Aloha from Karen Whiting,

One off my children’s favorite times was when we gathered together on New Year’s Day and gave them educational gifts. They were too focused on toys at Christmas and birthdays. New Year’s Day when the holidays seemed to be nearing an end we read the story of creation (a beginning), pulled out our little New Year’s prayer journal and checked what we wrote the year before, added all the big things from the past year (funniest, hardest, biggest praise, saddest, most fun times, etc.) Then we listed each person’s pray for the coming year.

After that we gave out children specially selected books and educational games. The books included devotionals. A New Year is a great time to commit to spending time with God every day and a devotional is a tool to make that happen.

These simple steps helped prepare our children for the coming months. Whether you do the same activities or enjoy your own family traditions, a new book of devotions provides a great tool for helping children grow spiritually during the year.

There are so many types of devotionals for families and little ones. I have written many for families, girls, and boys (as well as moms, couples). The key to the choice for young ones is finding one that fits their needs and maturity level. Let me mention a few to highlight the differences.

Crystal Bowman has a new one for early readers titled Devotions for Beginning Readers features a word of the day repeated in that short piece. Keeping the readings short makes it doable for young readers.

My newest devotional The One Year Devotion for Active Boys combines fun with faith. The daily devotionals include variety with some true stories, real kids, and sport’s figures,. Other use fascinating facts to connect to a scripture and there are even short humorous scripts of an imaginary biblical reporter questioning Bible facts. And each one is paired with something to do (puzzle, experiment, jokes, facts, etc).

My Princess Devotions (one of my books) has a scripture with a short thought to explain it and then a prayer and a way for a young girl to apply the scripture.

Ava Pennington’s Daily Reflections on the Names of God is good for older students to learn more about God and help them reflect on God’s nature.

CArol McAdams Moore offers two new 90-day devotionals for tweens that use doodling and other techniques. They are Dare You 2Open This Book and Just Sayin’ and give prompts for kids to fill in their thoughts or doodle expressions in an artsy way.

Each devotional has a different focus and suits a different age or gender. So, you can choose one that helps a child gain skills, one that includes something active, or one that focuses on applying the scripture in daily life.

Once you give a child a devotional, follow through by encouraging your child to read it. Spend time reading devotions together or asking what they enjoyed/learned from a day’s reading.

Happy New Year!

Karen