Teaching little ones to pray can feel overwhelming.
Where do you even start? What words do you use? And do toddlers really understand what prayer means?
The truth is—you don’t need long or complicated lessons to teach preschoolers to pray. What they need most is simple, consistent, and meaningful exposure to talking with God. In this post, I’ll explain practical ways to help toddlers learn what prayer is, and how to teach them to talk to God!
Why teaching prayer to toddlers is important
When kids are young, we have such a great opportunity to fill their minds with truth and goodness. What a gift it is that we have to teach little ones to pray! Prayer is instant access to the God of the Universe. Our creator, God of all things, wants us to talk to Him. His word teaches us to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and that can start even at the littlest of ages. Setting them up with a firm foundation of what prayer is and how we can do it is so important, because it teaches them that we can pray anytime, anywhere, about anything.
What prayer looks like for toddlers
We don’t have to teach them to use fancy words that they don’t understand, or to pray only at specific meal times (though meal times is a great routine to pray over). We can teach them that we can pray anytime of day. First thing when we wake up, before breakfast, when someone is hurt or sad, when we see an ambulance drive by, or just because! We can model simple phrases and words for them - “God, good morning! Thank you for a new day!” “God, my brother has a boo boo. Can you comfort him?” “God, please be with the ambulance drivers. Give them safety as they go to help someone.” “Thank you God for my family.”
Modeling these simple phrases teaches them that prayer is conversation with God. We don’t have to complicate it. If your toddler learns that God wants us to talk to him, that he hears us, and that we can talk to him anytime and anywhere, about anything, then that’s a win!
Prayer Lesson plans for toddlers and preschoolers
We’ve created a simple 4 lesson unit on prayer for toddlers and preschoolers. Each lesson covers the ideas we just went over. We can pray anytime, we can pray anywhere, we can pray about anything, and God wants to talk with us!
Our lessons include teaching ideas, songs, games, and crafts to help solidify these ideas with your little ones.
Who these lessons are perfect for
These lessons were designed for anyone who has toddlers in their care. They’ve been used in Sunday school classrooms, Christian preschool classes, homeschool settings, and for at home family worship. They are adaptable for any of those locations.
FAQ - Teaching toddlers and preschoolers to pray
How do you teach a child to pray?
Teaching your little ones can be as easy as explaining that prayer is talking to God. It can be done anytime, anywhere, and about anything. Model with simple phrases and sentences, have them repeat after you, and give them lots of opportunity to practice!
At what age should kids start praying?
Kids can learn to pray as soon as they are able to say a couple words! Even at 11 months old, our babies were able to learn to close their eyes (even if just for a moment), fold their hands, and be quiet while we spoke a prayer over them. The littlest toddlers can quickly learn to say “Amen” when a prayer is over. Starting young is a great time to start teaching them the importance of talking to God.
If you think you’re ready to start teaching your little ones to pray, and would like some lessons to help you prepare the framework, check out our prayer lessons here! Our lessons are simple to print and use for your ease!
