Energy to Praise!
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[0 Comment]What squiggles, squirms, are loud, in constant motion, and full of joy and passion from the time they get up in the morning to the time they fall asleep at night? That's right: preschoolers! Any parent of a preschool-age child knows his energy is boundless. This constant whirling may make it seem like your child is too young to learn daily routines that encourage him to build and sustain a relationship with God. In fact, the opposite is true. With your help, your child can use that endless energy to celebrate the Lord's love.
Reese Kauffman, president of Child Evangelism Fellowship, a ministry that specializes in reaching children with the gospel, says it's crucial to provide a solid spiritual foundation for our preschoolers. Kauffman says, "There's a window of opportunity early in a child's life when she's easy to reach with developmentally appropriate activities and materials about her Creator and Lord."
So how can we harness this energy to enrich their early Christian education? Here are a few ideas.
Get your groove on
"Sing to the Lord a new song…" (Psalm 149:1).
Praise and worship music can be incorporated into everyday life. Your child's day can begin and end with musical routines that incorporate positive and uplifting images of God. As your child gets dressed, eats breakfast, or does simple chores, he can listen to and learn songs that make him excited about God and God's love.
Once your child knows the words, you may often hear him spontaneously singing songs that will uplift you and all around him. Music can be used not only to teach basic scriptural truths, but to teach memory verses as well. There may be certain Scriptures that you want your child to learn and be able to draw on in a time of need before he can even read. Having a Bible verse set to music makes memorizing easy and fun. Scripture tapes and CDs are commercially available, or you could make your own. Don't worry about the quality of your singing voice. Your children will love you anyway!
Dance like David
"Let them praise his name with dancing…" (Psalm 149:3).
For the preschool set, nothing goes together like music and movement. We know from Scripture (2 Samuel 6:14) that King David praised the Lord through dance, and we can teach our children to do the same. Once you have identified some upbeat songs that your youngster is particularly fond of, encourage her to sway, move her arms, jump, or clap. Or simply start dancing to your favorite song. Dancing is infectious! In our home, certain songs are designated as "dancing songs," and as soon as they come on, the dancing begins. For more formal instruction, movements that seem appropriate to the song can be incorporated into your music time. Check out some of the DVDs and videos that show you and your child simple movements to child-oriented songs.
Originally published in: Christian Parenting Today
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