When my two oldest children were young, we attended an Anglican church. Coming from a non-denominational context, the sights, movement, and sounds were appealing to my 2 and 4-year-olds. Just a few months after we started attending, they would sprinkle liturgical comments into their dialogue during play. They also began holding baptism ceremonies for their baby dolls and walking around the table at dinner time with a plate and whatever on the table was closest to bread, serving Communion to everyone seated. As a young parent, I was blown away, and I felt sad when we left that church for one with a less liturgical service. We’ve since made our way back to the Anglican church. Those girls are twelve and ten now, and they don vestments and serve in the processional alongside their younger sisters many Sundays. It’s now my two-year-old who runs full force to the sanctuary at communion, saying, “TIME FOR BREAD” when I pick her up from the toddler room. These early experiences of faith and taking part in the church community are forming them, and they began when they were very young.
How do Young Children Make Meaning?
John Westerhoff writes that children make meaning through eight different ways. These have obvious application in all spheres of a young child’s development, but we’ll pay specific attention to how children can make meaning of faith specifically.
- Explore & Test– Like tiny anthropologists or scientists, children engage with their environment to see how it works. They may question, examine things and processes, or push the limits.
- Observe & Copy – Children notice what is happening around them and try it out for themselves. If you’ve ever seen a young child play with a toy kitchen or raise their hands in worship alongside an adult, you’ve seen this kind of meaning-making.
- Experience & React– Through play, authentic experiences, and reactions, children bring themselves into the learning as they interact with the content & context.
- Imagine & Create– Children use the knowledge & experiences they have gained to create something new, to solve a problem, or to answer a question.
Explore & Test
Young children are learning how things work and learning to recognize patterns and cause and effect. They get curious about their environment and discover the boundaries. They like to touch, look, explore, and try things out. In the church, we can create spaces where young children can:
- Wonder about the Bible
- Ask questions about what they see at church and what they hear in the Bible stories.
- Get up close with special places and pieces for worship in your church. (i.e. touring the sanctuary, going up on the stage and looking around, etc.)
- Give children a chance to “try on” different practices of faith like singing, serving, or greeting.
- Create “yes” spaces where children’s curiosity and exploration are encouraged and can flourish. In “yes spaces,” the answer to a child’s desire to explore is often “yes.”
Imagine and Create
Young children are created by God with rich imaginations and creativity. They bring these gifts to their everyday lives and to their engagement with faith in a variety of ways unique to their own personalities. In the church, we can create spaces where young children can:
- Use their imaginations to retell Bible stories.
- Dress up in costumes and act out Bible stories.
- Create art about the story.
- Appreciate beautiful artwork related to the Bible.
Observe and Copy
Young children learn how their families and communities live by observing and copying the behaviors of those around them. In church, this means that children learn what it means to worship and to be a part of a faith community by watching those around them. In the church, we can create spaces where young children can:
- Observe people of different ages worshiping God together.
- Play and pretend what they see happening in church.
- Mimic and copy grown-ups and older children who are expressing their faith.
- Repeat simple words, phrases, prayers, or songs that the faith community uses to worship God.
- Listen to familiar Bible stories repeatedly (when they ask).
Experience and React
Young children make meaningful connections between the things they learn about faith and their lived experiences. Because God made children and knows how they are formed (Psalm 103), he delights to meet children in the ways that are natural to them. In the church, we can create spaces where young children can:
- Experience safety and stability in childcare environments.
- Experience the love of God through the presence of caring adults and leaders.
- Develop and grow without fear of punitive discipline.
- Play as a response to God’s word.
- Have intentional, authentic experiences of faith in childlike ways, including
- Prayer
- Bible Stories
- Worship
- Serving
Story, Art, and Play
Story, Art, and Play give young children the opportunity to experience their faith in ways that are natural and engaging to them. Over the course of the next year, we’ll explore how these and other meaningful experiences can help young children–and all of us–experience our faith in fresh, sustainable ways.