be appropriate for children to assist with, ask them if they’d like to help. Children who are active members of a congregation tend to gain more ownership of their faith journey and often possess a deeper desire to become an integral and lasting part of a faith community in the future.

The significance they will feel as individual parts of their church and their understanding about worship practices is invaluable. If you’re interested in learning ways to specifically invite children into playing an active role in worship, we’ve made it easy to download a few of our ideas! Click here to download our list of ideas – and then pick ONE to try and implement this Sunday.

What are the ways you engage children in worship in your congregation? Share what’s been fruitful in the comments section.

5 Questions to Ask Kids This Summer

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Questions to Ask Kidss

Faith Questions for Kids

Summertime Brings New Opportunities for Connection

Anyone else out there ever get into a conversation with your child, feeling disappointed having hoped you’d have a deeper exchange but simply received one-syllable responses? C’mon, you’re killing me, Smalls! Over the summer, parents often have the joy of more interaction with their kids when school and homework have faded into mere memory. Long road trips, lazy pool days, car rides to the movie theater and walks to the park take residence on our calendars instead. Such fertile soil for fun chats! So, over here at ICM, we’ve put together a list of questions to ask kids this summer. We hope they help foster awareness of God in your midst and enrich connections between you and the children in your care as you savor the summer.

We’ve also created it into a free downloadable PDF that you can print out and put on your fridge, or wherever you’re likely to see it often. You can download it here.

5 Questions to Ask Kids

  1. What made you laugh today? As many of us know, work flow efficiency and checking off tasks on our lists can be all-consuming of our minds and time. Kids feel this, too, while in school and even over summer when schedules are busy. Many times, we can focus on what was done rather than joy that we experience. Try this question and other similar questions to ask kids that help change focus from industriousness to freedom of spirit. And you might just find yourself laughing at a story you never would’ve heard otherwise.
  2. When did you help someone recently? Wherever we find ourselves and our families, we can inspire our children’s hearts toward serving others. By simply asking the question, children begin to anticipate it and turn their attention to the opportunities to assist those around them. Kids, even as young as toddlers, are proud when they speak to the good they’ve done in their world.
  3. What are you feeling grateful for this week? We can learn a lot about what our children like by asking where their gratitude lies. They may be grateful for the longer story time before bed the night before, for example. We get a window into what they value and can cultivate more time to do those things together. Maybe it’s pizza… and who doesn’t want more pizza?! Also, there is deep wisdom in gratitude. It’s linked to the experience of sustained joy, which fosters resilience. And what a gift that is to our kids.
  4. What’s been a challenging part of your day? Of all on the list of questions to ask kids, this is one that can lead to great processing together. The response could be anything from an argument with a sibling to missing their friends to a fear of the ropes course at summer camp. Helping our children recognize struggle can be a great way to begin speaking with them about God’s faithfulness and their abilities to navigate hard things.
  5. How have you experienced God this week? Older children will have an easier time answering this question, of course. But younger children can listen in. They will begin searching for God in their own lives as they become ready and able to think more abstractly. If this is difficult for your children to answer, even the older ones, start by sharing with them over a couple weeks how you’ve experienced God. They will begin to understand and connect with God more as they hear from you.

What have you found to sprout fruitful conversations in your families? Share below in the comments!

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE FRIDGE SIGN: We have taken these questions and designed a free downloadable sign that you can put up on your fridge or another easily visible place in your home. You get two versions: One 8.5×11 that you can just print out and hang up, and another that is an 8.5×11 with two half-sheet signs on it, so you can cut one out for yourself, and give another to a friend or other family member to help others get into the fun of asking questions. You can download it here.