A Family Passover Celebration

We’ve celebrated Passover in our home for a number of years now, and each year it’s different, as we adapt it around who will be there. We tend to have a big feast-like meal interspersed with parts of the service (seder). We include elements which we use each week in our Shabbat meal, for example … Read more

Breathing prayer

Here’s a simple version of an ancient practise: Use a breathing prayer to ‘chew over’ a Bible verse. This is less of an understanding exercise and more of a feeling, meditative one. If you’ve found a verse that jumps out at you or is particularly meaningful to you at the moment, this might be something … Read more

Pinwheel Prayers

This is a simple activity using pinwheels to think about God’s Spirit being like the wind and to pray using them. This is a great one for under 5s, but everyone might enjoy this very tangible way to pray. What do I need to begin Pinwheel Prayers? To begin, you will need a pinwheel! Perhaps … Read more

Fruity Prayer

Have fun choosing and preparing fruit. If possible, arrange to visit a pick your own farm to pick it first! Look for suitable moments during the preparation to help everyone reflect on what fruit they like and why, and to tell god about this, thanking him for his brilliant creations. Open ended questions are good … Read more

Review: How to Pray – A Guide for Young Explorers

Title: How to pray – a guide for young explorers Author: Pete Greig and Gemma Hunt Illustrator: Patrick Laurent Published by: Hodder Price: RRP £10.99 available from Eden for £8.36 Good for: Children, young people and adults age 7+ especially those who like visually interesting books and not big blocks of text Best bit: Brilliant internal design … Read more

Balloon Christmas prayers

This is a really simple, fun way to pray around Christmas. You could do this at home, or as part of a party or even a service! Blow up the balloons and write or draw on each something you love about Christmas. (This works best with Sharpies, but *Warning* they do stain clothes.) Play some … Read more

Finger Labyrinth

This simple idea is the perfect way to slow down and connect with God. Walking a labyrinth is an ancient way to pray, using your body to help you focus and go slow. You can read more about the history of labyrinths here but the best way to discover them is to walk one! In … Read more

Duplo Prayer

I love finding ways to pray with young children. This works from the age where a child can point, and works well for any age above that! All you need to do is build two things, buildings, trains, whatever your children enjoy. Chat at your build them, and give them each a name of a … Read more

Spring-inspired prayer

I live on a farm and love using the seasons to inspire my prayer. In the past few years, I have so loved all the different types of daffodils coming up. I love their blooms, but I’ve also really enjoyed their super-vivid-green stalks. I think it happens when we have sudden warm spells and they … Read more

Encouragement Cookies

This fun activity was created by my friend Caroline. Instead of ‘fortune cookies’, she made ‘encouragement cookies’ simply by writing out blessings on slips of paper then put them inside home-made fortune cookies. Warning: the folding bit is rather hot, so be careful! What sort of blessings you write will depending on who you are … Read more

Snowdrop prayers

What fragile things could you pray for? If you can find some snowdrops, take a photo and use it to inspire your prayers. Every year I love it when I see snowdrops appear. I love their fragile beauty, intricate petals and flimsy stems buffeted by Winter winds. I love their tenacity in arriving while snow still threatens. While other … Read more

Two Types of Frosty Prayers

One This is a really simple, seasonal prayer activity to do as a family at home: When you see something looking beautiful because it’s covered in frost, praise God for it: You may well find younger children are good at this as they often have a better connection to awe and wonder. Don’t limit their … Read more