5 Creative Prayer Ideas For Preschoolers

In our recent lesson on Hannah and Samuel, we learned the wonderful privilege of prayer. How amazing it is that we can talk to God and that He talks to us. 

Prayer times can be fun for you and your preschooler. God loves the prayers of the little ones and especially because they say them with innocence and purity. Jesus loved having the children around him because he knew they needed his saving grace just like adults do. God doesn’t only want a relationship with grown-ups.

In fact, we are to have a childlike faith because it trusts without a shadow of doubt. This is the faith that children have.

Much like our conversations with each other, they are not repetitive or always follow the same formula. Imagine if your child only spoke to you at bedtime and only to say thank you or sorry. So, we can help your preschoolers to pray throughout the day and in different ways by adding some creative prayer ideas.

These creative prayer ideas for preschoolers will work, and with guidance, your child will love prayer and have a thriving relationship with the Lord.

1) Prayer bucket

You can turn a large ice-cream tub or cardboard box into a mini prayer bucket. Use it to put prayer papers created by your child. Have the child draw someone or something they want to pray for on a square piece of paper. After they draw the person or thing they want to pray for, direct them to drop it in the prayer bucket. They can do this in the day’s course.

Bring the bucket to your family devotional time and when it’s time to pray, remove the papers and have the child pray over who or what they drew. Tell them prayer is talking to God and they can tell him anything about the person or thing they drew.

You can then put the papers in a box and when you see the answers to the prayers, you can let your child know and say a thanksgiving prayer.

2) Thanksgiving prayers

It’s important to teach your child to show thanks in everything, even the little things. Let them know God cares about all the details of their lives and they are to thank him for what he has provided for them. Giving thanks to God is not only for the Thanksgiving holiday or special occasions but every day.

At bedtime, have them thank God for anything that comes to mind.  Ask them to count the things they are thankful for with their fingers. See if they can come up with at least five things. There is no limit to how many things for which they are to be grateful.

Ask your child to start by saying, “Today I thank God for…” Let the child come up with a list and you can help them come up with one, for example, new toys, food, a friend, good health, or an answered prayer. When they can think of nothing else, give them a high five “Amen” and tuck them into bed.

Saying thanks as the last thing before your child sleeps helps them sleep peacefully knowing God is good to them. 

3) World prayers

It’s never too early to give your child a worldview. Your preschooler needs to know that there are more people in the world that need prayer other than their family and friends. Their lives revolve around home, school, church or family outings. They are not aware of what happens in the world as we are. You can let them know there is a globe full of people who need prayer.

Get a world map or globe with names of countries and cities. At prayer time you can ask your child to select a country and say a prayer for it as they see fit. You can also show them a country that needs prayer and the reason without going into adult-friendly details.

Make it a game where they close their eyes and point at a country on the map. Tell them the name of the country their finger lands on and ask them to pray.

You can direct them to pray for children in that country, families with no or little food, a country that needs to hear about Jesus, among others. This way they will take time to pray for people in other countries. 

4) Prayer fruits

You’re probably wondering how to best teach your preschooler about good behavior. What better way to do it than to teach them the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23? These are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Tell them they can ask God to help them develop the fruit in their lives so they can please God.

Purchase an assorted bag of toy fruits at your local toy store or online. You can give each fruit a name from the above list. Use a marker or sticker to put the names on the fruits. When it is time to pray for themselves, have them pick one fruit and you can tell them the name written on it, for example, kindness.

Tell them what kindness is and how they can show it to others at home, school, church or out there. Ask them to pray and ask God to help them be kind to all. If there was a time, they were unkind, point it out and show them how they can show kindness next time.

5) Prayer cards

Prayer needs to be easy and fun for children. Prayer cards are a fun way to help your child during prayer time. Printable cards are available online for free or you can buy some at your local Christian bookstore.

Prayer cards can make prayer fun for your preschooler. You can get cards with a simple one-sentence prayer and a Bible verse. You can use the verse to help you explain the prayer to them since they can’t read much at this age.

You could ever make prayer cards that start with, “Dear God, today I’m praying for…” They can pray for someone or something they have noted in the neighborhood. These prayer cards will help them develop a prayer language that lasts into adulthood.

What other creative prayer ideas for preschoolers can you come up with?

You can get some prayer ideas from the toys that your preschooler loves to play with or from other parents in your church.

If you have any creative prayer ideas, please share them with us  in the comments below.