5 great prayer ideas for under 5s

Prayer is a very natural thing to do and so one of the easiest things to offer under 5s and their parents as a faith activity to do together. The lovely thing about creative prayer ideas is that they often bypass the need for spoken language, and therefore are accessible to toddlers and very young … Read more

Sharing love, hope and faith with hurting families

A few years ago, I worked on possibly the best set of books I’ve ever been involved with. The series is called Held in Hope, and they are Christian stories about sickness and death for young children (under 7). I worked with the experienced, wonderful and wise chaplains at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and a talented artist, Rhiannon Molart, … Read more

Dice Prayer

Take it in turns to throw the dice and say specific thanks prayers. For example, If you roll a 1 – pray for your church. Below is a suggested list. your church your family your village/town/city your nursery/school/work your country your world You could also make up your own code, perhaps using situations you know … Read more

Bible story with toys or The Day Jesus Went to Peppa Pig’s House

What are your children’s favourite toys at the moment? Why not use them to explore a Bible story together? My girls are currently into their dolls house, so we used it to tell the story you’ll probably know as ‘man through the roof’. See below for my pictures of the following story: We started with … Read more

Helping bereaved children

Today I feel compelled to write about helping bereaved children fueled by the huge sadness I feel after hearing the news of a friend’s death. She leaves behind two little children as well as a husband, family and friends, and will be sorely missed. Since I worked on the Held in Hope series, I’ve realised … Read more

Prayer stars

This activity comes from Josh stays in hospital, about how Josh has to spend quite a while in hospital but discovers that God is with him and will help him. It’s part of the Held in Hope series produced with the Paediatric Chaplaincy Network. Draw faces on prayer stars to represent one sad prayer and … Read more

God’s house pictures

This activity comes from Sam’s Special Book, about how Sam is very poorly and no one can make him better, so he explores ideas of what heaven might be like through the Bible verse about God preparing a place for us. It’s part of the Held in Hope series produced with the Paediatric Chaplaincy Network. … Read more

Duplo Bible

Share a Bible story using Duplo. (This can, of course, be done with any size Lego. We’re just at the Duplo stage, so that’s what we’ve used.) Firstly, you need to know which story you’re telling (can you guess which one we chose?). It’s particularly helpful to younger children for the story to be one … Read more

10 Reasons I Love the Big Bible Storybook

I did not write or edit it. I did not publish it. I do not sell it. But I’ve got to tell you, it’s good! Here’s why: And most of all, I love it because currently, my daughter is choosing it instead of Thomas the Tank Engine. Which we both know off by heart. At … Read more

Passover prep 2014

It’s almost time for Lent, so I find myself also preparing for Passover. We celebrate this Jewish festival as a family at home on Good Friday as a kind of ‘big Shabbat’. This year we’re going to share it with another family too, so I’ll be reworking our service sheet from last year, adding in … Read more

Meringue meditation

Here’s a way to allow children to experience a Bible verse and think about it. It takes a bit of preparation but children will love it! Make meringue and pipe it in the shape of these words from Psalm 119:103: “Your teachings are sweeter than honey.” (See below for the meringue recipe.) Read the verse … Read more

5 Ways to Pray with Playdough

Here are five, simple ideas to pray using playdough. This works well with under 5s, but plenty of children, teens and adults would also appreciate this very kinesthetic prayer. These ideas are those used at the mini-make session at the Hand in Hand conference in January. The dough I like to use is the 4-minute dough … Read more