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Before having kids, I took for granted how easy it was to simply attend church. My husband and I would take showers and dress up. It was enjoyable looking good and holding hands during worship time, taking notes during the sermon, and even participating in some conversations with those around us without interruption.

Then we had kids. In fact, we had three kids in three years. With three kids ages three and under, attending church looks a little different. We make a sugar-free breakfast in hopes of keeping their extra energy in check followed by wrestling three kids and ourselves into clothes with minimal stains. Finally, we drag ourselves, our diaper bag, our church bag, and our exhausted selves out to pile into our minivan.

When we reach church, we say quick hellos but don’t attempt too much conversation because we all have kids that like to ask questions and need last minute bathroom runs, etc. Once settled into our chairs, we work on explaining that this is the time to praise Jesus. This time is special. And it is. But it is also especially hard. Babies need to nurse sometimes. Potty-training toddlers need another bathroom run. Tired children want to snuggle but refuse to fall asleep.

No sermon notes are taken and no husband/wife hand holding. When the church service is over, we reward our kids with a “Good job!” if they did well. Likewise, we remind them of how they should have acted if their behavior wasn’t so on point. And we go home to crash and think longingly back to the days of quiet Sunday mornings.

Training kids to attend church and praise Jesus and learn from what the pastor is teaching during the sermon is hard. But it is well worth it. With a lot of consistency, you will see your children be able to grasp far more than you ever imagined.

Now imagine how much better their level of understanding and consistency in behavior would be if you could prepare them for Sunday during the rest of the week. Well, you can. Here are several practical activities that you can implement into your day to help train your kids to sit through church. And let’s just keep reminding each other that someday (not today!) we will miss these sweet years of training young hearts to worship the Lord with other believers in the Body of Christ.

 

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Activities You Can Do At Home To Train Your Kids To Sit Through Church

Consider trying some of these hands-on activities at home to help train your kids to sit through church.

Read The Bible Together

Find an age appropriate Bible for your kids. Set aside time each day to read the Bible together. Currently, in our house, it is right before nap time to help everyone settle down and get ready to rest. Pick a time in your day that you know would work for your family. Perhaps after a meal, before bed, or while they are eating an after school snack.

As your children become more familiar with the content in the Bible, they will be more able to follow along with sermons in the adult service. My oldest is three right now and just this past week she was so excited because our pastor used the example of Zacchaeus in his sermon. Her face lit up and she leaned over and said, “I know Zacchaeus!”

When we help our kids grasp the easier and more familiar aspects of the Bible, they will more willingly sit to listen during a church service.

Also, as they grow older, be sure to help them even more by finding some sermon notes geared for kids. Even a simple note book and colored pencil will do the trick if you want it to! Find ways that they can interact with what is being taught from the pulpit.

 

Listen To Worship Music/Hymns Together

Music is powerful. It conveys emotions and marks important times in our lives. When you are dating or first married, you and your spouse probably had a song (or songs!) that when they came on you both knew it was just “Your Song.” Kids find their favorites too. (Think the Baby Shark craze…sorry if that is a painful memory you are blocking!)

Chances are pretty good that your kids hear and know some of your favorite songs already. Take this normal activity of listening to music and step it up one notch. Sing hymns and worship songs together with your kids. Personally, I love the old hymns because they are so rich in truth. There are some awesome kids versions of hymns that help make these beloved classics enjoyable to the next generation. Here are a few you can check out:

Create playlists on iTunes. Find channels on Pandora. Add YouTube videos to a playlist. Whatever way you listen to music, just make a point to add worship songs and hymns-particularly ones that your church often sings. Not only will you and your kids be focusing on worshiping God in music throughout your week, but your kids will be more able and likely to join in with enthusiastic worship on Sunday mornings.

Also, if you want to take this even farther, grab a book like this one and learn the stories behind the songs that you sing at church. For example, Amazing Grace is a powerful song but the story behind Amazing Grace makes singing this song even more memorable and important. Kids can grasp these stories from an incredibly young age and it will help them learn to cherish God-honoring music.

 

Practice Sitting Quietly

I know this sounds weird but practicing to sit quietly will help train your kids to sit through church. It doesn’t have to be as weird as it sounds either! 🙂

An easy way to do this is simply to have times of reading aloud with your kids where they sit quietly to listen to a story. Start with short stories from books with engaging pictures. Reread their favorite stories. Find new books about topics that interest them. Pick books about their favorite Bible characters.

Sit down with your kids on your couch. Patiently explain to them that you are going to read a story and want them to enjoy listening to this one story without interrupting.

Depending on their age, give them age appropriate expectations. My wiggly two year old son gets to have his sippy cup with him. He can drink water while he listens. Often he fiddles with opening and closing the sippy cup lid quietly while we read. My three year old loves to hold a book mark in her hands when we read chapter books to her. This gives her hands an activity while still helping her sit still and focus on the story being read.

The key is to continually train and remind your kids to sit still. Some days this will go smoothly and will be enjoyable. Other days you will want to bang your head against a wall because they will act like they have never understood the concept before. 🙂 Don’t give up. Over the course of a few weeks of consistency, it will become easier for both you and your kids. Consistently teach them what sitting quietly and listening looks like. Give them manageable expectations.

Then before you head out the door to church (or the drive to church) quietly restate these expectations again. Kids often need us to communicate well what we do want from them. Remember that they aren’t mind readers who understand what we want without us ever saying a word. If we want our kids to learn to act in a respectful and worshipful manner through church, we need to show and train them what that actually looks like!

 

Pray Together With Your Kids

Ah…the quietest time in any church-prayer time. Also known as the time when my kids will make the weirdest and loudest sounds known to mankind. Seriously, they have a gift for it.

Prayer can be so hard because many churches will accept prayer requests or someone will pray for many minutes. This is especially hard for young children to sit through. Unlike a sermon where they can take notes or draw pictures and unlike the music time where they can make a joyful noise, prayer has a whole different quality to it. Prayer is time of quiet conversation with God together as the Body of Christ. It is special but challenging for young children to involve themselves with what is happening.

The best way to train your kids to sit through church prayer times is to have times of prayer at home. Prayer can happen while up and moving. In fact, our kids should witness us having on-going conversations with God throughout our days! However, there are points in the day where we can sit quietly and focus only on the conversation with God. Pick times in your day where you can naturally pray with your kids (and teach them to pray too) so that when prayer times happens at church, it won’t be as unnatural for them to sit and listen quietly to another person’s prayer conversation with God.

If you want more help with the practical application of this, I recommend that you grab my free printable, The Mommy and Me Prayer Journal. It will help give you the launching point to pray together with your child often and easily.

 

 

Other Resources To Consider

Your Turn

Is there some part of church that really catches your kids off guard? Do they struggle with listening to the sermon? Joining in with the worshiping? Can you find one practical way to help them prepare for a positive time of worship at church this week?

Also, what has worked well for your family? Have you found a trick or tip that really clicked for your kids? Be sure to share it below in the comments!

Thank you for stopping by!

 

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