6 Ways To Honor Lent Without Fasting

Lent is a powerful season for reflecting on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Traditionally, Lent is associated with fasting—giving something up as a way to focus on Christ. Fasting is a spiritual discipline, and we should teach kids about it, but not everyone in your church or ministry may feel called or equipped to fast, especially children and their families. Or maybe your church doesn’t emphasize Lent and fasting at all.

The good news? There are plenty of other meaningful ways to honor Lent and lead your ministry through this sacred season. Here are 6 non-fasting ideas to help you guide the kids and families in your ministry as they embrace Lent:

1. Make prayer a daily practice. Help kids and families develop a rhythm of daily prayer during Lent. Provide them with a simple prayer guide, perhaps focusing on themes like gratitude, confession, and intercession. Encourage kids to write or draw their prayers in a special journal. You could even create a prayer wall in your ministry space where kids can add their daily prayers throughout the season. One of our favorites includes Pretzel Prayers, and you can find more Lent family resources here.
2. Emphasize gratitude. Encourage families to start a gratitude journal for Lent. Provide a template or journal pages that help them list things they’re thankful for each day. You could also create a gratitude wall in your children’s ministry space, where kids can write or draw something they’re thankful for each week.
3. Offer opportunities to serve. Plan a family-friendly service project during Lent. It could be as simple as collecting canned goods for a local food pantry or creating care packages for those in need. Service helps shift the focus outward, reminding kids and families to live out their faith in practical ways. A Fishes and Loaves Service Project is one of our favorites, and you can find more service project ideas here.
4. Provide a Lenten Bible reading plan. Give families a simple but intentional Bible reading plan that walks through key moments of Jesus’ life leading up to Easter. This might include discussion questions or journaling prompts to help families reflect together. Some of our favorites include Living Water Lent Family Challenge, Letters from Jerusalem Lent Family Resource, a 40-Day Lent Family Challenge, Lent Scripture Scratch-Off, and an Easter to Remember Family Resource. Find more Lent family resources here.
5. Encourage random acts of kindness. Instead of giving something up, challenge kids to give something away. Provide a printable calendar of daily acts of kindness they can do throughout Lent. Ideas can include simple actions like “make a card for a friend,” “help a sibling with their chores,” or “make a donation to a food pantry. Check out our Random Acts of Kindness Bingo resource to help with this!
6. Teach symbols of Lent – Introduce kids to the symbols and focuses of Lent, like ashes, palm branches, the cross, pretzels, and the color purple. Use these symbols in hands-on crafts or activities to teach the significance of the season. Take advantage of this time to teach kids about Lent in general, and to dive deeper into the meaning of Lent. Our Lent Lambs series helps you do just that!

By focusing on practices like prayer, gratitude, serving, and more, you can help the kids and families in your ministry honor Lent in meaningful ways, whether or not they choose to fast.

Find all our Lent and Easter resources here.