Five Finger Prayer

Since children are very tactile, teaching them through touch and movement is a great way to help them learn. This can also be done when teaching them to pray! 

One of my favorite ways to do this is with the Five Finger Prayer! There are several versions of this one, but here is the one I like:

• Simply start with a salutation (the thumb) such as, "Dear God" or "Loving God."
• Then, for the index finger, say "I'm sorry for . . . . " This is a very basic method to begin teaching children about confession and forgiveness of sins.
• For the middle finger, children should say thank you to God! "Thanks you for my family," "Thank you for my friends," Thank you for food, toys, or pets," are some common ways kids like to finish this sentence. 
• When you get to the ring finger, it's time to ask God to help others. "Please help a sick family member or friend" and "Please help homeless people," are some I hear frequently when I do this with children. 
• Of course, the pinky finger comes next! Use this one to ask God for personal help. "Help me be nice to my sibling," "Help be do my best in school," or even "Help me keep my undies dry at night!" will work here. 
• Finally, close your fingers around the palm of your hand or press your palms together and say "Amen!" 

One super cute thing I've done with this is to let children make a place-mat with their handprint. I typed out the phrase for each finger and left a space for children to put their handprint on the side. It looks like this:

You could also do this by tracing the hand and writing the phrases "on the fingers" as it is in the graphic above. It can then be laminated and used at the table for mealtime prayers or kept under a pillow for bedtime prayers. It  makes a cute keepsake, too!  

Have you every used the Five Finger Prayer??

(Psst . .  It works for adults, too!)