14 ideas for teaching apologetics to young kids

The word “apologetics” can sound like something for seminary students, not for kids who still need help tying their shoes. Natasha Crain sees it differently. People kept asking her how she teaches apologetics to her own children, so she wrote down what it actually looked like in her home when her twins were five.

Crain is a speaker, the host of The Natasha Crain Podcast and the author of five books. In this 2014 post from her blog, she shows that apologetics with young children doesn’t need a formal lesson. It fits into the Bible time her family tries to have every evening and into the questions that come up during the day.

Her 14 examples are short and concrete. A question from her daughter about the grocery store turns into a conversation about where everything ultimately comes from. Books about space become part of Bible time and show kids that faith and science aren’t enemies. Asking children how they know what’s right without being taught every rule prepares them for the moral argument, and a bit of silly role play shows why real love needs free will. She doesn’t avoid the hard parts either. She talks with her kids about suffering, admits when she doesn’t have an answer, and sometimes speaks as a skeptic would so they learn how other people think. Each idea comes with a short note on which argument or question it lays the groundwork for.

Two things she makes clear from the start: you can only pass on what you’ve learned yourself, and no five-year-old is expected to defend the faith. The goal is a foundation they can build on later. And if you only pick one idea, she suggests a regular evening set aside just for your kids’ own questions.

Read it if you’re raising young children, or if you lead a kids’ ministry and want to help families make faith something children think about, not just accept.

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Read the full article: 14 Ways I Teach Apologetics to My 5-Year-Olds by Natasha Crain, on natashacrain.com.