Prayer for Preschoolers

By Anna Hamman

As a preschool teacher in a Christian School, that also has many students without Christian backgrounds, I wondered about how to pray with kids ages 3-5 that had never prayed, or maybe had never even heard the word “Prayer” before. Although prayer is a small part of our day, I wanted to make it meaningful and accessible for them.
So here are some tips on praying with tots this age:

1. Know that God loves to talk to children and children do talk to God. That may sound simple, but sometimes it is easy to think that prayer is too abstract or difficult for a child or that they would find it too boring. But neither is true. A child’s mind is often much more trusting and straightforward than our grown-up, busy minds can be. Some verses I love that show God’s love and acknowledgment of a child’s connection with him:

Matthew 18:1-5. 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 

God says that children have great faith and that we must become like them. That takes some of the pressure off of us as we try to teach them this “big thing” called prayer. God does speak to them and loves their faith, which suggests that they pray or think in a way that He likes. The other verse I love is:

Mark 10:14-16 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

2. Prayers do not need to be sophisticated or long to be meaningful or heard. They could just be, “Please make my grandma better” or “Thank you for sunshine” and God hears and loves their faith. For kids who don’t like to use many words, I have some creative ideas below.

3. Sometimes kids don’t always like to pray out loud. That’s OK. That doesn’t mean they never will or that they are not part of the process. You can model simple and heartfelt prayer. You can ask about what they want to pray for and then pray a simple prayer for them. In time, as they develop more language skills or feel more comfortable, they may choose to pray out loud.

They may also need another format. Below are just some creative ideas I have come across or thought of. Next to them I have suggested the ages I think are appropriate for each activity.
• Make a book with photos of things or people your child would like to pray for. Alternatively, your child could make drawings of each thing. Let them choose one each night where either you or they say the words. You may choose to pray for all of them (ages 2-5)
• If your children enjoy creating things, decorate a prayer box with a lid together. Include a slot where you place pieces of paper with things they want to pray for written on them. The child can draw one out and pray for it each night. Alternatively, write down your child’s prayers or have them write them down (if they can write) on pieces of paper and then post them in the box after saying them. At the end of the week/month take a look at them again and thank God for his answers. (ages 3-8)
• Link your prayers with action. For example, if you’re praying for a sick grandma, make a drawing or card together and send it to her. If you’re praying for kids in Haiti after a disaster, start sponsoring a child and write letters to them together to make it tangible and meaningful. (ages 4-12)
• Have a corkboard that you pin prayers to. I saw this on a kids prayer website and it was used with older children, but I think you could do this with younger kids too (4-12 yrs)
• Pray using a beanbag. The child holding the beanbag gets to pray then pass it onto the next person. If you have two or more children, this might be great. (ages 3-6)

4. Children are really compassionate. Sometimes we think children will only want to pray for things close to them or to receive things that they want (we do this as adults sometimes, too). Children really do care for issues beyond themselves , whether or not we talk about them.

I was touched when teaching a three to five-year-old group one day. When I asked what they wanted to pray for, one five-year-old said, “I want to pray for all the people in Haiti right now who don’t have houses and food, that God would look after them.” There was no prompting from me or anyone else at the time. She and one of the other children then prayed for Haiti. I think it is really important to think about others in prayer, and it is not beyond children to pray for people suffering on the other side of the world, if we talk about it together.

Prayer is powerful. Enjoy the journey