I'm a long term church educator and Director of Ministries to Children seeking to share practiced and lived good ideas just as she benefited from the mentorship of those who have gone before.
Worship is absolutely a relationship with God- so support what parents are hopefully doing at home by including elements in your children's worship such as
1) Allowing children to lay down on the ground and inviting them to close their eyes as you lead them in a guided meditation (perhaps start by inviting kids to feel their heartbeat and use the resonance from thumping the soundbox of a guitar to simulate a heart beat. Then speak about the Spirit as you encourage them to breath in and out.)
2) Demonstrating and encouraging kids to join you in different forms and types of prayer. Ask them to think about what forms feel most comfortable to them in different situations (kneeling, hands lifted, laying down, "arrow prayers," listening prayers, praying in color, etc.
3) Speak of offerings as being how we show God we love Him. It might be sharing money to help others or support the church but it might also be the gift of art work they have put time into to illustrate a scripture verse or a song they practice to give to the Lord and to contribute to their corporate worship.
4) Invite kids to help write different kinds of prayers from their own hearts (prayers of adoration, supplication, thanksgiving and confession and prayers as conversations they might have while sitting with Jesus.)
5) Invite kids to interpret prayers and scriptures through drawings or pictures or movement.
There are lots of wonderful ways to help kids "learn" how to worship that are actually invitations to them to reach out or be still and listen for the God that is behind and within the very air that surrounds them in the moment. I find that an image of a pregnant mother cradling her belly with a superimposed drawing or image of the child within her womb can be a valuable way to help kids think about and "visualize" the love and nurture of the God who is surrounding, supporting, sustaining and loving them even when they cannot see Him. Listen......
Posted in: Do Your Children Know How to Worship?
I'm a long term church educator and Director of Ministries to Children seeking to share practiced and lived good ideas just as she benefited from the mentorship of those who have gone before.
Posted in: Do Your Children Know How to Worship?
Worship is absolutely a relationship with God- so support what parents are hopefully doing at home by including elements in your children's worship such as
1) Allowing children to lay down on the ground and inviting them to close their eyes as you lead them in a guided meditation (perhaps start by inviting kids to feel their heartbeat and use the resonance from thumping the soundbox of a guitar to simulate a heart beat. Then speak about the Spirit as you encourage them to breath in and out.)
2) Demonstrating and encouraging kids to join you in different forms and types of prayer. Ask them to think about what forms feel most comfortable to them in different situations (kneeling, hands lifted, laying down, "arrow prayers," listening prayers, praying in color, etc.
3) Speak of offerings as being how we show God we love Him. It might be sharing money to help others or support the church but it might also be the gift of art work they have put time into to illustrate a scripture verse or a song they practice to give to the Lord and to contribute to their corporate worship.
4) Invite kids to help write different kinds of prayers from their own hearts (prayers of adoration, supplication, thanksgiving and confession and prayers as conversations they might have while sitting with Jesus.)
5) Invite kids to interpret prayers and scriptures through drawings or pictures or movement.
There are lots of wonderful ways to help kids "learn" how to worship that are actually invitations to them to reach out or be still and listen for the God that is behind and within the very air that surrounds them in the moment. I find that an image of a pregnant mother cradling her belly with a superimposed drawing or image of the child within her womb can be a valuable way to help kids think about and "visualize" the love and nurture of the God who is surrounding, supporting, sustaining and loving them even when they cannot see Him. Listen......