Pa lifts Laura, 1994
In a post entitled An Army of Grandparents, Christian educator Christina Embree cites studies showing that grandparents have a strong influence over their grandchildren’s faith development, an influence second only to the children’s parents. In some cases that influence actually increases with time. She writes:
“I learned that if grandparents talked about their faith with their grandchildren face-to-face more than once a week OR went on family vacations with their grandchildren once a year that those grandchildren had a significantly higher chance of remaining in the faith than those who did not and led to an increase in grandchildren talking with others about faith struggles in their life.
I learned that ‘when grandparents consistently modeled their faith, their grandchildren tend[ed] to share that faith.'”
Whether we have grandchildren of our own or not, we should not underestimate the power of simple, everyday actions like saying “Hey!” to children when we see them, reading together, talking about things that matter, and taking them along when we share God’s love with others.
If you are looking for good books and activities to nurture your children’s and grandchildren’s faith, here are a few resources:
Books to read:
The mission of Sparkhouse Family is to support faith development in families. They have a growing catalog of Bible story books, other books, and videos you can enjoy with your children and grandchildren. Our church’s Sunday School teachers are adapting some of them for use on Sunday mornings with our children’s class. They also have a blog you can subscribe to for ideas, including Bible reading plans. Each month of readings has a theme. Click here to subscribe to the blog, and here to subscribe to monthly Bible reading plans. Look in the sidebar for categories of posts: parenting, faith resources, family freebies, things we love, and news. Sparkhouse Family books include titles like Search and Find in the Bible, which resembles the hidden picture pages in children’s magazines, Spark Devotions for Kids, and Frolic First Bible,which makes a nice baby gift.
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers has published many wonderful titles for children, including one of my all-time favorites, Psalms for Young Children. Click here for my review of this book.
You can access these materials from the publishers’ web sites and from booksellers, and you may be able to find some in your local or church library.
Pockets Magazine is published by Upper Room Ministries of the United Methodist Church. It is aimed at children ages 6-12. Eleven issues each year deliver “full-color photos, stories, poems, games, mission-focused activities, daily scripture readings, non-fiction features, and contributions from children who read the magazine.”
Activities to share:
Flame Creative Children’s Ministry is a blog with lots of activity ideas using simple materials. For example, here is a meal time grace place mat with prayer reminders that you can make.
Music to listen to:
Glory to God: Hymns and Songs for Children and Families. See my review here. You can order the CD here. You can also download it from iTunes. Search iTunes under “Nassau Presbyterian Church.” I love the natural sound of acoustic instruments, and the voices of singers of all ages on this CD, and the fact that it includes music we sing during worship.
Shine Early Childhood Music CD. This CD comes from the Shine Curriculum of the Mennonite Church. Click on the title to hear some samples, and to order.
CDs from Making Music Praying Twice. I can’t recommend these highly enough. I have thoroughly enjoyed using these with children. Click here to read about how we have used these in our church to nurture young children.
https://refocusministry.org/2017/09/24/an-army-of-grandparents-unleashed/
The Mustard Seed Journal 