5 Everyday Moments Families Can Use To Grow Their Faith This School Year

Back-to-school season is full of opportunities to encourage families, but it’s also easy to overwhelm them in this busy season.

As children’s ministry leaders, we should be hyper-aware of the importance of back-to-school season for our families and walk alongside them in all the excitement, nerves, and school supplies.

The best way to support families in this season? Give them a resource that already fits into a moment they’re living. What if we helped families recognize the everyday moments as they get back into the school day routine, then handed them exactly what fits there? Faith takes root in the ordinary rhythms of everyday life just as much as (if not more than) it does in a Sunday morning program.

Here are five simple moments you can equip families to use this school year to help build their faith:

1. Before They Leave the House – Encourage parents to create a simple morning blessing they speak over their kids before school starts. It doesn’t have to be long. A 30-second prayer asking God for courage, kindness, and wisdom, plus a reminder that they’re deeply loved can become a meaningful family tradition (echoing the promise of Psalm 121:8, that God watches over our going out and our coming in). Consider sending families home with a printable blessing card they can keep by the front door or on the fridge.
2. Turn the Car Line into a Prayer Line – The drive to school, or the afternoon pickup line, is a built-in opportunity for prayer. One of our favorite resources from the Kindergarten Kick-Off event is a set of Car Rider Prayer Tags families could hang from their rearview mirror and use as a reminder to pray for the day. Sometimes all a family needs is a simple prompt already built into a drive they’re taking anyway.
3. Redeem the After-School Conversation – The question “How was school?” usually gets “fine” as an answer. Encourage parents to ask questions that invite something deeper instead. Share a few prompts in your weekly email, like: What made you smile today? Where did you see God today? What’s something we can pray about tonight? Simple questions like these help parents move past one-word answers and open natural space for a faith conversation. DKM Subscribers can download 24 family conversation cards here, or find them in our full Back-to-School Faith Boost Bundle.
4. Make Dinner Count – Whether a family eats around the table or grabs dinner between activities, encourage them to use one question a night to connect the day to their faith. Try including a dinner discussion question in your weekly parent email that ties back to Sunday’s lesson. A small prompt makes it easy for a parent to lead a meaningful conversation without any extra prep.
5. Help Families Build a Tiny Scripture Habit – Many parents assume Bible reading has to be long or formal, so they never start. Encourage them to start small instead: a weekly memory verse, printable verse cards tucked into lunchboxes, or a challenge to read one verse together each morning. This Scripture Scratch-Off and this Highlight the Word resource are two simple places to start. Consistency beats perfection every time.

Your Role: Make It Simple

One of the greatest gifts we can give families this school year is helping them see the faith-building moments already built into an average day and resourcing them to be intentional with those moments. When we hand parents simple tools, practical prompts, and realistic ideas, we’re reminding them that discipleship doesn’t have to be complicated, and they feel more equipped and empowered to disciple their kids.

Find all of our back-to-school resources, including those for home and church, here.