Encourage Children to Pray in Preschool Sunday School

Encourage Children to Pray in Preschool Sunday School

Do you know some adults who have a hard time praying in church or at a Bible study? Sometimes this is because they are new Christians and that is understandable. Other times it stems from the fact that they never really learned how to pray properly or are just embarrassed that they will not say the right things. Why not teach children how to pray as early as preschool in your Sunday school class? Growing up with prayer makes it much easier to transition this habit into adulthood.

The first thing that needs to be said about this subject is you should never force a child to pray. It is a skill that develops over time and at one's own pace. Prayer helps develop a personal relationship with God, and even if a child won't say a prayer out loud, you can feel comfortable knowing that she is praying silently to Him.

Take the time to explain to your Sunday school class about the importance of prayer. Sure they are little kids, but they understand much more than they are willing to let on. You can challenge their understanding of prayer by asking thoughtful questions to see who can give the right answers.

Once you explain the importance of prayer, move on to teaching your class the Lord's Prayer, and how Jesus gave us this prayer as an example. It is based on the acronym ACTS (A - adoration, C - confession, T - Thanksgiving, S - Supplication). Have parents continue this teaching at home by handing out suggested activities they can do with their children to encourage them to learn the Lord's Prayer. Have small prizes available for each child that can repeat the prayer to you in class as an incentive to learn.

Prayer calendars are a great way to encourage preschoolers to pray. You can find these calendars at Christian bookstores or online. They make a great gift from you to your class, and each day of the year has a suggested theme or subject to pray about. Preschoolers will be excited about seeing what prayer the next day brings, and getting their family to pray with them each day.

Prayer walks around your church from time-to-time will give preschoolers a chance to leave the classroom and hit certain spots around the church where you stop and pray. For example, you might stop at the preacher's door and pray for him, or stop in the sanctuary and pray for the whole congregation. Give children the opportunity to offer a prayer out loud, if they want, and have them take turns at each stop along the way.

You are not trying to create prayer warriors at this stage of the game. But, your constant influence in these little lives will make prayer something they will never forget about. As these preschoolers grow older, they will always remember the teacher that taught them about prayer, and they will pray for you with thanks. You just never how many lives you actually touch, even the smallest ones. Prayer is important.

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Preschool Online Games Can Help Your Preschooler's Education

Preschool Online Games Can Help Your Preschooler's Education

When you think about education for your little one, the most important and wisest thing you can do for your child, is to pay careful attention to what they see, what they hear and where they spend their time. There is no substitute for you, so even if your child is in daycare every day, there are still some great opportunities for you to influence and raise your child the way you think is best. And, because we all live busy lives, and especially if you work, outside of the home, there will be those times when you are at home or in the car, when you simply have to be doing other things. These are those moments that you will want your child to be occupied and learning at the same time.

There Is A Time and A Place For Preschool Online Games

This is where preschool online games can help you. They is absolutely no substitute for you or your child's family and friends, but they do have a place if used properly. It can help them prepare for school, especially since most schools are now using computer technology as teaching aids. Preschool online games now offer a wealth of information and learning tools to prepare your preschooler for math and reading skills they will need to have in kindergarten and first grade.

Most of us do not realize the subtle learning building blocks that must be in place for a child to be successful in kindergarten and first grade in reading and other subjects.

Choosing Preschool Online Games

It is so important to choose the right preschool online games for your child. The only way to truly know is to sit down and go through the games and play them yourself and then with your child. This will be a happy time of bonding for the two of you as he/she gets used to how it works. You can rest easy knowing that you have chosen an activity that fits those times when we all have things we must do and your child needs something fun to do as well.


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How to Start a Preschool Sunday School Class

How to Start a Preschool Sunday School Class

It is not hard to start a Sunday school class for preschoolers. Once you have passed the idea by your minister and/or elders put an ad in the church bulletin that you are starting a program, and ask for volunteers to assist you. It really is that easy, but here is some more in-depth information to get a class started smoothly.

How to Start

Find out how many parents are interested in this. Gather together a list of names and phone numbers. You can put a sign-up sheet in the foyer of the church. Once you find out how many children there will be, you will then know how much assistance you will need.

Find a suitable available room to hold your class. An ideal room should have a bathroom for small children, or at least be close to a central bathroom in the church. Many preschoolers are either potty trained or in the midst of being trained.

Before you can start your preschool Sunday school class, you will need to be prepared. Get the room all ready and all your needed supplies before starting your class. You want the children to be excited when they start this new class, and you want parents to know that they are in a good Christian environment.

What You Will Need

The first concern is safety. Have matching name tags for the preschoolers and the parents. This way you will know who goes with who. There will be no chance of someone else taking a kid that does not belong to him.

To start with, be sure and have small tables and chairs. Arrange the tables and chairs so that there is a place for them to move around. Get a nice selection of Christian storybooks and art supplies. Be sure and have some activities where the kids can move around.

You may want to get a soft mat or rug for them to sit on during Bible story time. Use the tables for doing arts and crafts.

It is a good idea to get a felt storyboard to help teach your lessons. Preschooler love visuals. You can find many felt made stories in Christian bookstores or online. Young children also enjoy object lessons where they can touch and feel things that help them remember what they learn during lessons.

Lesson Plans

You will need to have some lesson plans ready before you start. There are some good online resources for ideas on lesson plans, as well as arts and craft ideas and things you can print out. You can also purchase pre-made lesson plans through places like Standard Publishing, Gospel Light, and other well-known curriculum publishers. Keep in mind that preschoolers are very active and will not want to sit still for long periods of time. A typical lesson plan for preschoolers would be something like this:


Start off by singing a few simple songs. Jesus Loves Me is a good one to start with.
Have coloring sheets and crayons ready on the tables before the children come in. Print out coloring sheets that pertain to your lesson. Let the children sit and color the picture.
Have the children sit in front of you on the floor for story time. Bible story time should only be about 10 or 15 minutes. Get them involved by asking a few discussion questions about the story.
Teach your class a relative Bible verse for memory practice.
Arts and crafts project relating to story or play a game.
Have a prayer.
Snack time.

Some ideas for stories would be Noah's Ark, the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand, David and Goliath, and many others. There are also some really nice stories for preschoolers that will teach about life's lessons. There are stories about how to pray and how God loves you.

Starting a preschool Sunday school class can be a lot of work, but it has wonderful rewards. You will be teaching young minds about God and Jesus in a language that they can understand.

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