Helping Kids Notice and Know God

Spring Harvest with Kids: Helping Them Notice and Know God

Spring Harvest is the most incredible week. Worship, teaching, time with friends and family, sea air, Big Start, All age celebrations, the funfair, swimming, children’s groups… there’s so much to look forward to. But if you’re arriving with children in tow, you may also be carrying a few other things: tiredness, expectations, worries about sleep or being out of routine, and questions about how your kids will actually experience the week.

Some families love every minute. Others find the travel exhausting, the late nights tricky, or their children struggling to engage or settle into new groups draining. You might leave feeling spiritually refreshed – or just relieved everyone made it through the week.

However your week unfolds, you’re not doing it wrong! The highs and lows of being at festivals with children are part of real life. And real life is exactly where God meets us.

You are your child's primary discipler

You are the expert on your child. You know what excites them, what overwhelms them, what sort of questions they ask in the car, and how they process the world. You know them the best, you have the most time with them and you are there in the normal, everyday moments of real life where you can show and share faith (see Deut 6:4 – 9).

Spring Harvest has brilliant kids’ and youth programmes, but the deepest discipleship often happens in the in-between moments: walking back from a venue, sitting around the table, waiting for the kettle to boil in the chalet.

You don’t need to feel the pressure of trying to create big spiritual moments. Instead, you can simply help your child notice and respond to God throughout the week. There are also seminars especially for you as parents and carers, for helping you handle the pressures of life, run by Care for the Family at 10.10am on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you're not at Spring Harvest in person this year, you can still join in with Spring Harvest Home

Tools for you

Parenting for Faith has five Key Tools that you can use to help your kids meet and know God. Here are some ideas of how you can use them during Spring Harvest:

Creating Windows

Creating Windows is about letting your child see how you experience God. Spring Harvest naturally gives lots of shared moments and opportunities to do this.

You might say things like:

• "During the worship just now I felt really grateful to God for our family."
• "One thing from that talk that made me think was . . . "
• "I loved that song - it helped me remember God is with us even when things feel messy."

These conversations can  happen walking back from a venue, while eating lunch or over ice cream or hot chocolate on the seafront.
You’re not teaching or explaining – you’re simply letting them see what a real relationship with God looks like for you. You might choose not to say anything at all but just leave your Bible out and open with the passage you’ve been reading or keep humming the worship song that God spoke to you through when you pick them up.

Framing

Framing helps children see where God is already at work, spot things they might not otherwise notice and learn how to explore questions together. Spring Harvest is full of experiences that can become little God-noticing moments.

You could try asking questions like:

• “When did you feel closest to God today?”
• “What song or lyric stuck in your head?”
• “Did anything surprise you about God today?”

You might also gently point things out like:

• “I loved seeing everyone worship together – it reminds me how big God’s family is.”
• “That story showed how God can use ordinary people like us.”
• “Look around, people are connecting with God in all sorts of different ways, some are being quiet and still or reading their Bibles, others are singing loudly and doing actions.”

You can use framing to help children spot God in everyday life, not just in the sessions and celebrations.

Unwinding

Unwinding is about spotting if our children are accidentally forming any views of God that are wrong or just a bit unbalanced. For example, sometimes children struggle with connecting what happens at Spring Harvest with the rest of life. You can remind them that the same God who meets people during worship or in kids’ groups at Spring Harvest is the same God who is with them at home, at school or nursery, and at church.

You might say things like:

• “God doesn’t stay at Spring Harvest – he's with us at home too.”
• “I wonder where we might notice God when we’re back at nursery, school or work.”
• “What’s one thing from this week we could keep doing at home?”

These gentle reminders help them see that God is part of everyday life, not just festival life.

Chat and Catch

Chat and Catch is about helping children have a two-way conversation with God throughout their day. You can give them some prompts of things to ask, tell or show God. If you normally pray at set times like bedtime or mealtimes you could change it up by throwing out some prompts whilst they’re playing or you’re heading to the next activity.

Things like:

• Tell God, or show him with your face, how you’re feeling about going to your group.
• Tell God the tastiest thing you ate today.
• Ask God if there’s anyone he wants you to help or encourage tomorrow.
• Ask God what he wants you to remember from today.

You can get loads more ideas for prompts here.

Surfing the Waves

Sometimes when we're in a different environment, we spot that our child has a new interest or they are connected or engaging with something more than before.

It might be:

• a worship song they keep singing
• a story from the kids’ programme that they have a lot of questions about
• a new friendship
• curiosity about prayer
• excitement about helping others

When you notice these moments, you can 'surf the wave' of that by coming alongside them gently exploring them.

You might say:

• “You’ve been singing that song all day – what do you like about it?”
• “That story really stuck with you. What did you notice about God in it?”
• “I can see you really care about helping other people, what might that look like back at home?”

You’re not trying to manufacture an experience or interest – just notice and support the one that’s already happening.

Taking it home

Spring Harvest can be a wonderful springboard or turbo boost to your child’s relationship with God, but it’s only a part of the lifetime journey that you are walking with them.

On the journey home, or sometime during the following week, you might ask:

• “What’s one thing you want to remember from Spring Harvest?”
• “Was there anything new that you learned about God?”
• “Is there anything you’d like to keep doing when we’re home that helped you connect with him?”

Even small things – a favourite song, exploring questions together or noticing God in everyday moments – can be things that help you connect with God in the weeks and months to come.

We’ve made a special podcast episode for you to listen to on the way home, whilst unpacking or when you remember a few weeks down the line! It's all about how to build on that momentum and keep nurturing your child’s faith. It features Martha Shrimpton, Creative Coordinator for Spring Harvest who you’ll recognise from The Big Start video. You can listen on any podcast platform or Spotify or watch on BRF Online or Youtube.

If you’d like ongoing encouragement and ideas, you can get short videos, courses and podcasts to help you disciple your children in everyday life from BRF Online (in a browser or through the app for iphone or android). The Kitchen Table Project from Care for the Family also has a wealth of resources to support you.

Although Spring Harvest may only last a week, helping your children grow in their relationship with God happens in the ordinary moments all year round.

And you’re already perfectly placed to help them do it!