Teaching young children about prayer requires some reflection.
Prayer can seem very obscure to the younger child. Children may not be sure what or who God is and can find it confusing to praying to someone they don't understand. Explaining to children that God is all around and can help when you need it is a good start. Explain that prayer can be done inside your mind, like a phone call, or even written down like an email. These activities and crafts will make prayer less abstract and more a daily occurrence for young children.
Prayer Pocket
To make a prayer pocket download and print a one copy of a child praying from the website Coloring Pages For Kids. Trace the picture onto a piece of stiff paper or cardboard. Glue the picture to the cardboard around the edges. Let your child color the picture and help them cut it out.
Using a utility knife or pair of scissors, cut a small slit in the paper near where the hands are folded in prayer. Cut small strips of paper about 3-by-1 inches. Write down the names of people or things the child wants to pray for and put the strips in the slit in the hands. Each night, take one piece of paper out and say a prayer. Redo the prayer papers each Sunday for the next week.
Prayer Pretzels
Pretzels are a good spiritual craft item because you can tell the children they look like arms folded in prayer. Get a bag of regular knotted pretzels and a small food container with a lid to store seven at a time. Using craft glue, beads, feathers, glitter, sticker or jewels, decorate the container to suit the child. On the lid, write Prayer Pretzels in permanent marker or craft paint.
Put seven pretzels in the container on Sundays. Each day, take one pretzel out as a reminder to say a prayer. They eat it as a snack after the prayer as reinforcement for remembering to pray. Dip the pretzels in almond bark or chocolate if your child prefers sweet snacks.
Baggie Book
Take your child on a walk in a park or in the woods. Have them collect nature items they like as you walk. Talk about how God made all the things we see in nature. Keep the items small so they will fit in the baggie and fill it up. Cut card stock to fit inside quart- or gallon-sized zipper baggies.
After the walk let the child glue the nature items to the card stock. Write a prayer on the bottom of each page. When the glue is dry, insert the card stock, with nature item, into a baggie and seal the zipper. Using a hole punch, punch three holes equally distanced along the non-zipper edge. The holes should go through the bag and card stock. Stack the baggies on top of each other and tie it together using ribbon or string, making a book. Read the prayers as you look through the book each night.
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