Teaching preschoolers about God

This is post #8 in a blog series entitled At-home preschool resources for the very tired, non-creative, really busy mom. You can view all of the posts for moms of preschoolers in the series here.

I will be very honest in saying that teaching my preschooler about God is definitely not one of my strengths as a parent. We don’t read the Bible together often or have family devotion time. But I still try to give Ezra opportunities to learn about God and give God a place in his little life.

Praise Baby!

When Ezra was a baby, my dear friend Sara told me about the Praise Baby DVDs and gave us one for Ezra’s first birthday. I was immediately in love. At the time, I hadn’t been listening to contemporary Christian music for very long, so I loved learning all of these new praise songs performed in such a soothing, gentle way.

All of the Praise Baby DVDs come in both video and audio CD format. We own all of the DVDs except for My Father’s World, which we have on CD. Forever Reign we have in both formats, because…it’s my favorite song. Their Christmas DVD is so awesome to have on during the month of December.

Here is a video of Ezra dancing to Forever Reign, aka “Lion Song.”

Mommy-Approved Lullaby CDs for Preschoolers

–Faith, Hope, and Lullabies. We got the instrumental one before Ezra was born (I used it as relaxation music when I was in labor), and we bought Sing Me to Sleep a few weeks ago and have very much enjoyed it!

—Sleep Sound in Jesus by Michael Card is another favorite that we have used since Ezra was a baby.

—Lull-a-bye Baby Collection. We only have the Worship CD of these, but the instrumental worship songs are so soothing! They also have Hymns, Praise, and Christmas editions.

—Bless My Little Boy is such a sweet lullaby CD with spiritual undertones. Some of the songs are cute and sweet, but others are a prayer for your child. There’s also a version for girls.

More DVDs!!

—Boz the Bear. Think Christian Barney. I’m sorry, but it’s the best way to describe it. They even sound the same! I honestly can’t say that Boz is my favorite. I feel it leans toward stereotypical “good little Christian” family. But it is wholesome and full of family values. We have Thank You, God, For Adventures in Imagination and it’s definitely a favorite of Ezra’s.

—Read and Share The Ultimate DVD Bible is a series of DVDs that animate Bible stories. We own two of them and they are very accurate, not overly graphic or visually stimulating, and tasteful.

YouTube

I devoted a whole post to my preschool YouTube playlists, but I’d like to share here again this playlist of Bible Songs for Kids. This has simple Sunday School songs as well as more modern worship choruses like Our God is an Awesome God.

Jesus Storybook Bible

I have looked into several Bible storybooks, but after winning Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name in a giveaway at Allume, it has become my personal favorite. This storybook systematically tells Bible stories as small stories of a greater story – the story of Redemption, Jesus, and Grace. It builds to the story of Jesus with passion and intensity, highlighting the intense need of the world for the Savior. An audio version is also available on Audible.

Children’s Bible Storybooks

I can’t remember how I found this resource, but I ended up buying these read-along Bible story-books on eBay for a few dollars each. Each book includes a CD with page-turn prompts on track 1 and then a CD full of Bible songs for kids. It looks like there are still some for sale on Amazon and eBay.

More resources for parents of preschoolers

Jessica Smartt, a blogger whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting last year, recently released an e-book called How To Introduce Your Child To Jesus. I have not taken the time to read this (yet), but it looks like an amazing place to start!

Oh Amanda has a ton of resources on her blog about incorporating God into the lives of preschoolers, including a blog series, 31 Days of the Very Best Bible Based Books For Your Bambinos…ok, Kids, and resources for Christmas and Easter, including the EBooks Truth in the Tinsel and A Sense of the Resurrection.

To see more posts in this series, check out the landing page – and make sure to subscribe or follow on Facebook to make sure you don’t miss any of the rest of the posts!