The Power of Simple Practices in Family Discipleship 

By: Kayla Fowler 

Home discipleship can feel overwhelming for parents. They wonder: Am I doing enough? What should I be doing? Why doesn’t my child seem to be getting it? Most parents aren’t resistant to discipling their children at home—they’re simply overwhelmed. Discipleship resources can often feel complicated when they’re already trying to manage the everyday demands of family life. 

So what do parents need most from ministry leaders? Not another app. Not another email. Not another strategy. They need permission to keep it simple.  

As ministry leaders, it is important to remember we’re on the same team. We want preschoolers and kids to grow into faithful, lifelong followers of Jesus, and parents have incredible and powerful influence on the spiritual formation of their child. So what do they need from us?  

They need permission to keep it simple. Parents need the church to partner with them in small, simple practices that make a big impact. Why? Because simplicity is reproducible. And if discipleship can be replicated and tailored among families, it will last. 

Here are three simple practices families can start this week with their preschoolers and younger kids to grow in family discipleship. 

Read.  

Reading builds relationships before it builds literacy. Story time gives parents a chance to slow down, share attention, answer questions, and create meaningful memories together. Because children often receive spiritual truths best through trusted relationships, books become a natural tool for family discipleship. Whether it’s a Bible, Bible storybook, or faith-based picture book, reading together helps parents grow in confidence while creating space for gospel conversations. 

Say.  

Repetition helps preschoolers and younger children learn. What adults may hear as “the same thing again” is often a child’s brain saying, “I’m still learning this.” Simple songs, chants, and repeated phrases help gospel truths move from a child’s head to their heart. Sing together. Create simple family sayings. Repeat truths like, God loves me, or the Bible is true and it’s for you. What is repeated becomes remembered. 

Play.  

Play builds the relationship that makes discipleship possible. Through play, preschoolers and kids explore, imagine, ask questions, and make sense of the world around them. As parents join their children in play, they have opportunities to practice biblical values, answer spiritual questions, and connect everyday experiences to God’s truth. The goal of family discipleship isn’t to stop playing long enough to disciple your child. It’s recognizing that many discipleship moments happen while playing together. 

Preschoolers and kids learn about God’s love long before they can explain it. They experience it through stories, repetition, play, connection, and relationships with the people who love them most. Parents don’t need more complexity. They need simple, repeatable ways to bring the gospel into everyday life. 

Looking for an easy place to begin? Hooray Day introduces preschoolers to the good news of the gospel through a joyful celebration of God’s love, while God Knows Me Inside and Out helps younger children discover that God made them, knows them, and values them. Both books create natural opportunities for gospel conversations at home. Find these books along with preschool Bibles, Bible storybooks, and additional family discipleship resources at lifeway.com. 

Read. Say. Play. Three simple practices. A lifetime of gospel influence. 

Kayla Fowler is the Team Lead for Hyfi digital curriculum at Lifeway Christian Resources. She is passionate about helping the next generation own their faith and understand their identity in Christ. Kayla is the author of God Knows Me Inside and Out and Hooray Day (B&H) and contributes to multiple NextGen resources. She enj