Family Lent Ideas
How do we celebrate Lent as a family? How do we teach what Lent is to children? Here are some ideas for ways you can celebrate Lent as a whole family and demonstrate what it means to prepare ourselves for the power of Easter.
- Take time each day to pray or read the Bible together as a family. In the morning before everyone goes their separate ways, before bed, over facetime if some cant be physically present. Take turns praying or reading so that everyone who can participate gets a chance to. Talk about what it means to pray for one another and talk about the reading. As a suggestion this may be a good way to read through Mark as family.
- Each day for 40 days find an item that you no longer need that is in good condition and may be blessing to someone else. Clothes that are no longer worn, toys that are not longer played with gadgets and gismos covered in dust. This can serve as visible reminder of the importance of removing the things in our life that distract us from what is important.
- Limit screen time. There are many ways to do this. One is to do 30 minutes less screen time a day. Another is to take one day a week through Lent with no screen time and do family focused activates instead. (Sunday might be a good day for this.) However you do it focus on being present with those who are present.
- Spending fast. It would be impossible to go 40 days with out spending any money because we all need things like gas and groceries. But, taking time to be grateful for what God has already given us is an important spiritual discipline. Committing to avoid spending on new things as much as possible will help us be grateful for what we have and examine our relationship with money.
- Engage with others. Each day in Lent take time to think about and reach out to someone else. Send a card, make a call, text those who like texting, take time to have friends and family over. So many people are lonely and need of connection. Jesus came not just to connect us to God but to help us fully connect with each other.