Skip to main content

Family prayer bag: 10 easy and fun ideas to help families pray together

This weekend I am off at a gathering of churches from our diocese and beyond and will be running a workshop for parents about how they can help children to engage with faith at home.  To give them some ideas for praying together, I've made up some bags which we will work our way through during the session!


 Here's one of the bags laid out...

I've included: some bubble wrap, felt tip pens, spotty paper, play dough, play coins, plastic teaspoons, bubbles, pipe cleaners, playing cards, skittles sweets and lego.

 Here's how I will suggest we might use each item (after getting some ideas from the parents themselves which will probably be even better than these ideas!!)
Family Prayer Bag

1. God Venture Skittles Prayers: 
(Found at http://godventure.co.uk/prayer-activities/sweets-prayer/- thanks Victoria for this amazing idea!)
Choose a skittle at random, say the appropriate prayer and then eat it!

Red: family
Purple: friends
Green: the environment/animals
Yellow: the world
Orange: school/work

2. Play dough Prayers (see also Play dough intercessions)
Model the play dough into the shape of something you would like to thank God for or ask Him for

Flip the coin
Heads- Thank you prayer
Tails- Please prayer

Tell God your worries and pop a bubble as a symbol of giving your worry to God

  • Make your pipe cleaner into the initial of the name of someone or something.  Pray for that thing/person
  • screw your pipe cleaner up and pray for people who are confused and upset
  • link your pipecleaner to someone else’s and pray for people who are lonely
  • put your pipe cleaner around your wrist like a bracelet as a reminder that God is always with you.

Choose a spoon at random and pray the appropriate prayer
T- Thanks 
S-Sorry 
P-Please 

Take it in turns to connect two dots with a line.  When you make a complete square, write the initial of or draw a small picture of something or someone you want to pray for.  The winner is the one who has made the most prayer squares!

Choose a card at random
Red number- sorry prayer
Black number- thank you prayer
King- give a word that describes how great God is
Queen- pray for a girl
Jack- pray for a boy

9. Bubble Prayers
say a please, sorry or thank you prayer.  Blow some bubbles and picture giving your prayer to God

10. Lego Thank You Prayers (see also Lego prayers and Lego Intercessions)
Build a tower of lego blocks.  For each block you add, thank God for someone or something. 


Click here for printable instructions.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Button Prayers

If you are looking for an active, kinaesthetic, way of praying in a small group or even with the whole congregation, then this might be for you! You will need: A collection of buttons of different shapes, sizes and colours- at least one button for each person praying. Give everyone a button. Feel the hardness of the button and think about people who are going through hard times.  Ask God to help them. Buttons are used to fasten clothes together.  Ask God to bring together people who have fallen out and moved apart from each other.  Pray that He will bring peace. Look at your button and see how many holes it has.  Think of that number of things you would like to say thank you to God for and say Thank you prayers. Look at the colour of the button and say thank you to God for something that is that colour  Find someone who has the same colour button as you.  You might want to make a small group of people with the...
1 comment
Read more

Trusting God: The Amazing Water Glass Trick!

I used this idea in an assembly yesterday, focussing on people we trust and what it means to trust God.   This would work really well if you are exploring miracle stories or stories about trust.  Suitable verses to use with it might be:  Joshua 1:9: Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the  Lord  your God will be with you wherever you go.” Psalm 56: 3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. John 14: 1  Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me  I have to admit that this trick is not an original idea.  I found the trick in this book:  Simple Science Object Talks by Heno Head Jnr  and would definitely recommend getting cold of a copy if you can! You will need: A glass of water (about half- 2/3 filled) and an index card. This is what you do: place the index card over the top of the glass, making sure that the whole of the rim is covered by it, and press...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Prayer: Skittles Experiment!

This experiment with skittles is colourful, easy and makes a great statement about what we are asking God to do when we pray.  In essence, prayers are a way of joining with God and asking him to have an effect on the world and situations around us. We pray because we believe that our prayers, through God's power, will make a difference to the world.  In this activity, colour is released from the sweets into the surrounding water, creating a colourful picture, symbolic of how the prayers we raise to God are a way of us joining with Him to release the kingdom here on earth and have an impact. You will need: A bag of skittles, a plate, hot water (not hot enough to scald, but hot enough to make the colour run!) Arrange the skittles in the plate Pour some hot water onto the plate to cover its surface.  Pour it carefully so that the skittles stay in place.  Wait and the skittles will gradually release their colour Try an alternative... Cover the s...
Post a Comment
Read more