How to Teach Your Toddler About God
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How do you show someone who can’t even talk yet, the wonders of God? How do you teach them all about Salvation? How to you incorporate God into their everyday life? Where do I start?
These are the questions I’ve asked myself every day since my son Adam was born. Does it matter when he is so young still? I believe it does. Even the smallest things make a difference, and incorporating God into his everyday life is no exception!
Being a parent is tough, and having the job of a teacher can be challenging at times. Here are a few things I’ve learned to do along the way when it comes to teaching my son about God.
5 Ways To Teach Your Child About God
1. Pray Them and For Them
Awhile back, when I was reading the book Babywise, I found an idea I really liked. The authors suggested praying with your child to bless the food at every meal. Not just praying for him, but folding his hands together and showing him your bowed head and closed eyes while you pray. I really liked this idea and was determined to incorporate it into his daily life. I have to admit, it was a little harder than I thought, and I haven’t done it every day, but remember even a little bit can make a difference!
We also started praying with my son every night before he goes to sleep. After our regular nightly routine, I lay him down and rub his tummy and either myself or my husband will pray with him. Usually,
it goes something like this, “Dear God, Please bless Adam as he sleeps tonight. Help him to sleep peacefully and soundly, and help him to sleep through the night with no bad dreams. In Jesus name, Amen.” I always close my eyes when I do it, and ever since we started this I have never gotten over the look of wonder on his face when I open my eyes. It’s like he knows that this is special and different.
2. Listen to Godly Music
We still mostly listen to regular music in the car, but occasionally we will put on Veggie Tales or Kid’s Worship Music for Adam. It’s hard to tell, but I think he enjoys it. Mostly, I try to incorporate the music into our daily lives, by having it on while we are playing together in his room. I also love singing to Adam and songs such as, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know,” “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” and the “B-I-B-L-E.” They are great places to start!
My favorite music as a kid and even now is the Donut Man. I grew up listening to him and I think it is perfect for my son as well. I love how they incorporate scripture verses and Bible stories into catchy songs. I still remember a lot of the songs from when I was a kid!
3. Read Them Bible Stories
My son loves books. He will go pick out a book from the shelf, bring it to me, and then plop in my lap as if to say, “Read to me!” He has his favorite books of course, but I am not sure if he understands the difference between one story over another. We have several Bible story books, and I plan on getting him a toddler or Kid’s Bible soon. I really feel this is important, as I remember all the different Bible books I had as a kid and that my parents read to me. I remember reading them to myself and looking at the colorful pictures that depicted the story. I hope my son has the same love for these Bible stories as well.
4. Talk About Christ
I don’t know about you, but I love to talk to my son when we are both home alone all day. I talk about all kinds of things with him. If you do that, there are always things you can work into those conversations. For example, if you are on a walk you could say something like, “Look at this beautiful Creation!” and “Did you know God created the world? He made it so beautiful!” Or even just while you are playing, “Did you know Jesus loves you very much? Yes, he does!”
5. Live by Example
Last, but not least, and certainly the most important is setting an example for my son to live by and follow. I am not perfect, and neither is my husband, but we can ask for God’s grace as we try to show our son how to live. I realize I need to pray every day and I take seriously the responsibility I have to set a good and Godly example as a mom, wife, and person.
What about YOU? What are some ways you have used to show or teach your toddler or baby about God?
These were all great! It is so important for us as mothers to teach our little ones about God while they are little… it's commanded of us. (Deut. 6:4-9)
We do all of these things with Maddy too and we also include her in our family devotions. We use a devotional book that CEF makes and we go through it every night with her at bed time. đ I don't know how much she really understands but we hope that she will never know a time without Christ. đ
Looks like you covered them all and the last one will definitely be the most challenging, yet deliver the greatest reward. The mother may be the closest thing to Jesus a child will ever get to know. Living Christ-like is the key. Letting them see you pray, meditate, praise, give, forgive, and act like Christ in every aspect is key!
Can I add on that I think the majority of Christians have forgotten? Catechism. I grew up thinking that it was just for Catholics or too old fashioned but I have LOVED doing catechism with my kids. I blogged about it not too long ago. http://whateverp48.blogspot.com/2011/04/catechism.html
This is such a wonderful post! Thank you SO much for sharing. I started holding Isaac's hands together to pray over our dinner. Because of his shorter attention span I usually do a shorter prayer just for him (ex. "Thank you, Jesus, for this day and thank you for this food. Amen.") If we're feeling ambitious, we'll all hold hands and say a "regular" prayer for everyone. I'd like to start praying before bed as well. I've wanted to start doing that for awhile now, just haven't actually done it.
I've been talking about getting Isaac his own Bible so we can read him Bible stories. He loves books too; so once we finally get him his own set of Bible stories this should be super easy to incorporate in our daily life.
We pretty much listen to K-Love almost 24/7 at our house, in the car, etc. But, I think he'd like some of the fun songs like "Jesus Loves the Little Children," "Father Abraham" and the others you mentioned.
Seriously, these are all such great ideas that I definitely plan to incorporate into our daily life.
These are great! I enjoy doing these with my little one. We listen to patch the pirate which she loves! I can’t leave the room until we do pray at night. Lol what a precious age! Have you ever heard of Awana Puggles? They have at home cards for parents to teach their two year olds about God through creation and relationships. It is the basis of their program to show God by what He does and who He is in order to establish respect which then helps them later on to be a person who has a deep relationship with God. I wish I was more intentional with my little one with this.
Oh yes, I’ve heard of Patch the Pirate, but don’t know much about it! Yes, my son has been to Awana before, it’s really nice. I didn’t know they have take-home cards. I will have to look more into that. Thanks for sharing!!