We tried this creative prayer activity with our kids and some friends this week and it actually went really well. We have two boys who love Lego and don't like to sit still. So praying with Lego was kind of perfect.
It gave them something to focus on.
It let them be creative.
And it made praying look more like playing.
The ACTS Prayer with Lego
Because we have littles (we tried this with 4 kids under the age of 7), we did a version of the ACTS prayer, but left out the 'adoration' part.
(I felt like asking my bouncy 6 year olds to think of a 'thank you', an 'I'm sorry', and an 'ask' was enough without trying to coach them on figuring out where they saw God in their lives today, or what part of God they are especially appreciative of today. That shall be a task for another day.)
So this is what we did for our Lego prayer.
Each person had to say 3 things:
- Something you are thankful for.
- Something you could say 'I'm sorry' for.
- Something that you need help with, are worried about, or excited about.
This roughly conforms to the thankfulness, confession, and supplication categories.
With slightly older kids, you could also add the 'adoration' category: What quality of God were you really impressed with today? Where did you feel God present in your life today?
How to Pray with Lego
This was pretty easy. And it worked surprisingly well, given the rowdiness of the crowd.
The process of praying with Lego:
- Everyone sits around a table (or on the floor) and the leader places a bucket of Lego in the middle.
- Everyone takes out 3 pieces of Lego (or 4 if you're doing all 4 parts of the ACTS prayer).
- One person starts by naming something that they are thankful for. They put 1 of their pieces of Lego in the center of the circle.
- The second person names something that they are thankful for, and they add 1 of their pieces of Lego onto the first piece.
- This goes around the circle, with everyone naming something that they are thankful for and adding their piece of Lego to the structure.
- This repeats for the 'I'm sorry' phase, and the 'ask' phase (and the 'adoration' phase if your kids are slightly older).
- At the end, you have a prayer made out of Lego.
We thought it was pretty cool that we could actually see our prayer. It doesn't matter what your structure looks like. Each Lego prayer structure will be different. And each time you have a tangible reminder of your prayer.
(We break down the structure after we're finished and put it back in the Lego box.)
Want a printable version of the Lego prayer to share or to have as a handy reminder for your own family? Get the Lego Prayer Printable here.
Why Praying with Lego Works
Praying with Lego is kind of ingenious because it gives the kids something to focus on, and it gives their hands something to do. This helps to prevent them from bouncy around, poking each other, getting distracted, and flopping on the ground when they get bored.
Benefits that we found of praying with Lego:
- Keeps the kids engaged. They get to pick their own Lego pieces and they have something to do with their hands.
- Gives everyone a challenge. We had to do some problem solving to keep our structure from toppling over, and to make sure that all the pieces fit. The added challenge made it not-boring for the littles.
- It's creative. Our kids complain about 'regular' prayer, the kind where you just sit and talk to God, because it's "too boring". This gives them something to engage their creative streak.
This is our completed Lego prayer. The boys had fun using weird Lego pieces - like the one-legged body sticking out of a tower, and a head attached to a lance....
