To help you in this task we have found 25 prayer crafts for preschoolers that we think you and they will enjoy.
Prayer is a powerful and essential tool for building children’s faith. Anything that you can do to encourage, teach and show them about praying will help them to grow spiritually.
Learning through fun is always the best way and is more likely to help them develop good habits.
These simple prayer card holders are made from a pool noodle and are really easy to make. You simply need around a 4 inch section cut in half and with a slit in the top curved section.
This will take a prayer card, bible verse or picture for your preschool to put in it.
Help them to decorate the cardholder with words, shapes or faith foam stickers. They can swap out the card every day, week or season of the church.
A bookmark is not just a great craft to get preschoolers interested in prayer, but it is also useful for them to use in their own prayer books, picture books or children’s bible. They could also make them as gifts for parents, grandparents or siblings.
Depending on their age they could either write out a prayer, draw a picture or express themselves another way. Encourage them to choose their own design and talk about why they chose it.
There are so many ways that preschoolers can engage in prayer craft by making a cross. Use lots of colored paper to help them create a stained glass window with a cross in the middle or cut out a cross shape and encourage them to color it.
You could also make a cross out of six cardboard boxes and stick it on the wall. Have your preschoolers write their own prayers on colored paper. Then rolled them up and put them in the different boxes of the cross.
Print out a template of a prayer cube with six sides, each containing a prayer or outline of a faith picture.
Help your child to color the pictures or even write their own prayers on the sides of the cube. Discuss what the pictures show or what the prayers are about.
With different prayers, for mealtimes, for giving thanks, or for when they are feeling sad the prayer cube will remind them what to do. It can help them see there are prayers for all occasions.
Fold a piece of colorful paper in half and draw around your preschooler’s hand. Cut out the shape for them, it will be joined in the middle.
Depending on their age, have them write a prayer across the paper, or for younger children they can draw a picture.
When they have finished show them how to fold the hands shut as if in prayer or have them open in supplication. Explain how and why people pray to God.
A wonderful idea for preschoolers is to create a prayer board with a nice Bible verse or prayer on it.
Now stick envelopes onto the prayer board and label them with all the things that the children can pray for, such as family, the poor, and in thanksgiving.
Have the children write letters to God for any of these intentions and put them in the corresponding envelopes. Help them to read the prayer out loud before placing it in the envelope.
All kids love making paper chains and this is exactly what this activity is all about. Cut lengths of plain paper and have your preschoolers write prayers, draw pictures or just color the pieces. Then create the links and add each one to the chain.
Another version uses heart shaped links with a ‘tail’ that has a slit to link them together. This can be used for prayer intentions while a second chain can be for prayers answered.
Paper plates are great for making angels. Use another plate cut in quarters or add some hand outlines for wings and a round piece of card for the face.
Before folding the sides of the plate together, have your preschooler write a prayer or draw a picture that the angel can keep safe and take to God. This is a lovely activity to do at Christmas when angels are more prominent in the story of Jesus.
A door hanger is a great way to get little ones involved in prayer. They can draw their favorite Bible scene, write a prayer or put their own private message on the door hanger.
You can print a relevant Bible verse on the door hanger such as ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock’.
Have your preschoolers color it in and explain to them what the verse means. It would make a nice gift for parents or grandparents.
Little kids love getting messy, especially with paints. Get some big pieces of paper and water based paints and let them create some wonderful art for God. You can outline a large cross and let them fill it in with colorful handprints.
Or get a long piece of paper and let them cover it with footprints and call it Walk with Jesus. Another beautiful verse to use is ‘Let the little children come to me’, let the children decorate it as they wish.
Another great use for pool noodles is making prayer boats. This is a wonderful activity when teaching children about Jesus calming the storm. A paper sail can either contain a prayer, Bible verse or each preschooler’s name.
If you don’t mind them getting wet you could fill a container with a couple of inches of water and demonstrate the scene for them. Explain how even the wind and the waves obeyed Jesus when he told them to be calm.
Paper plates are a craft staple and can be used for many things but in this instance they can just be used as a plate.
To teach preschoolers how to be grateful for the food they eat each day, have them copy out a prayer before meals on their plate and decorate it with their favorite foods.
For younger children, print the prayer out and stick it to the plate for them then let them color it in.
The great thing about an interactive prayer station is that you can include anything around any theme. This could be for a special time of year such as Easter or Christmas.
Gather lots of materials and ideas for your theme explaining to your preschoolers what they can do.
For younger children lots of paints, play dough and colorful paper is a great way to get them involved. Help them create their own special prayer object or participate in a group activity.
Prayer sticks are a great way to teach children how they can pray for just about anything. Use oversized craft sticks which are better for small hands, and get the children to color them different colors.
Now write a prayer prompt on each one. This could be things like ‘God’s forgiveness’, ‘family member’ or ‘Praise God’.
Put them in a large jar or small pail. The children choose a prayer stick, and you can help them pray for that intention.
Using beads and thread you can help your preschoolers make themselves a colorful rosary bracelet. This is a good activity for October, which is the month of the Rosary and is suitable for all ages of preschoolers.
You can then teach the children how to say the Rosary while following the prayers on the bracelet to help them keep track.
Pipe cleaners and pony beads are ideal for this activity. Let them pick their favorite colors to make them personal.
With some nice smooth stones you can help your preschoolers create pretty prayer rocks. You can use them like prayer sticks, putting a different prayer prompt or prayer intention on each one.
Or you could put the name of different Bible characters on them. Have the children choose one from a cloth bag, like a lucky dip, and tell them the story of whatever character they select.
A great one is St Peter who Jesus called a rock on whom he would build His church.
A great craft activity for preschoolers is making sandals on paper or cards. Have the children draw around their own foot while standing on the paper and then help them cut out the shape.
They can color or paint it. Add ties with strips of paper to the toes of the sandal and then help them to write on it. You could choose phrases like ‘Following in Jesus’ footsteps’ or ‘Walk with Jesus’ or something similar.
A prayer tree is a wonderful craft activity as trees feature so prominently in the Bible. Prepare a tree outline on a large piece of paper and have the children cut out leaf shapes.
On each leaf you can get them to write a prayer, a Bible verse, an intention or something that they are grateful for.
It may be a good project for thanksgiving and the holiday season when most people are thinking about what they are thankful for.
What better way for preschoolers to learn their ABC than through prayer and scripture study? Preprinted letters of the alphabet can be used and words, names and places from the Bible can be added to correspond with the different letters.
Add some pictures for the children to color in or get them to draw their own. Encourage them to think of more words of faith beginning with each of the letters and get them to practice writing them.
The prayer bucket is great for teaching little ones how to pray for big and small things. Use cardboard discs and help the children to write on them the things they think they should pray for.
Then let them choose a disc from the bucket each day and help them to pray for that request or intention.
A ‘prayer answered’ board is a good addition for when the prayer is answered. That way the children get to see that God does answer their prayers.
Kids love making paper cups and string telephones so help them make one for prayers. Explain to them that praying is like having a conversation with God and encourage them to use the telephone to practice prayer.
Teach them that prayer is about speaking and listening just like a telephone. Talk to them about conversations God has had with people in the Bible and how they listened to Him. Let them decorate their telephone with drawings, color and decorations.
The five fingers of prayer is a wonderful craft activity and learning opportunity. Help them to make a paint print of their own hand and then explain to them how the concept works.
Label each finger with the people they should pray for. The thumb is for those closest such as your family, the pointer finger is for those who give direction such as teachers or doctors.
The middle finger is the tallest and for government and leaders. The ring finger is for those who are weak or sick and the little finger is for themselves.
Small children need more guidance and encouragement to pray and using prayer prompt cards is a great way to do that.
Often they are unsure so help them create their own prayer prompt cards and get them to talk about what they want to pray for or about.
This is a good time to explain to young children that they can talk to God about anything. And that not all prayer has to be one they learned, it can just be a conversation between them and God.
One of the first prayers that children learn is the Lord’s Prayer, so this is a good choice for a craft activity. Most people are visual learners, so it will help them to memorize the prayer too.
You can print off the prayer for smaller children and help them to make a frame from craft sticks and hang it up.
For older preschoolers write out the prayer but leave out some of the words and ask them to fill them in.
A prayer wall can be as big or as small as you want. For a classroom it can be quite large and for a home it may be a pin board.
Encourage your preschoolers to write a prayer request and put it on the wall, but not before praying for their intention.
Have a prayer’s answered section that is equal in size to the prayer wall. This shows faith that all the prayers on the wall will be answered if they are part of God’s will.
Final Thoughts
It is never too soon to start teaching children how to pray, the importance of prayer and how to talk to God. Younger children are more likely to form good prayer habits especially if you lead by example.
Using craft activities to encourage children to pray is a great way of using their imagination, creativity and openness to God in order to give them the best foundation in prayer.
We hope that you have enjoyed our guide to prayer crafts for preschoolers and that you will use some of our suggestions for your children.
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
