Teaching The Lord's Prayer to Preschoolers and Kindergarteners | Language Arts Lesson

Learning the Lord’s Prayer: A Fun Language Arts Lesson for Little Ones

This week, we embarked on a heartwarming language arts adventure with our preschoolers and kindergartners as we explored the timeless words of the Lord’s Prayer straight from a beginner’s children’s Bible. Our goal was to introduce these young boys to a special way of talking with God, helping them learn not just the words, but the loving manner in which we should pray.

Lesson Overview

We began by reading the story of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11: 1-4), carefully explaining the meaning behind each phrase. We use 2 children's bibles in our home: The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories published by ZonderKidz and My Very First Bible published by DK. This particular reading and lesson come from The Beginner's Bible, although you can read from any children's bible, or straight out of the bible (which I should have done!) The children listened intently as we discussed who taught us this prayer (Jesus) and who we speak to when we pray (God—our Father in heaven). We then engaged in a series of interactive questions to deepen their understanding.

Objectives

1. Introduce children to the Lord's Prayer

2. Learn how to pray and who to pray to

3. Handwriting practice (kinder)

4. Phonetics (Prek)

Read The Lord's Prayer to Your Children

"When Jesus was on the mountain, he taught the people how to pray. Jesus said,

"Our Father in Heaven, 

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, 

your will be done 

on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one." 

Amen.

Comprehension Questions

Ask these questions directly after your reading. Read the story several times throughout the week and ask the same questions again to reinforce the story. 

1. Who was teaching the people how to pray in the story? (Jesus)

2. What do we call this special prayer? (The Lord’s Prayer)

3. Who do we pray to when we say the Lord’s Prayer? (God, our Father)

4. Why do we say, “Hallowed be your name”? (Because we want to show respect and honor to God’s name.)

5. What do we ask for in the prayer? (God’s kingdom to come, our daily bread, forgiveness, help in doing the right things, etc.)

6. What does ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ mean? (God provides what we need each day.)

7. What does ‘Forgive us our sins’ mean? (We ask God to forgive us when we do wrong.)

Discussion Questions

Now we lead our children in a discussion. You can write down their answers on a board/giant notebook to record for later use/reference or simply get their minds thinking. If you have older children, have them choose a question to write a brief answer or a paragraph on.

1. Who do we talk to when we pray? (God)

2. Does God hear us when we pray? (Yes!)

3. Do we have to use big words to pray? (No, we can talk to God like we talk to a friend.)

4. What are some things we can thank God for? (Food, family, toys, love, etc.)

5. Can we pray when we are happy? (Yes!)

6. Can we pray when we are sad? (Yes!)

7. Why do we ask God to forgive us? (Because sometimes we do wrong things.)

8. Should we forgive others like God forgives us? (Yes!)

9. Where can we pray? (Anywhere—home, church, outside, in bed.)

10. Does God love us when we pray? (Yes, always!)

These keep it simple while reinforcing the lesson in a way that makes it easy for little learners to grasp!

Handwriting Practice (Kinder)

Use a worksheet like one of these here to have your child practice their handwriting. For this lesson, we focused on capitalizing beginning letters of every sentence, correct punctuation, and writing in the lines (my child writes big!) Use this as an opportunity to practice whatever it is you guys are currently working on, according to your curriculum or state's learning standards.

You can use the blank sheet to have child answer a discussion or comprehension question or write out a scripture. Or you can use the pre-filled one that says, "Jesus teaches us how to pray to God." for copy work. 

Phonetic Spelling Corner (PreK)

Use this link to give your preschooler spelling words. If they are learning their letter sounds and are either A) feeling confident with them OR B) you want to teach them a group of sounds and words at a time (which is what I am doing), this is the perfect daily activity to do with them using words found in the story. 

The Lord’s Prayer Hands Craft

This simple craft let's kids have fun and get creative by cutting out and decorating their own foldable prayer hands and pasting a copy of The Lord's Prayer inside so that they will always have a copy! You can use these throughout the week to recite and memorize the prayer. 

Here's a link to the craft.

Our language arts lesson on the Lord’s Prayer was filled with engaging reading, thoughtful discussion, phonetic fun, and a delightful craft activity. By asking open-ended questions and encouraging creative expression, we helped our little ones connect with the prayer in a personal and meaningful way. This lesson not only built their language skills but also nurtured their understanding of prayer as a loving conversation with God.

Stay tuned for more creative lesson ideas that inspire young minds and hearts!

Happy teaching!

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