12 Bedtime Prayer Ideas for (Wild) Kids

Inside: Discover fun, meaningful bedtime prayers for kids that are easy to work into your nightly routine. They’re especially helpful when kids have a hard time winding down and going to sleep. Plus, find great prayer books to bless and guide toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school kids.

There’s a familiar kind of acute pain I feel at the same time every day. It doesn’t matter how good, bad, or mediocre the day was. It doesn’t matter what I ate or if I exercised. The pain still comes. If you have children of a certain age and temperament you may have experienced this rush of chaos followed by bewilderment and heartache. It’s the kind of pain that comes with BPWK: Bedtime Prayers with Wild Kids. 

Why are evening prayers so hard sometimes?! We’re enjoying a bedtime story. We close the book, maybe talk about it for a minute. Cuddle. There is peace.

Then I say, “Let’s talk to the Lord,” or my husband says, “Let’s pray.” And immediately: bouncing, sighing, questions about griffins and gravity, mysterious pains and symptoms, complaining, more bouncing, and occasionally hanging off the bed upside down. 

What. Just. Happened?!!?!

That is not how I remember my childhood bedtime prayers. Okay, so there’s probably some revisionist history going on here, but here’s what I recall. I’d kneel beside the bed with one or both of my parents and maybe a sister or two. I would pray. They would pray. It was not always poignant or special. Maybe sometimes I thought it was boring. But I’m pretty sure no one was seeking professional counseling after prayer time with young Valerie!

BPWK: Bedtime Prayers with Wild Kids

• The future of their prayer lives does not hinge on my abilities, and it is not defined by this moment in time, or even this year. The Holy Spirit is working on their hearts, and we are on a journey together with God to guide our kids throughout childhood.
• Kids won’t remember as much about what we said as they will about the kind of environment we created. Prayer is important, but so is the way we set up the experience, and focusing too much on stillness and quiet can often do more harm than good. (I often fall short here, and I love this encouragement from Joanna on botched bedtimes.)
• Small steps taken in love are what helps build a life of faith. Small steps. Some backward. Some forward. All with God’s grace.

Bring Prayer to Life for Concrete Thinkers (aka Kids)

Let’s talk about engaging, instructive, hands-on prayer paths! 

Prayer can be quite mysterious. It’s developmentally appropriate for kids to think in concrete terms especially before they’re 9 or 10. As my friend and fellow Our Everyday Parables contributor, Karis McQuinn, says: It can be hard enough for young kids to engage in meaningful, two-way conversations with people they can see. Why do we think it should be easy for them to engage in prayer–a meaningful, two-way conversation–with someone they can’t see?

Good point.

So I’ve gathered some of my favorite bedtime prayer ideas for kids. They are great for concrete thinkers (which is pretty much every kid 10 and under), wild wigglers, curious kids, and more. And they can really help when your family has a persistent case of BPWK. 

12 CREATIVE Bedtime Prayer Ideas for Kids

Prayer Ideas for Younger CHILDREN

(Click here to jump right to the ideas for older kids.)

1) Hand Pile Prayer

This bedtime prayer idea is especially great for wild kids because it doesn’t require abolishing the wiggles. Afterall, stillness isn’t a prerequisite for talking with God. 

The hand-pile prayer is based on the idea that a family is a team–and the Lord is our coach! One person starts by putting their hand in the middle and saying something they are thankful for. Going around the circle, each person does the same, putting one hand on top of another, until everyone has one hand in. Then starting over, each person puts the other hand into the pile and makes a request to the Lord, for themselves or someone else. At the end, we all raise our hands as we say “AAAAAA-MEN!!!!” like a team would say “Gooooo Team!!!”

via GIPHY

In addition to being active, this bedtime prayer path for kids has the added benefit of physical touch! (And the drawback of potentially turning into a slap fest for the wild ones—as I know from experience.)

2) Sing a Children’s Bedtime Prayer

Songs are beautiful, engaging ways to pray. They involve our voices in a different way than talking does. In fact, scientists say the act of singing can be calming to our nervous systems.

This little song prayer came home from church one day when my first-born was a toddler. It goes to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me.” 

If I'm home or out to play,
God, you're with me every day!
Thank you, Lord, for being near.
When I pray, I know you're here.

I pray for ________.
I pray for ________.
I pray for ________.
Lord, watch over them tonight.

Sometimes this will just be the start of our evening prayer time. Sometimes, it’s the whole thing. 

3) Prayer Pattern

The prayer pattern is among my family’s favorite bedtime prayer ideas. Think of it as scaffolding!

Using this little bit of structure to get started, kids can learn to communicate their own ideas to God. Of course, the ideal is for prayers to flow naturally from our hearts, but I don’t know anyone who hasn’t felt stuck regarding prayer sometimes, and this is a great way to get unstuck.

We especially like this prayer pattern from author and parenting coach Christie Thomas from her post, A Simple Way to Help Kids Pray. It’s similar to the ACTS pattern you may have learned if you grew up in church (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), but because her version starts with simple, relatable sentence starters, you don’t have to teach your kids a vocabulary lesson first!

Wow, God! You are…

Use this sentence starter to worship God and acknowledge God’s goodness.

I am sorry for… 

We do not want our kids to feel condemnation in this moment. It is a beautiful privilege to confess sin and receive forgiveness. It is also an important step in experiencing God’s plan for us and embracing God’s life-giving ways. 

After we confess in prayer, I like to say a short sentence focused on receiving forgiveness, thanking God, and choosing a new path. Something like: We receive your forgiveness with joy (make sure your face and voice are joyful). Help us follow your life-giving commands.

Please help…

We use this sentence starter to make our requests to God in prayer. Sometimes we focus on ourselves, sometimes on others we know, and sometimes on prayers for our world.

Thank you for…

We end our family prayer with gratitude. 

4) Prayer Sticks 

As long as our darling children don’t use the craft sticks as weapons, this family prayer idea can be simple and fun. And it’s great for encouraging intercessory prayer. 

Ahead of time, write people’s names or prayer needs on craft sticks and put them in a cup. When it’s prayer time, each person draws one stick and prays for the person or need. You can secure already-drawn sticks together with a rubber band so you can pray for everyone before drawing the same stick twice.

5) Color Prayer

For this interactive bedtime prayer idea, get some colored paper and write prayer categories on each one (see below). If you don’t have colored paper, just use colored markers on white paper. Then post them in your child’s room or lay them out on the living room floor.

When it’s time to pray, take turns going up to the colors, touching one, and saying a related prayer. I may touch orange and ask God to remind me that He is always with me or touch white and confess that I was impatient today or touch green and ask God to grow more courage in me.

For some families, the movement of getting up and down will be great for active kids. For others, it will be too big of a distraction. In that case, kids can just call out the color and say the prayer from wherever they are.

Prayer color categories for young children

If your kids are very young, maybe just start with four colors and add on from there.

• Red – Something I love about God
• Orange – Something I need to remember about God
• Yellow – Something I am thankful for
• Black – Something I am curious or confused about
• Gray – A worry or fear that needs God’s rest
• White – A thought or action that needs God’s forgiveness
• Green – A way I think God wants me to grow
• Blue – Someone else in our home, in our community, or far away
• Purple – A request of my heart

Color Books

I like how this prayer idea gives kids lots of ideas for chatting with God. And though I’m not crazy about limiting certain colors to certain meanings, I have seen this idea work so well that I’ve learned to put that little hangup aside. But if, like me, you want to emphasize that colors can mean different things to different people, check out the book My Blue is Happy or the faith-based color book What Color is God’s Love.

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Want a printable version of these ideas?

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6) Echo prayer

Some might look on an echo prayer with disdain, but here’s the thing: When we are new at something, there is an important way we can get better. We copy others. 

Think about cooking. I use recipes all the time. I copy what the chef does. And after I do that for a while, I can personalize the meal and make it my own.

For an echo prayer, pray a short (SHORT) prayer that is on your heart, pausing every phrase to allow your child to repeat. On some nights, let your child lead if that sounds fun to them. We have a lot to learn from our kids.

7) Memorize a Bedtime Prayer with Kids 

This prayer path starts with finding a written prayer that reflects your family’s heartfelt love for God. Then, you memorize it together! It’s beautiful to have access to meaningful words anytime, anywhere–including right before bedtime. Of course, reciting a memorized prayer every single night may start to lose meaning over time, so it’s a good idea to mix in with others throughout the week.

Child’s Evening Prayer
Author Unknown

I hear no voice, I feel no touch,
I see no glory bright;
But yet I know that God is near,
In darkness as in light.
He watches ever by my side,
And hears my whispered prayer:
The Father for His little child
Both night and day does care.

This can be used alone or to prepare our hearts to listen to God and/or communicate our praises and requests to God, similar to how a “call to worship” in church helps everyone collect their bodies and center their thoughts.

8) Part A: Prayer Books for Younger Kids

Similar to memorizing a written prayer, prayer books can be helpful tools to guide family conversations with God. 

Loved: The Lord’s Prayer

My Tender Heart Prayer Book: Rhyming Prayers for Little Ones

Little Prayers for Ordinary Days  

Family Prayer Ideas for Older Kids (And All Ages)

Here are ideas that will especially appeal to older kids and younger kids alike.

8) Part B: Prayer Books for Older Kids

As kids grow, they may still benefit from using written prayers. I know I do!

Jesus Listens: Prayers for Kids

9) Get active or engage the senses

Usually, prayer involves talking and listening. But what if we could engage more senses, postures, and expressions in ways that are authentic to our kids and honoring to God? Here are just a few ideas (please add yours in the comments below):

• Light a candle. Feel the warmth of its glow. Watch the dance of the flame.
• Smell an essential oil, flower, or something else with a pleasant scent.
• Draw your prayer.
• Get active by jumping or dancing.
• Practice a different posture by raising your hands, kneeling, holding hands with each other, or opening your palms to the Lord.

10) Play Worship Music as a Bedtime Prayer for Kids

My friend and fellow blogger Karey does this with her kids as a way to close the day. Just choose any worship song you’re loving right now and listen to it while snuggling in bed. Or print out the lyrics to a favorite worship song and read them like a prayer–this can help us really focus on the meaning of the song, not just the catchy tune. Or if you don’t want to bust out the technology, sing as much as you can of a favorite praise song without the music. It doesn’t have to be stage-ready, just heartfelt.

11) Blessing prayer

The blessing prayer is especially good for overcoming BPWK (Bedtime Prayers with Wild Kids) because it is the prayer where THE CHILDREN DO NOT TALK. (I kid, I kid.) It’s also great for those nights when they insist they are “too tired to pray.” (Never mind that they were talking your ear off about Dog Man or Super Mario just 10 seconds ago.)

Even older children appreciate a blessing prayer. They may not say so, but this type of prayer time can be so meaningful and encouraging as they grow, change, and face new situations.

In a blessing prayer, you can:

• Thank God for your child
• Tell the Lord what godly attributes or evidence of the fruit of the Spirit you see in them
• Ask for spiritual and/or physical blessings for your child
• Tell God how much you love them and thank God for loving them even more

Blessing prayers are a good time to remind kids that prayer is about talking and listening. You can encourage them that–as they hear you pray–they can listen for what God may be speaking to their hearts. 

You can also pray this blessing prayer from the Bible in the book of Numbers:

The Lord bless you
and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

NUMBERS 6:24-26 NIV

If you love praying this blessing over your kids, check out these three fun resources:

12) Five Finger Prayer for Gratitude or Intercession

We have a lot to be thankful for. But still, it can be easy to rattle off thanks for the same things every day without much meaning behind it. 

Telling the Lord five things we are grateful for–one for each finger on our hand–can help us stretch ourselves to realize the many blessings God has given us. In fact, now that my kids are older, I’ll sometimes ask them to say thank you for at least one thing they can’t see, like an attribute of God, a trait in someone else, or some way that God is working in their hearts.

We also use the five finger prayer to help our kids pray for other people, also known as intercessory prayer. I like to ask the kids to open one hand and put their thumb gently on their heart. Then, starting with the pinky, we pray for four people in our lives and end on the thumb with a prayer for ourselves. 

This prayer idea can help us practice listening to God too. We can ask God to bring people to our minds that need prayer. If we’re not sure what they need prayer for, we pray that they would remember God’s love or follow God with joy or something that everyone could be blessed by.

Get a Free Bedtime Prayer Resource for Your Family

Want an easy way to remember these 12 Bedtime Prayer Ideas? We’ve made a fun, flexible resource that can help you practice prayer with kids. Because what good are all these ideas if you can’t remember them after the teeth-brushing and the hug-giving and the last-drink-of-water-I-promise-ing.

How you use this resource is up to you!

• Post the summary sheet by the bed as a reminder to yourself.
• Take turns with your child choosing the prayer method for the evening.
• Cut out the larger circles and then draw one from a cup each week or each night. 

Keep Bedtime Prayers in Perspective

As you engage in new prayer experiences, it’s important to keep things in perspective. 

We don’t want the prayer method to become the focal point. Every now and then, it may help to say something like: “The way we pray may change from time to time, but prayer can happen anytime we are talking and listening to God.”

Likewise, we need to remember that even with all these tools in our tool belts, there will be times–many times–that bedtime prayer time totally flops. Or we’ll find something that works, but only for a little while. (Welcome to parenting.) So let’s hold onto the truth that when we are discipling our kids at home, the most critical thing is not that it’s perfect, comprehensive, or even particularly deep. The thing that matters most is that we are doing it–and doing it with love.   

That’s what kids will remember. That’s what will help draw kids to the Lord now and help them form their own spiritual habits as adults.

So don’t give up! BPWK happens to all of us. Praise the Lord that we have each other and the Holy Spirit to encourage and guide us!

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