Families Falling into Faith Formation  

Families are experiencing all sorts of new realities this fall. Virtual school, mask wearing, cancellations, hybrid meetings and activities, Zoom sessions, and the list goes on. Many families are finding a deeper sense of wanting to nurture faith at home away from screens and computers. While reading a Bible story or having prayer time are always excellent ways of forming faith, you can also try one of the activities below to create conversations about faith within the family.   

House Scavenger Hunt 

Gather everyone together and use the list to have a House Scavenger Hunt. Discuss each item as you find it in your home. Why is this item important? What is the history of the item? What memories does this item make you recall? If you do not have one of the items in your home, would you like to?  

• Find something that has your church name on it. 
• Find a Bible.  
• Find a Bible verse hanging or displayed in your house.  
• Find a cross or another religious symbol in your house.  
• Go to the location in the house where you pray most often. (Each family member can share a location.)  
• Go through each room and say a prayer of thanks for all the activities that take place there.  

 

Family “Thanks” Giving Poster 

Set up a space in your home where a poster board or roll of paper and drawing supplies can be left out for a family project. To begin the project, gather everyone around the paper and share that this is family project where each of them can write words or doodle drawings on the paper things about God that they would like to share. Plan to leave the poster out for several days/weeks and maybe until Thanksgiving. Encourage them to not feel that they must fill the paper today but revisit it off and on adding when they have something on their mind to share.  

On or around Thanksgiving gather everyone back around the poster to talk about all that has been added. Say a prayer of thanks for all the faith stories and memories that have been shared.  

Encourage everyone to add to the poster with their own ideas or some of the ideas below: 

• Something you learned about God recently  
• The face of someone you love and thank God for  
• A pet you are thankful for 
• A favorite prayer  
• Something that makes you happy  
• Places you are thankful for   
• A favorite person from the Bible   
• A symbol of faith (cross, baptismal shell, church)  

 

Interview a Relative or Friend 

Encourage your child to select a family member or friend to interview. They can call or video chat with this person and ask them some questions. It would probably be a good idea to contact the person ahead of time to select a good time for the conversation to take place. Ask the child to prepare questions ahead of time or use some of the questions below. When the interview is over, invite the child to write a book about the person, draw or print out a picture of them to include, or somehow record the information so that it can be remembered and shared with other family members.  

Some possible interview questions:

• When you were my age, what did you want to be when you grew up?   
• Where were you born and what was your school like?  
• What was your favorite toy growing up?  
• Did you play sports?  
• Did you go to church growing up? What was it like?  
• What was the name of your church? 
• What was your favorite job? Why? 
• What was the most difficult thing you have had to overcome? 
• If you could give me one piece of advice, what would it be? 

 

For more ideas and information about family faith formation this fall, check out these articles:  

How to Help Families Grow in Gratitude at Thanksgiving (and Beyond!) by Karen Deboer 

https://network.crcna.org/faith-nurture/how-to-help-families-grow-gratitude-thanksgiving-and-beyond 

 Practical Discipleship: Four Questions That Transform Dinner into Discipleship by  Christina Embree https://refocusministry.org/2019/01/12/practical-discipleship-four-questions-that-transform-dinner-into-discipleship/