Praise and Play – How To Teach Your Kids About God

The infancy to preschool years are probably one of, if not, the most crucial stages of development of every child. Children at this age are literally “sponges” – whatever input they receive, whether positive or negative, will have a definite impact on their lives. Their most important teachers, and in most cases, their only teachers, at this point are their parents. We moms and dads have an important role to play in the molding and shaping of the leaders of tomorrow. When we talk about leaving a legacy for our children, let us think long and hard about what kind of “inheritance” we want to leave them. In the long run, this author believes that the legacy of faith, hope and love for God is far better than any material riches we could hand on to our kids.

How then does one go about teaching one’s children about God? Praise and play can sum up the following tried and tested methods this mom uses in incorporating faith-filled activities in her kids’ days. (Note: Although these activities are mostly aimed at kids of the Catholic faith, they can be modified to suit one’s religion and/or beliefs).

1. Include God in their lives from the moment of conception. Once a woman is confirmed to be pregnant, start to include God in everything you do that is related to the baby. Don’t just focus on preparing baby’s clothes, beddings, crib and other things, but focus also on letting baby know that he is loved and special, a true gift from God.

Sing praise songs and listen to inspirational and Gospel music and lullabies while laying your hands on your growing tummy. Set aside a special bonding time for Dad, you and baby every day – both of you can “talk” to baby and let her know how special she is. You could also lay your hands over your tummy and pray for Baby’s good health and development.

Once Baby is born, continue to sing and praise and affirm baby of God’s love and care through the way you take care of her. Respond to her needs promptly, and even when baby turns into a wanting-to-be-independent-getting-into-everything toddler, show her that you respect and love her as God’s creation by your words and actions.

 

Click here to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

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Read on to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

 

2. The family that prays together plays together. In Karyn Henley’s book “100 Ways To Teach Your Child About God” she emphasizes the importance of “play time” – “Play together in order to strengthen your relationship with each child and provide a format for communicating and training.” It is given that praying together as husband and wife for your kids and with your kids is very crucial in their growth in faith. However, we should also not neglect the fact that playing together can provide lots of opportunities for teaching our faith.

Some activities you can do for playtime are:

• Sing some songs about body parts and tell your kid that God made him special – every part of his body is especially made by God.
• Modify your usual game of “peekaboo” or “eat bulaga” by using these words “Peekaboo! God loves you!” 
• Play hide and seek with your toddler and preschooler and talk about how the parable of the lost sheep – God looks for us because He loves us and wants to be with us. Use a book with Bible stories to emphasize your point. 
• Play “The Boat Is Sinking” as an introduction to story time about the prophet Jonah.

3. Consistency is key. In Focus on the Family’s “Teaching Kids About God”, the authors say that “an important element of love and nurture, both physical and spiritual, is consistency. Make a habit of telling your children of your love and God’s. Consistency is key because it’s impossible to tell when any child starts to understand what you’re doing. But if you’re constantly modelling a positive attitude toward God and a loving relationship with Him, you will be doing that when your child starts to notice. And you will also be modelling who God is: faithful and continuously present.”

If you’re a young mom like me who has her share of bad days and becomes the kind of mother I hate to be (i.e. raising my voice too much at my kids, and ready to spank at the slightest mistake! Please forgive me, moms and dads everywhere!), this is something I know I need to work at. Consistency in showing my love and concern for our kids is crucial in the formation of their image of a loving and caring God. Being a mom who praises more than criticizes, affirms more than nags is what is important.

 

Click here to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

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Read on to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

 

4. Include books and videos about the Bible and your faith in your children’s library. There are uncountable resources available to parents who want to teach their kids about God in print, online and on video. Books, videos and online websites are a few tools that can help our children grow in faith.

Some of my kids’ favourite Christian videos are Veggietales, and Treasure Attic. Meanwhile, parents who want to make use of the Internet can try checking out the following sites:

• For Catholic  parents and kids:

1. http://www.catholicmom.com/catholic_kids.htm
2. http://www.catholic-kids.com/
3. http://catholicicing.blogspot.com
4. http://catholicblogger1.blogspot.com/

 

• Free Bible resources for kids:

1. http://gardenofpraise.com/bibleles.htm
2. http://www.essex1.com/pages/paul/bible.html
3. http://www.bibleforchildren.org/languages/english/stories.php
4. http://storynory.com/category/bible-stories/ (audio stories)

Bible storybooks for babies and toddlers, Bible-based activity books, children’s versions of the Sunday Mass Readings (from St. Paul’s bookstores), storybooks about the Saints, praise music CDs and DVDs are a few other tools that can help introduce God into our kids’ lives. We have also found some good quality and affordable Christian books for kids at local secondhand bookshops such as Booksale and Books for Less.

Of course, having all these materials is useless if we don’t take the time to read aloud to and with our kids, watch the videos or browse the websites together with them, and provide follow-up activities and questions on how they can apply what they learned in their own lives. When it comes to faith, remember that it is better caught than taught. If we ourselves don’t place God as a top priority in our lives, our children will see this and follow our example.

Click here to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

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Read on to see more ways on how to teach your child about God the fun way.

5. Join a kids’ faith-based playgroup or peer group. If you’re going to make your kids join a weekly playgroup anyway, why not try one that places importance on faith from the very beginning? A lot of Catholic charismatic communities such as Couples for Christ, Ligaya ng Panginoon, CFC Foundation for Family and Life, and Bo Sanchez’s acclaimed “The Feast” (The Light of Jesus Community’s weekly gatherings) have special groups that cater to the little ones. This does not of course mean that parents should just leave the “religious” stuff to the facilitators of said groups. On the contrary, parents and leaders of kids’ groups like these should work together to help strengthen the faith of the young ones, who are not just the future of society, but the future of the Church.

It has been this author’s experience that children exposed to such activities grow up to become responsible leaders among their peers and are more inclined to participate in socio-civic organizations and volunteer groups, aside from their respective Church-based groups.


Raising Godly kids in this day and age is a great challenge. There are days when I personally feel that I am the most unworthy mom for my kids (don’t we all?). However, with the praise and play tips shared above, it is this mom’s hope that other parents will find their load just a little bit lighter and their faith journey with their kids just a little bit more exciting.

 

Photo from flickr.com