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Conversation Guides for Parents
Faith. How we talk about faith at each phase of a person’s life matters in how they’ll think about faith in the phases to come. We're offering a bit of support as you navigate this Holy season at home. Each age-appropriate guide provides adults with things to say, questions to ask, and activities to do to draw your kids closer to Jesus. Click each blue age-level for that specific conversation guide or use the button below to get all ages within one guide.
Preschoolers use their five senses to experience the world around them. In this phase, you can help them develop authentic faith by inciting wonder. You will give them the foundations for their faith in the way you respond with concrete examples and by letting them explore God’s creation. As they grow and mature into adolescents you’ll be able to unpack abstract concepts more deeply.
In the elementary school years, kids become equipped with the skills they need to discover more about faith, and they have an active imagination that leads them to ask questions about their world and what they experience. As they learn new stories from the Bible, you’ll be amazed at the questions they start to consider. The best thing to remember is to treat each question with care. How you respond to your kids each time they have questions about faith will determine if they continue to talk to you about their faith.
Middle School is a new and exciting time for kids, accompanied by lots of change. And with all that change comes the opportunity for a lot of growth in key areas, including faith. As kids make their way through the middle school years, they are transitioning from a time where their faith has primarily been a by-product of their parent’s faith and mostly reactive, rather than proactive. But these are the years when they take initiative and create a faith of their own. The best thing you can do is be a coach, not a teacher, to encourage and arm them in their personal faith journey.
Your high school teen is in a phase when the complexities of the world, and their life in particular, are becoming more obvious than ever before. The answers that seemed simple in their childlike faith aren’t cutting it, and the black and white certainties that once seemed rock solid feel a little crumbly and gray. And that’s okay. As their way of viewing the world matures and grows, the way they understand faith should grow, too. Allowing them to ask questions and evaluate their faith will help them make it their own.
Preschoolers use their five senses to experience the world around them. In this phase, you can help them develop authentic faith by inciting wonder. You will give them the foundations for their faith in the way you respond with concrete examples and by letting them explore God’s creation. As they grow and mature into adolescents you’ll be able to unpack abstract concepts more deeply.
In the elementary school years, kids become equipped with the skills they need to discover more about faith, and they have an active imagination that leads them to ask questions about their world and what they experience. As they learn new stories from the Bible, you’ll be amazed at the questions they start to consider. The best thing to remember is to treat each question with care. How you respond to your kids each time they have questions about faith will determine if they continue to talk to you about their faith.
Middle School is a new and exciting time for kids, accompanied by lots of change. And with all that change comes the opportunity for a lot of growth in key areas, including faith. As kids make their way through the middle school years, they are transitioning from a time where their faith has primarily been a by-product of their parent’s faith and mostly reactive, rather than proactive. But these are the years when they take initiative and create a faith of their own. The best thing you can do is be a coach, not a teacher, to encourage and arm them in their personal faith journey.
Your high school teen is in a phase when the complexities of the world, and their life in particular, are becoming more obvious than ever before. The answers that seemed simple in their childlike faith aren’t cutting it, and the black and white certainties that once seemed rock solid feel a little crumbly and gray. And that’s okay. As their way of viewing the world matures and grows, the way they understand faith should grow, too. Allowing them to ask questions and evaluate their faith will help them make it their own.
