Hymns for a Kid's Heart

Saturday night, the young families from my church got together for a social. After a few hours some babysitters arrived so that the adults could go inside and talk about integrating church at home.

Another topic of discussion was helping our children worship in the sanctuary. The littles can't read and aren't always familiar with the tunes - this *sometimes* creates the wiggles before they are dismissed to Jr. Church. They might be familiar with the praise choruses they hear on KLOVE but the hymns are harder to teach at home. We all agreed we want our children to know the hymns for they are so rich (and won't be out of style in 10 years.)

Brainstorming at home, I remembered a book that I'd bought before even becoming a mom: Hymns for a Kid's Heart by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada. The book is cheaper from CBD than amazon.

What I like about the book is that it has 12 hymns (and the music if you play guitar or piano) and a CD in the back (for those of us who only play the radio! :) The book is not just a hymnal but it has a 1-2 page devotional or explanation about the hymn or it's author, written to engage children.

I talked with the worship leader and she agreed to sing one hymn a month from this book (on hymn sing Sunday) so our children will be familiar with at least one song.

Next Sunday (April 6) we will sing Holy, Holy, Holy - since the kids in Jr. Church are familiar with that hymn. Then, at home in the month of April we will sing/talk about the hymn Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - which is the first hymn in the book. Each month, we'll focus on the next hymn in the book. On Hymn Sunday in May the congregation will sing Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. Hopefully after singing it for the month of April at home the children (and parents) will be able to sing all the verses by memory!