Often the “trick” to spending more time teaching your kids about God is to find ways to do it while you are working with them on something else. Teaching your kids to count is an important rite of passage for most kids.
Many of them will go through a stage where they will count…and count…and count. They aren’t counting things necessarily, but just counting to see how high they can get without making a mistake. Why not add a little fun and some Bible to the mix?
Here are some fun ways to mix learning to count and teaching your kids about God:
- Count hairs. Take turns trying to count the number of hairs on each other’s heads. Share Luke 12:7 and talk about how much you love your child and how God loves us even more than we can understand.
- Count sand and stars. Take your child to the beach or outside on a starry night. Have your child count grains of sand or stars (which is much more difficult out in the rural areas!) Tell your kids the story of Abraham and God’s promises to him.
- Count animals. Go to the zoo or another place with lots of animals. Practice skip counting by two’s. Tell the story of Noah (and don’t forget he took seven pairs of “clean” animals) and see how many animals you can fit on your imaginary Ark.
- Count “Bible numbers” – If your child is just learning to count or just learning to match objects to numbers, find illustrated Bible story books. Encourage your child to count the sons of Jacob or the figures in the fiery furnace.
Taking advantage of the time you are spending with your children to help them learn counting and using it to also teach them more about God is a great way to show God works in everything and through everything. It’s definitely worth the time and effort.