Parenting for Faith over the summer

God is part of every season of life. This summer we'd love to help release you from the pressure of feeling like you need to prepare or do more spiritual activities and help you discover opportunities to notice God and connect with him as part of things you might already be doing.

So here is a list of some things you might do over the summer, and some zero prep suggestions for how to weave faith in. This is not a to-do list, but a springboard with suggestions of things to say or do which you can use or adapt in any way that you like.  Some are things that you do and some are things for you to suggest to your kids and teenagers or facilitate them doing. Lots of them you can both do!

Scan the list to find something you’ll be doing anyway, pick a couple of the suggestions to try and have fun experimenting with them. To get you started, here’s a free download of just a few of the ideas to stick on your fridge.

Download the Summer Activities sheet!

Whether you’re doing normal life stuff, activities or jobs.

• If they build a den … leave 101 ideas to start a conversation with God in the den, or if they can’t read suggest some chat and catch prompts from outside. Remind them the conversation is between them and God, so you don’t need to hear it.
• If you’re watching live sport such as the Commonwealth Games … ask God which sport he’d most like to do with you and why? Share what you catch.
• If you’re watching a film … chat about which character is most like God. Listen out for any unbalanced or incomplete views which might need exploring more.
• If you’re looking after a pet … as you make sure they have everything they need, chat to God about what you need at the moment.
• If you’re tidying your room … ask God if there’s anything he’d like you to give away and who to give it to. Offer it to them.
• If you’re reading a book … tell God which character you’d most like to be.
• If you’re buying school shoes … remind each other that God is with you every step. Get into the habit of asking him to go with you every step as you put them on.
• If you have a lie in … think about how one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to be a comforter and surround us with God’s love and warmth. As you lie under the duvet, ask God to make you more aware of him doing that today.
• If you’re planning what to do together … ask God for ideas. If there is more than one of you share what you caught. Was it the same or different? Chat about how God speaks to all of us in different ways and how to discern what’s from him.

Travelling, Waiting or Bored

Summer can have a lot of ‘dead time’ to fill or where you’re stuck waiting around.

• If you are waiting to see the doctor or dentist … look around the waiting room. Who else is there? Even though you don’t know their name or their story, ask God to be close to them today.
• If you’re on a long journey … pop on a Christian podcast or playlist that you haven’t tried before. Chat about what you liked or didn’t like about it or anything you found interesting or that stood out.
• If you’re packing to go away … put a storybook Bible in the case. Explain that you chose it because it has lots of stories all in one book. Read one you haven’t read before.
• If you get stuck in traffic … have a look at people in the other cars. Chat about how mind-blowing it is that God made and knows all of them and all the details of what is going on in their lives.
• If you get bored and say there’s nothing to do … ask God how you can be a small part of his big plans. See if something comes to mind and do it!

Outside

Hayfever and weather-permitting you will probably be outside quite a bit this summer.

• If you’re on a walk … ask God if there is anything he wants to show you or point out to you. If you catch something, share it with your child. See what they think God might be saying to you.
• If you’re going to the beach … pack a Christian book to read if you get a moment of peace whilst the kids play. On the way home share what stood out to you from it and leave the book out for a few days.
• If you’re going for a bike ride … use the things you whizz past as prompts to pray. You can do it out loud but tell your kids they can just do it in their heads. That might be for friends as you go past their houses, teachers as you go past a school, someone who’s ill as you pass an ambulance etc.
• If you’re walking the dog … use it as an opportunity for some side-by-side conversation with your kid. Share how God is helping you at the moment or something you’re finding hard or what you’re chatting to God about.
• If you’re watering the garden …enjoy the beauty of his creation. Remember that he’s the one who makes things grow. Ask if there’s anything he’d like to help you grow in at the moment.
• If you’re having a water fight … show or tell God how much fun you’re having and how nice it feels to be cool!
• If you’re camping … read a chapter of Comfort in the Darkness by torchlight or listen to the audiobook through BRF Online.
• If you watch the sunset … think back over your day. From when you got up, to now. Tell God about the good bits, the bad bits, the frustrating bits and the funny bits. Ask if there’s anything he wants to show you about the day.
• If you spot your shadow … chat about how your shadow is always with you even though sometimes it’s easier to see than others. God is always with us too. Talk about when you find it easy to see or feel him and when you find it harder.
• If you’re playing in the park … talk about the ups and downs of life with God whilst or after you’ve been on a seesaw or the swings.

Tough Stuff

It’s not all sunshine and ice cream, hard stuff still happens in the summer too.

• If you hurt yourself … show God or tell God where it hurts. Ask him to come close.
• If you get some bad news … chat to God about it out loud or message a friend and ask them to pray. Do it somewhere your child can see or hear that’s what you’re doing.
• If you have an argument with a sibling or friend … tell God honestly how it made you feel. You can write it down or draw it if you want.
• If you lose something … ask God to help you find it. You could also share how you feel when you’ve lost something and tell God about it.
• If you hear something worrying on the news … tell God how it makes you feel. Ask him if he wants you to do anything about it.

Playing

Whether your kids are big or little there’s normally some play over the summer.

• If you’re playing football… tell God what your goals are or what you’re aiming for at the moment.
• If your kids are climbing trees or at the playground… remind them that Zacchaeus climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus better. Share something you do or want to try to help you see God better.
• If your kid is playing in sand… share this sandpit illustration to frame what sin is and how much God loves us.
  If you’re squishing playdough or slime… tell God something you’d like to squash, it might be something you don’t like in the world, your school, your family or your character.
• If you’re gaming… ask if anyone else at church likes gaming. Could you invite them over or play with them online? Find out more about them and how they connect with God.
• If you’re playing a board or card game… Ask God for a game he’d like to play with you and why. If anyone wants to, they can share what they caught.
• If you’re playing hide and seek… share a time that you wanted to hide from God. Maybe you felt embarrassed or ashamed. How did you reconnect with him? Or what do you wish you’d known then?

Out and About

God’s not just with us at home –  make it normal and natural to connect with him wherever you are.

• If you visit a zoo or farm … imagine what it was like for Adam naming all those animals. If you had to give them different names what would you call them and why? Tell God what you come up with.
• If you visit a museum … reflect on what life was like for people at that time and wonder together what their relationship with God might have looked like for them.
• If you’re looking back on photos … ask God for a Bible verse or encouraging word or picture for someone you see in the pictures. Text them or draw or write it and send it to them.
• If you go to the library … notice that there are so many different genres of books. Chat about how the Bible has lots of different types of writing – history, parables, letters etc. Try a different sort of book to what you’d normally go for in the library and a different part of the Bible to what you’d normally read there.
• If you visit somewhere new … the night before or on the way, remind each other that God’s there too. You can chat to him and ask him anything as you explore.
• If you’re visiting grandparents or other relatives … if they are Christians, ask how they chat to God or how they know he is communicating to them. Notice if it’s similar or different to people in your family.
• If you visit a different church (online or in person) … spot what’s different and what’s the same as your normal church. Does it show you anything new or different about God?

Food and Drink

There are so many yummy, summer-specific things that can be God prompts.

• If you’re having a picnic … tell God your favourite food and ask him his favourite food.
• If you’re having a barbecue … invite someone who you don’t know very well from church. Ask them to share something God’s shown them recently.
• If you’re baking cakes or biscuits … make some extra and ask God who they are for. See if a name or face pops into your mind. Drop them off or invite them over to share them.
• If you’re eating an ice lolly or ice cream … ask God his favourite flavour of ice cream and tell him yours.
• If you try a new food … tell God what you think of it, honestly. Chat to him about the best and worst foods he has created (in your opinion!)