Help Kids Listen in Church {Free Printables}
Our 2 oldest children sit with us in church on Sunday nights.
I want to make sure that they are not only quiet, but that they are also learning something. Even if the message is over their head, they can still learn something if they are taught to pay attention and try to understand as much as they can.
Up until now, we have just helped them find their place in their Bibles and made sure they are sitting up straight and listening to the preacher. Â (Read: To the Mom Whose Kids are Wiggly in Church.)
Crayons, pen and paper, and the like have not worked out very well when we have tried to let them draw or color.
I feel like I spend more time and brain power making sure they don't draw on their clothes or spill crayons everywhere than I do actually listening to the message myself.
Perhaps it's not distracting to others around us, but it sure is distracting to me!
But I thought it would be nice to have something to actively engage their brain in trying to understand what the preacher is saying. Just because they are sitting up straight does not mean their brain is necessarily focused on what he is saying. They could be counting the windows, crossing their eyes to make the lights look like prisms, or looking at the picture in the baptistry. (I know I did all of the above when I was a kid!)
I came up with several printable pages for kids of various ages to help them listen more proactively while in church.
I purposely kept these simple so that children can easily learn the instructions and know what to do each week without continually asking you questions during church.
I also made these available in both 8.5×11 size as well as half size sheets. I've found my children have a hard time holding a full size binder on their lap, so I'll be doing the half size sheets with a half size binder. But at the same time, some children need to write larger, so I still wanted to make the option of larger pages available to you.
Age 4-6
Download half size sheets here
Age 6-8
Download half size sheets here
Age 8-10
At this age, my children should be old enough to start taking actual sermon notes. I will allow them to start by copying mom or dad's notes if they want until they have gotten the hang of taking their own notes.
