Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

Preparing the Children for Talking with God
In order for children to be able to talk about God and explore their own relationships with
God, there must be a sense of a presence of God in the school and especially in the
classroom. Talk about God among the staff. As a staff, go on a field trip around the
school to look for evidence of God. Look at the sanctuary – the ner tamid (eternal light),
Torah scrolls, kipot, siddurim, Tanachim, mezuzot - these all are ritual objects that make
a place kadosh (sacred or holy) and indicate the presence of God. See if you can find one
person helping another, or a tzedakah box, or beautiful flowers growing on the school or
synagogue grounds. These all indicate the presence of God as well.
Take the children on a walk around the school. Draw the children’s attention to all of this
– that these are all reminders of God. For example, seeing the mezuzah can be a
reminder of God when children arrive and leave. When they think of God they remember
they must make good choices and do mitzvot. When the children need to become more
focused, ask them to pause, look at the mezuzah, and remember to make good choices.
There are many ways to connect children to God:
• Tell stories from the Torah and/or midrashim (Rabbinic stories).
• Singing and praying.
• Jewish rituals can be spiritual and set a mood. Talk with children about why we
do such things as light candles for Shabbat or holidays, blow the shofar, or say
blessings when we wash our hands before eating.
• Shabbat is much more meaningful, with potential for connections to God, when
we take time to set the atmosphere.
o Connect creation to each Shabbat celebration
o Include resting and reflecting on what God created.
o Create a sense of calm
o Change the environment to reflect Shabbat – set up a special table, invite
Shabbat guests, bring in ritual objects and flowers.
o Bake challah with the children every week – embrace the tactile
experience, the feel and the smell and the taste of the challah.
o Sing a song such as “Shiviti.” Invite the children to lie on the rug and
close their eyes as you sing Shiviti Adonai knegdi tamid – I put God in
front of me all of the time.
• Include Modeh Ani and the Shema in morning circle times. This invites children
to say thank you to God for waking us up and returning our souls to us.
• Celebrate and notice small and big events – she’hecheyanu moments – when a
tooth falls out, when a child masters a skill, when a child celebrates a birthday,
and so on. – say She’hecheyanu
• Talk about God when you are outside. Look at the beautiful world that God
created. You can make the ordinary holy by being aware, being present in the
moment, and bringing the children’s attention to the wonder of nature. There are
formal blessings that acknowledge many things, both beautiful and awesome, in
nature. Or you can just say “Thank you, God, for….”
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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