With schools closed and children home, we on the board for Children's Spirituality Summit would like to support parents and provide a few opportunities for spiritual connection moments with children in your home.
We are delighted to discover that some of our favorite writers and sources are providing free downloads, live courses, interactive online events, and read aloud resources. (And we invite our readers to add other resources in the comment section!)
Here are just a few in no particular order:
Free Digital Curriculum
Free LIFE WITH GOD for CHILDREN curriculum from GOOD DIRT MINISTRIES (A devision of Renovare Ministry) As a result of all that is changing in our world and the invitation to engage with our children in a manner that perhaps we never have, Life with God for Children: Engaging Biblical Stories and Practices for Spiritual Formation is being offered in digital form for free. (If you’d like a printed copy, you’ll need to hop over to Amazon and purchase it. Many, many thanks to those who have contributed!)
A little backstory from Lacy Finn Borgo…
I began working on this curriculum about 15 years ago when my children were young and I couldn’t find anything that honored their experience, their intellect or the way that they engage with God. Since then, there has been so much goodness poured into children’s spirituality. To all of us contributing in this field I say, “Thank you, and keep on, keeping on.”
I have always understood our little family as a Monastery of the home. The idea came from the Celtic understanding of the hearth as an altar of sorts where warmth, nurturing and cultivation of all of life flow. Our kitchen table held a space for shared meals, for prayer throughout the day, for education, for board games and crafts, and for a family Eucharist on Sunday. Each of these everyday realities of life shaped and formed us.
Beth and David Booram recently blogged about the idea of a Monastery of the home. Cloistering At Home is a great idea and they offer helpful suggestions for how to create structure and warm welcome.
Daily Quarantine Calendar
THE RABBIT ROOM has posted a hefty blog post, chock-full of socially-distanced activities for you and littles, but sometimes it’s helpful to receive all that info in little bite sizes...introducing the Rabbit Room QUARANTINE CALENDAR! Check it daily to keep you and your children grounded in beauty during this time . . .
Storytime with Sally Lloyd Jones
@SALLYLLOYDJONES asks, Are you staying home? I hope so. I am, too! So let’s spend some time together. Watch my Instagram Stories for videos soon. 💛 (hint: the first one is posted in @sallylloydjones feed . And for that one Sally reads her, and @jagosilver's, book on the Lord’s Prayer— called LOVED—also Sally's friend, the brilliant actor @plana.tony, will read it in Spanish! How cool is that?) #sallylloydjones #corona #coronavirus #coronakids #storytime #writersofinstagram #loved #readaloud #stuckathomestorytime #operationstorytime #quarantinestorytime #stayathomestorytime
Weekly at home Family Worship Liturgy
WORSHIPING WITH CHILDREN Each Sunday during #coronavirus CAROLYN BROWN is providing weekly at home family worship liturgy that relates to children of all ages and provides structure for your at home family worship. Just log on and follow the liturgy provided by date. This is an excellent resource for your family at-home worship together!
Daily Contemplative Podcast for Children and Adults
WE WONDER PODCAST: Why We Wonder? Plenty of wonderful resources exist to teach children about the Bible. This podcast invites children into an immersive, contemplative experience of the words of Scripture. We make space for their responses and questions, and guide them in a prayerful engagement with the story. And we remember, always, that God is drawing close to us in love as we make space for the Holy Spirit to speak through our sacred text.We want to invite children into a life of wonder, engagement, and curiosity about the Bible. Children's spiritual lives are real and vibrant: they are known and loved by God as they are right now, not just as grownups in training! That's why, on this podcast, we allow children the space to enter God's good words together, wonder about them, and talk with God about what we find.
Free Family Art Experience
The BRAVE ARTIST CLUB - a free family art experience featuring a variety of artistic activities and mediums taught by illustrators, cartoonists, painters, potters, leatherworkers, and writers who are part of the Rabbit Room community. This fun, eclectic journey will spark imagination, camaraderie, and creative courage.
There are so many others out there online who are just waiting for you and your children to discover their creativity and passion for assisting parents in the days and weeks to come as children are home . . . and beyond! Please add other resources you know about to the comment section of this forum post.
We at Children's Spirituality Summit believe that resources such as these are a few of the serendipitous gifts of being quarantined at home with your children! This time can be a spiritual gift to them and to the adults in their lives! Don't just exist through this time . . . THRIVE!