How to Help Your Child to Be Spiritual

Classing yourself as spiritual but not religious, there are ways to help your child express their spirituality. Without the framework and teachings of a religion, how can you best impart your good values to your children? Spiritual beliefs can vary, but here are some steps to help your child develop spiritually, by focusing on fundamental principles of being a spiritual person through experience, rather than learning a religion.

Turn Off the TV and The Game Console

Aim: Detachment from mass media influence.

This is the only step that involves taking something away. We all know why. But don't take the TV and games console away completely, they wont be pleased, just limit it at first – enough to tempt your child away. They'll thank you later. Removal of the media will do wonders for your relationship with your children, and you get to spend some quality time with them. Too much mass media exposure causes kids to grow up with materialistic and narcissistic illusions. Life isn't really like that. Let's show them what life should be about.

Getting Back To Nature

Aim: Reconnecting with mother Earth.

Show your child the importance of the planet that gives us life. If we don't take care of it, there is no life. Go on a nature trail, look online at parks to visit, or take a trip to the country – even if just for the afternoon. The seaside too is good. Take a bucket, and start collecting things. Leaves, twigs, bugs, snails, shiny pebbles, tree bark and more. Supervision for toxic substances is required, but that goes without saying. Take a bird, butterfly or plant book with you to spot wildlife. Look for animal tracks. Take a walk in a natural environment and your kids will love it. You can even visit a fruit growing farm and pick fruit.

Get out in the garden, turn over the flower bed, get some new plants and dig them in. Buy some seeds, plant them and watch your kids marvel over the new growth. They can feel proud that they gave life to those plants. Prune a tree, pick some flowers, do some weeding. All things that get the kids out in the fresh air, becoming one with nature.

Kids naturally respond to these activities, because they are young they can reconnect with nature more easily as they have been exposed to less social, economic and political conditioning. Help them to understand that as everything in nature is made from life giving energy, so too are they, and that they and nature are one in the same. A natural respect for the natural world will arise.

Meeting Animals

Aim: Understanding that all life originates from the one source. That animals are like us, just not quite as advanced.

If you have pets, great. Take the dog for a special trip to a new park, clean out the rabbit and give it treats. Cuddle the cat. Your children of course would love to go to the zoo or aquarium. Take a real interest in the mammals, birds, fish and so on. There's usually plenty of information resources at these venues, so learn about the animals. Showing a real interest in the animals helps to reaffirm the importance of animals to your children. Marvel at their colors, shapes and behaviors. Express love for the animals because children and animals are souls pure of heart, they can connect easily. Expressing love by petting the cat or cuddling the dog, cultivates the giving and receiving of the all-important energy vibration of love. That which this planet needs most desperately.

Learning To Share

Aim: Fostering unity, generosity and mutual support.

Activities that reinforce concepts of sharing are great for fostering spiritual ideas of love and unity. As we are all one, all originating from the same universal source, we need to work together in unity for the betterment of humanity. Therefore sharing tasks with peers helps to instil these ideas. Take the example of fruit picking – after picking the fruit, have the children divide it up equally between themselves, and to a neighbor, family friend or other person you think could benefit from it. Alternatively, you could make a cake, grow some seedlings, or make some Christmas decorations. Ask your child to share them by keeping some for themselves, and removing a portion to give to others.

Helping Others  

Aim: To create positive polarity

We are either 'service to self' or 'service to others' orientated, or somewhere in between. Practicing helping others, helps us to polarize positively, facilitating the spirit's advancement and evolution toward higher stages of existence. There are lots of ways to help others. Take the kids to grandma's house and help to cook her a meal. Doing some chores for others can be fun when kids know they're doing it to help others. Children naturally want to please and help-out given the chance. Visit a charity or home for the elderly and ask how you can help. There may well be tasks that children can get involved in. For example, doing a summer cake sale event or a fun-run to raise money for charity.

Hold a Party or Get Together

Aim: Attracting love and light

Have family, friends and other children round for a meal, barbecue or little get-together. Many families do not socialize as a family unit to a great extent, but the more people around a child showing care and friendship the better. Even if you just invite a few of the children's friends around to play a bit more often, the happiness and friendship helps to raise the energy vibration for the children and they will in turn be much happier. These activities show the importances of sharing love and friendship with others, including extended family, friends and acquaintances.

Caring for Our World

Aim: To foster environmental stability.

To help your child understand that the Earth is to be protected and not destroyed, teach them about recycling, water and energy conservation, reusing items and other environmentally friendly activities. This instills notions that could protect our world for future generations.

Caring for Your Body

Aim: To respect your body

It's necessarily to keep our mind/body/spirit complex healthy and balanced, and a good place to start is the physical body. A regular non-strenuous exercise routine, perhaps a half hour walk or ball game in the park every day, will help your child adopt a healthier lifestyle into adulthood. Teach about healthy eating too using the myriad of resources found online.

Meditation

Aim: To add meditation to the daily routine from the start of life

Meditation is essential for calming the mind, keeping the mind/body/spirit complex healthy and in balance, and for accessing infinite cosmic energy facilitating spiritual development. Meditation can be started from any age, so long as the child is able to sit quietly. One minute per number of years old is a good rule of thumb. Your 7 year old should be able to sit in silence, eyes closed and perfectly still for 7 minutes. Or at least they can try! Explain the purpose of this is to keep our mind, body and spirit balanced throughout life, and that meditation should ideally be practiced every day.

Make Something

Aim: Departing for consumerism

To combat the constant onslaught of mass media pressure to purchase goods, let your child know that creating something yourself is far more valuable. Little or no money need be spent. Make a cake, some bread, a meal, an Easter bonnet, a rocket from a bottle, a robot from a box, do some sewing, paint on canvas, embroider, create a collage with glue, bit and bobs – you can make pretty much anything! And it's all the more special for it.

Drawing and Talking

Aim: To raise and answer questions

All people should respect other people's faith, so long as no harm is being done. Instead of applying your views to your child, you may want them to explore their own truths for themselves. Use drawing as a way to help. Ask you child to draw what they think 'heaven' looks like or something else spiritual of a positive nature. In this way, your child can explore their own imagination. Answer any questions they have as far as you deem appropriate, and as fully as you see fit. You can also encourage self exploration of ideas by bouncing questions back – 'I understand your question but what do you think the answer is?'

To summarize, the underlying notions here are: learning to be a decent person, to be respectful of others, nature, and the Earth, to be able to give and receive friendship and work together, to help others and show kindness, to take care of the self and be freely creative. If a spiritual exploration helps children to grow up in an a thoroughly enriching environment, then it can only be a good thing. Do what you feel is right and appropriate, and know that you are an amazing parent to facilitate such things.

How to Help Your Child Develop Spiritually - Video Version
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