Unwinding
Session 4.1 · Note 1
Unwinding
God can be hard to understand fully and at times we will all have muddled views about him. The Key Tool of Unwinding helps parents and carers consider what their child or teen thinks about God, spot any muddled views and then gently unwind them. It also helps kids develop a broad and balanced view of God.
Have a go … with children and teens
- Ask your child to draw a picture of God and them. What do you notice from the picture or how they explain it to you?
- Ask everyone: if you had to describe God with only five words, which words would you pick and why?
- Take a little time to think about your own view of God – do you emphasise some of his characteristics more than others? How can you bring balance in your conversations, choice of bible stories etc? If you’d like to explore this more, there’s an exercise in ‘identifying your bias’ in session 3 of the Original Course.
- Use an open-ended question about God to start a conversation – for example, ‘What was God doing at school today?’ / ‘what do you think God thinks about those refugees in the boats?’ / ‘Why did God decide we needed the Bible?’ Here are some suggestions for how to start conversations about God with children Ideas to spark conversations with children and teens Ideas to spark conversations with teens. We also have a free download with 101 questions to start an interesting conversation about God.
- If you spot any views of God that feel a bit off to you – like a child or teen assuming God is angry because they have done something wrong, or thinking God is too distant to care about them , gently unwind them. There’s more about how to do this in session 3 of the Original Course and session 4 of the Parenting Teens course.
- What do you find difficult to understand about God? If appropriate, share that with your kid and explain how you deal with it.
- Think about, or ask your older child or teen, about where they get their ideas from God from. Have a conversation with them about what sources they trust.
- Think about your kid – where do they feel comfortable talking about or engaging with God? Where do they not? Think about what they might believe or have experienced about God to make them disengage and how you might begin to unwind that.
Have a go … with babies and toddlers
- Take a little time to think about your own view of God – do you emphasise some characteristics more than other? How can you bring balance in your conversations, choice of bible stories etc? (if you’d like to explore this more, there’s an exercise in ‘identifying your bias’ in session 3 of the Original course.)
- Ask your toddler to draw a picture of God and them. What do you notice from the picture or how they explain it to you?
- Use the ‘when I am’ tool to help children understand that God’s love for us isn’t dependent on our behaviour – this post explains how this works: Helping under fives grow a balanced view of God
- If you spot any views of God that feel a bit off to you – like a child saying God is angry because they have done something wrong, or thinking God is a long way away ‘up there’ , gently unwind them. There’s more about how to do this in session 3 of the Original Course .
- Deliberately choose to share a wide range of Bible stories with your child. If there is a story you've read a lot or they really like, what does it say about God? What other story could you share to provide balance. For example, the story of Jonah and the whale shows how God can do amazing things but also talks about his judgement and discipline. You could then pick a story that emphasises his mercy and patience, like the Prodigal Son.
Find out more
Last reviewed
