In Episode 006 of Playfully Faith Parenting, I share some of the practical tips for ways to add faith to play and play to faith.
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Show Notes
Episode Summary:
In this episode I share practical tips on how to incorporate play into your family’s faith and faith into your family’s play.
Faith into Play:
Look for and ask about:
- Bible Stories Characters
- God’s Characteristics
- Fruit of the Spirit/godly traits
Play into Faith:
- Do Playful Bible Reading & Playful Prayers
- Use games, experiments, and object lessons to share about the character of God
- Sunday School Music and Worship music with hand motions
- Seeds Family Worship
- Dana Dirkson
- Cedarmont Kids
Verses from the episode:
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Luke 13:34
Exodus
Esther
Links from the episode:
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Transcript
Here is a rough transcript of Playfully Faithful Parenting Episode 006: Playing with God and Kids. This isn’t meant to be pretty and perfect but is here as a resource for those who want it.
Transcript
Hey Mama and welcome back and so excited.
You are here today for the conclusion of our three part series on play.
This is just an introduction to play because at playfully faithful parenting we will be talking about play throughout our time together, right?
Because it is so important.
Kids for adults.
For our faith.
For our lives.
In episode four, we talked all about the benefits of play and how play helps kids to develop in all of the major areas of development.
Last week episode we talked about what is play?
We looked at it.
From both a theoretical, scholarly and academic perspective, and also a biblical perspective.
So if you did not listen to either of those.
I highly suggest you go back, learn about the benefits of play.
What play is so that you can best take today’s practical tips and understand why we do what we do with play and in our faith.
So today we are going to talk about.
Some practical tips.
On how to incorporate play into your family faith and faith into your family’s play, I think it is so beneficial to our kids when we know how to both add faith to our play and play to our faith. Both of those are important because we want to.
Be able to follow what our kids are interested in and what they are already doing and for them to see that God can join them in their lives.
That God doesn’t ask them to throw away all of their interests.
That God wants to join them in their life, and so I think that makes him so much more relatable and is helpful for kids.
And really, all of us to know and remember that God created us the way we are.
There are a lot of our interests.
Sinful desires apart from.
But a lot of our good passions and interests are godly given to us, right?
God gave me the passion to serve moms.
God gave me the interest in play.
These things are who God created me to be.
And so.
Kids know what they’re interested in.
They know they’re interested in playing with dolls or they’re interested in dinosaurs or building, and so for kids to be able to take who they already know they are and what they’re interested in and invite God into that makes him a lot more approachable and feel like.
And and and can be really encouraging for our kids and build their confidence in in in who they are and who God created them to be in that identity.
That they are growing and learning about, so adding faith to their play is 1 important approach to a playful face.
The other approach is adding play into our faith, so some of those things that you may already be.
Doing for faith growth activities in your home.
Adding and incorporating.
Play into those into the spiritual disciplines.
I love spiritual disciplines and I think they sound really lofty.
But I just want you to come here when I say spiritual disciplines here that as those day-to-day week to week, month to month practices that we do those things that we do in order to invite God into our lives.
It they don’t need to be super spiritual and.
To feel like you are, you have to be a pastor or a theologian to be able to use spiritual practices.
All of you are probably already doing them.
So spiritual disciplines are just those things that we do to help us grow closer to God and we get to ad play into those things and I think it will help not only your kid, kids and their faith, but I think it will help your faith grow and your relationship with Christ deepen as well.
So let’s let’s talk.
About adding faith into our kids play, we can.
We can do big super adventures and definitely you can add faith into.
So those big vacations, big trips.
But today I really want to focus on the kind of small play that kids do on a day to day basis, and I’m going to give you 3 things to look for while your kids are playing and three things.
These three things that you.
Can then talk about with your kids.
As their plane and just to add some playful faith conversations to what your kids love and already want to do in ways that they’re already exploring their world.
So the three things that we’re going to look for first one.
Are Bible story characters?
Is there something that your kid is doing or your?
Kids are playing or doing that reminds you of a Bible story or a Bible character.
Maybe your kids are pretending to have a tea party and they’re pretending to be Queens and princesses.
Could you link that to Queen Esther, or could you talk about a wedding feast that Jesus went to and he turned the water into one?
If your kids are playing wedding, did you know that Jesus went to a wedding and the very.
First miracle he.
Never did was at a wedding to me.
That’s so cool.
I love that Jesus wanted to celebrate.
You love weddings, Jesus loved weddings.
You have something in common with Jesus.
Super simple converse.
Mission, you don’t need to be a deep theologian.
Have a ton of Bible knowledge to say wow.
Look, you’re having a feast.
Queen Esther through a feast.
These are things that you can easily look for in what your kids are doing.
Even superheroes.
Wow, you’re playing superheroes.
Are you very brave and talk about a brave character in the Bible?
Or talk about somebody who wasn’t brave.
Talk about Jesus being brave, but look for a story or a character.
That your kids play sparks in your imagination, in your memory.
And if you need help doing this, pray I promise you if you ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and insight and creativity for adding faith to your kids, play the.
Holy Spirit will show up.
He will answer you.
It may not look like exactly what you were hoping for, but he is faithful and he wants you to be successful in.
This in spiritual parenting and so invite the Holy Spirit to help you to be creative. Second thing we can look for as our kids are playing, we can look for characteristics of God. A few examples of looking for God’s character might be.
For kids.
Plain with farm animals, right?
Farm animals, something kids love.
Least my girls and making all the animal sounds and whatnot so.
They have a chicken.
Did you know?
There is a place in the Bible where Jesus compares himself to a chicken.
Jesus loved the people of Jerusalem so much.
The people in the town he was in so very much that he wanted to bring them all very close to him and put them under his wings.
Under his arms and protect them all the way and mother chicken carries like keeps her little babies under her wings to protect them.
Because God protects us. That’s in Luke 1334. So talk about how Jesus compares himself to a chicken when your kids are playing farm animals.
You can also, if your kids are playing cars or trains and they’re on the floor and they’re guiding them around right?
Did you know that?
God will guide his people the way you are guiding your cars.
I love you are being very careful to guide your cars around on the streets and you’re avoiding all the dangers and you’re taking very good care of your cars.
You’re showing them which way they need to.
Though God loves to do that for his people, there was a time where God guided his people for 40 years in the desert.
Tons of people.
All of his people.
He loved for 40 years.
He guided them with smoke and fire just the way that you are guiding your cars.
Or if your kids are putting together puzzles right.
So we’re looking while watching our kids are putting together a puzzle and they’re trying to figure out where a puzzle piece goes.
You can talk to your kids about how God is omniscient, how he knows everything, so they have a puzzle piece.
Where do you think that piece goes?
How do you know that?
Can talk to your kids about.
The trial and error and looking for all the clues that we do.
We were putting puzzles together, but how God doesn’t need to do problem solving with puzzles he doesn’t have to try a piece in different places over and over that God knows everything.
He already knows everything he knows how.
Now to help us he knows how we were created.
He knows how we can best enter into situations and he knows how we can best live and love others because he is omniscient and don’t be afraid to teach your kids these big words.
Then you’ll have to define them and explain them, but I think your kids are capable of at least hearing them.
You may not need to use that word all the time, but introducing your kids, even two and four year olds, you can talk about the word omniscient.
How it means all knowing or knows everything and.
Come and just kind of use both of the the phrase and omniscient in in the sentences together and it will.
It will help build their faith vocabulary in their faith, language or as they get get older.
The third thing we’re going to look for in our kids play is.
The fruit of the spirit or other godly.
Traits, so as we watch our kids play with each other or is consumed with toys or a combination, we are going to look for times when they are good.
When they are kind when they are loving, when they are faithful, when they practice self control and call that.
Out in them.
Woah, you were so kind.
The way you shared that toy I can tell you really were angry and you wanted to hit your.
Sister, but you didn’t.
You practice self control.
God loves when we practice self control.
That is a gift that the Holy Spirit gave you to be able to keep your body from doing something in anger that your body wanted to do.
And adding Fe to play.
Finding those fruit of the spirit.
Those beautiful moments to celebrate the way God and the Holy Spirit are working in your kids life is just a really great way to encourage them to continue those behaviors.
Especially during.
So those are some easy ways to add faith into play.
So by just observing your kids and what they’re already doing, and maybe you’re playing with them, both are great options.
Your kids need both and you as a Mama.
Needs both right?
We need time when our kids are playing independently and we need time to spend and bond with our kids over.
So that is adding faith into our kids play.
Next, we’re going to talk about adding play into faith.
So like I said, this is.
Adding playful elements into the spiritual disciplines that we are doing with our family.
First, we are going to do playful Bible reading and playful prayers.
These are two really easy places.
To incorporate a little bit of fun and play, we don’t mean to bore our kids with the Bible.
We want them to want to read the Bible.
We want them to be engaged in the Bible.
We want them to want to go back to those stories, and I think.
The best way to do that is by using age appropriate Bibles, and there are so many great children’s Bibles, so find one that both you enjoy reading.
A parent and that your kids will enjoy.
And when you read, use enthusiasm and excitement because that is going to mean so much to your kids.
If you are bored, your kids are going to be bored.
Look for emotions and the stories and bring those out.
Ask your kids.
Oh, look, this character is sad.
What does a sad face look like?
What do you think, Jesus, his face looked like when he was so happy?
To see his friends or come or when someone is scared, ask your kids.
Oh show me a scared face.
These are really simple, simple ways to add a little bit of fun.
You can also have your kids act out whether and different big verbs action verbs if someone is.
Walking, do you think they were tiptoeing?
Do you think they were stomping and those are great ways to get your kids bodies moving while you’re reading the story, which is going to help them too.
To make a more deep connection to the story and build memory.
Because movement makes memories so incorporate movement, incorporate emotions and incorporate enthusiasm.
So those are three tips for.
How to make your Bible reading more playful.
Plus use an age appropriate Bible.
You can also make your prayers more playful a map.
Magine you have a relationship with your spouse, right?
And you only had serious conversations.
You only you may not even just only talk.
You may spend time listening, but you were only serious all the time and never had any fun.
Is that really a relationship?
That you want to pursue that you want to.
Your whole life are out and have part of your day today.
It’s not for me.
I want to have fun.
I get drained.
If I don’t have fun and play and I think so often, our prayer lives become only serious.
It may not be only asking for things, but it’s only we only ask.
God serious question.
And listen for serious answers or we only tell him about the serious things in our lives when God wants to have a much deeper and more full relationship with us than just the serious things he wants to enjoy life with us in Zephaniah 317.
He talks about how he delights over us, delighting.
I imagine smiling and laughing, and it talks about singing and there’s music involved, right when someone is singing, there’s new.
Music and these are fun.
Playful life giving things that we need to teach our kids to incorporate into their prayer life so prayers can be fun.
You can pray about silly things.
We, my family, went to the zoo yesterday so we could pray.
God I love.
With the paper that you made, it looks so funny.
You did such a good job when you made that new combined.
It looks like a panda bear and an aardvark and a pig.
And God just how did you come up with this?
It’s so crazy it makes me laugh or God I love this movie.
This is my favorite movie.
Thank you for the creativity of those who made this movie.
Simple simple prayer topics can be playful.
But you can also pray serious things using playful methods such as play DoH if your kids are anxious or scared about something, but I like to have them do is let them builds make whatever they’re afraid of or they’re anxious about out of play dough.
And then we pray about it and then they can take the plate out and they can smash it.
And just how God wants to get rid of our anxieties and our fears, they can just get rid of this of the anxiety.
The thing that’s causing them anxiety and fear by smashing.
Played out and they can get as physical as they need to or as they want to with that, right?
Or they can do the same thing with bubbles.
Maybe they blow their prayer requests into bubbles and watch them go up to God.
We also my girls love to pray with Cam.
And when the smoke when they blow out the candle and the smoke rises, they ask for God to take to hear their prayers as their prayers go up with the smoke towards heaven.
It’s so cute they they have this little chant they do every time they see smoke from from candles so.
Find playful ways to pray and to read the Bible.
Next, I want to encourage you to use games.
And object lessons to share about the character of God.
So one of my favorites and one of my girls favorites is we talked about God, power, right?
And so we used balloons to talk about God power that we can’t see God.
Power we can’t see him, but we can see.
Be that he is real and that he is powerful, by the way that things move.
So we use balloons and we blew them up and we can’t see air.
Just like you can’t see wind, but we can see that they are real by the things that they affect.
So blow up the balloon.
And it is filled with air, which is God power in our illustration.
And when you let go, don’t tie it, but you just let go of the balloon, and it flies all over the room, right?
And it makes this crazy fun sound and kids love it.
And they get to chase the balloons and they’re laughing. But they are playing and experiencing a physical illustration of God’s existence and his power and things like that are so meaningful to kids and will really help them.
To remember, I could still ask them, do you remember the time we played with balloons and talked about God’s power and they remember?
And it’s fun, and it’s something that it just it makes a deep connection into their brain.
It builds, right?
Those those connections between neurons and is going to make a lasting impact.
Finally, use Sunday school music and worship music with hand.
So you could do this.
This just to worship. You can also do this to memorize scripture, seeds, family worship and Dana Dirksen are both great music that we listen to a lot in our family. I love the songs for saplings album of Dana Dirksen’s it has.
Memory verse a scripture for each letter of the alphabet as well as some others.
And she has another one that has numbers.
And then she also has a lot of albums that are like questions and answers catechisms.
For kids where kids get to memorize truths about God and faith in the Bible through song, so I highly recommend Dana Dirksen seeds family.
Worship is just a bunch of Bible verses.
By themes, their different albums are themed and it’s all just it’s verses in Scripture put to music, so it’s catchy and fun and memorable for kids and then also just using fun songs that your kids can get into right?
I remember from my childhood.
Songs like Father A.
For ham and we would do all the fun hand motion and you’re just laughing and knees up, arms out, chin down, tongue out.
All these, you know, silly fun ways, but they’re connecting with God and it is.
It is making a mark on your kids heart and they are.
Experiencing that God and worship can be fun.
Cedarmont kids has a lot of great out.
Thumbs, you can find them on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, all of those.
They have a lot of albums that just have really great fun kids songs that you can do hand motions to and that are super simple for the littlest toddlers and preschoolers to learn.
There are other great.
Kids worship band.
Ones for elementary teams and so just check those out, but I highly encourage you to use music and do the hand motions and be silly with your kids and play and.
And dance and all of those things I definitely believe will glorify God because you are building connections with your kids.
Near building connections with him, Clay builds bonds and so inviting God into your play and your kids into a relationship with God through play.
It’s going to make an impact, and so Mama, I just encourage you to seek opportunities to ask the Holy Spirit for creativity.
And opportunities and just keep on Mama.
You can do this and on behalf of God.
Thank you for taking care of his kids with love and play.
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