How to Teach Kids to Have a Quiet Time
How to Help Kids Start a Quiet Time For Spiritual Growth
One way to help your kids start a quiet time is to lead by example. Your children will notice if you regularly read your Bible. They will walk in on you and see you praying or reading your Bible. This is example is extremely powerful. You can also encourage children by buying them different devotional books to use with their Bibles. My boys have enjoyed such books as My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. They must be careful not to allow these books to replace reading the actual Word of God, however.
Families Model Quiet Time
Family Bible reading and prayer times pave the way for personal quiet times. This is where Dad and Mom model for children how to pray, and read to them before they are able to read. Good family devotional habits naturally develop into personal devotions. As your child matures, you can encourage him or her to set aside a special time each day to read from the Bible (even if it is a “picture Bible”) and talk to God.
Prayer
It is helpful to educate children on the different types of prayer. They can be taught to praise God, thank God, and then ask God for the things they need. You can also get a journal for your child to record prayer requests and praises in. They can even draw pictures in their journals. Any time you can make the devotional experience interactive and creative, it makes it more personal for the children.
Set Aside Time For God
You can also guide children into devotional time by setting aside a short time of solitude for your child every day. You can explain that this time is for the quiet time and give children ideas of how to structure it. You may want to sit in on the quiet time a few times until he or she gets the idea.
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i was wondering if you knew of a good devotional or curriculum aimed for the younger ages. My sons are 6 and 5. If you have any ideas i would love to hear them.
Thank you
I have started having a family Bible reading time every morning. I asked everyone to pick a book any book of the Bible and start reading it (and plan to read it all the way through.) We read silently but all together at the same time for 10-15 minutes and then take turns sharing what we learned from our reading that day. Then we pray together. Also, another homeschool family has asked to do once a week Bible study with the kids taking turns being the teacher for kids and parents alike. So we are going to start that next Monday. I made up a simple planning format to help the kids put together a simple 3-5 minute lesson with a song, prayers and teaching on something they feel the Lord is teaching them from the Bible. We are excited about that and expect great growth opportunities for our kids as they learn to learn from God and teach others!!
Robyn–my kids are a little older 8 and 11 now, but last year we accidentally stumbled across a devotional book called Absolutely Awesome that your boys might enjoy. It has stories and examples and Scriptural applications highlight the many wonders and marvels and mysteries in God’s creation. We got it from our library but if I recall correctly it was put out by Tyndale.
Great, Tamara! How creative and fantastic that you are teaching your children how to dig things out of scripture. I LOVE it! Keep up the good work.
May I humbly suggest Answers For New Christians, the combination workbook coloring book and storybook for young children. It explains the plan of salvation starting in the garden and goes through growing in Christ. There are some movies I made about it at
Blessings!
hi, my children and I have been listening to the bible as we drive – something I thought they would find boring. We’ve listened to the entire new testament – even revelations. I have a daughter of 8 and a son of 5 and I was amazed. They couldn’t wait for the next trip and it envoked a lot of discussion. I also appreciate your suggestion of reading together and asking what has spoken to their hearts.
Are you familiar with Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. They are the largest ministry to children in the world and they have great resources for teaching children. Two great resources for Quiet Times are “Every Day with God” and the Wonder Devotional Books. They can be obtained through their website: cefonline.com
Check them out.