Spirit Message of the Moment for KIDS! Tips for Pagan Parents

Raising Pagan Children
As more people embrace earth-based spiritual paths, it’s becoming more common to find Pagans who are rearing children in their faith. Learn tips and tricks for raising Pagan kids, and living as a Pagan family — how can you celebrate the Sabbats in a kid-friendly fashion, deal with teachers who may be insensitive to your beliefs, and raise well-adjusted kids in a non-mainstream religion?

How to Keep Your Kids Included in Pagan Practice
As the modern Pagan movement progresses and evolves, the Pagan community has grown to encompass people of all age levels. Those who discovered Paganism as teens or college students two or three decades ago are now raising their own children, and so the demographic within the Pagan community is constantly changing. It’s not uncommon at all to meet families in which one or both parents are Pagans or Wiccans, and they may have kids who follow a variety of religious paths.

One of the questions that arises, though, is that of how to include children in Pagan practice. After all, it’s not as though there’s a Pagan version of Sunday school for us to send our kids off to. Don’t worry, though — there are a number of different ways you can include your kids in your Pagan beliefs, and get them involved. Although the type of activity you do with them may vary based upon age levels, you can always find some way to incorporate Pagan values and beliefs into your kids’ lives.

Activity:
Do a hands-on nature project. Take a hike in the woods, gather found objects like pinecones and fallen twigs. Bring them home and put them together in a glass vase or some other centerpiece.
Teaching moment:
Talk about the cycles of the season, and how all of nature is tied together. Depending on the time of year, discuss the phases of life, death, and rebirth in the natural world.

Activity:
Make a wand. Even a small child can decorate a stick with glitter.
Teaching moment: Use this opportunity to help your child learn about directing energy. Help him or her visualize energy as something they can control using the wand to direct it.

Activity:
Create a felt board. Cut out shapes of Pagan symbols, gods and goddesses of your tradition, or magical tools out of scraps of craft felt, and help your child place them on the board.
Teaching moment:
Encourage imagination — your child can use the felt board and pieces to illustrate a story of her own about the deities, magic, or the world in general.

Activity:
Let your kids have an altar. Allow your child to create an altar space of his own, with the gods and goddesses of your family’s tradition. If you don’t follow a specific path, let him put things on their altar such as found items, natural goodies, and items of comfort.
Teaching moment:
Letting your child have his own altar shows them that their needs are valued as much as anyone else’s in the family. It gives them a space that is private and sacred of their very own.

Activity:
School-age children can often participate in rituals, if they have a decent attention span. You know your child better than anyone, and if you think she is capable of taking a ritual role, then encourage that.
Teaching moment:
This helps your child develop a feel for ritual procedure, as well as proper behavior in a ritual setting. Equally important, it lets her know that her participation in family activities is valued.

Activity:
Encourage your child to learn about the deities of your family’s tradition. There are countless books about the mythology and legends of the Greeks, the Celts, the Romans, the Egyptians, and others. Keep a good library of Pagan-friendly books on hand, and spend some time reading together as well.
Teaching moment: You’re never too young to do a little research. Giving kids the tools to read and grow can’t hurt at all, and it allows them to take some ownership of their spiritual education.

Activity:
If your teen is up to the task, ask him to write a ritual of his own, with only as much help as he needs. Teenagers are surprisingly inventive, and can come up with some amazing ideas. Pick a Sabbat or other event, and have your teen create a ceremony that the whole family can participate in.
Teaching moment:
Not only does this encourage creative thinking, it helps develop leadership skills. It’s never too soon to get a chance at being in charge.

Activity:
Kids of any age can get involved with Sabbat-themed craft ideas. Try some of our different Sabbat crafts to celebrate the ever-changing Wheel of the Year, and use these to decorate your home and altar.
Teaching moment:
By doing hands-on projects related to the various Sabbats, kids can get a better feel for what the Pagan celebrations really mean. Depending on your tradition, incorporate craft projects into stories, legends, and mythology.
Finally, remember that the best way to set a good example of Pagan practice for your kids is to show them yourself. If you want to stress values such as being kind to others, respecting the earth, and living a magical life each day, then do so. Your kids will see your behavior and emulate it themselves.

Ten Activities for Pagan Kids
For many Pagans and Wiccans, it’s hard to find kid-friendly activities that celebrate our spiritual path. Believe it or not, sharing your beliefs with your kids is easier than you think. After all, you’re the parent, so you can lead by example. Show your children what you do, and they’ll emulate you in their own way. Teaching by doing is the key. By living a Pagan life, you’ll show your kids what it means to be Pagan or Wiccan or whatever your family’s path is. These very simple activities are easy enough that you can do them with nearly any child, so have fun with them!

1. Make a Wand
What’s not to love about making your own wand? Take your kids out in the woods for a nature walk, and ask them to keep an eye on the ground for the “right” stick. The wand should be about the same length as the child’s forearm. Once your child has a stick, bring it home and decorate it with flowers, ribbons, glitter, even crystals. Hold a consecration ceremony so your child can claim the wand as his or her own.

2. Drumming
Everyone likes to drum, and the louder the better. If you don’t have a professional drum, don’t worry — that’s why the gods made coffee cans. Let your kids experiment with containers of different sizes and shapes, and see which ones make the most interesting sounds. Fill an empty water bottle with dried beans to make an impromptu rattle. Two thick dowels tapped together make a percussion instrument as well. Have a family drum circle night, and let everyone bang away to raise energy.

3. Meditation
Sure, the idea of teaching a toddler to meditate sounds crazy, but you’d be surprised what kids can do if they’re interested. Even if it’s just two minutes lying in the grass looking at trees, it’s not a bad idea to start your youngsters meditating early. By the time they get to be adults with stressful lives, meditation will be second nature to them. Use breathing as a way of teaching counting to small children. Elementary-school age kids can usually handle a ten- to fifteen-minute guided meditation.

4. My Very Own Altar
If you have a family altar, that’s great! Encourage your kids to have an altar of their own in their bedrooms — this is the place they can put all the things that are special to them. While you may not want a tribe of Ninja Turtles on your family altar, if your son says they’re his Personal Guardians, give him his own place to put them! Add to the collection with interesting things your child finds on nature walks, shells from trips to the beach, family photos, etc. Be sure that young children don’t have candles or incense on their altar.

5. Moon Crafts
Kids love the moon, and they love to wave at it and say hello to it (my oldest claimed the moon as her own when she was five). If your family does any sort of moon rituals, such as an Esbat Rite or New Moon ceremony, have the kids decorate a mirror with lunar symbols, or make a Moon Braid to hang in a window, and use it on your altar during family moon celebrations. Bake a batch of Moon Cookies to use during Cakes & Ale ceremonies.

6. God’s Eyes
These are an easy decoration to make and can be adapted seasonally, simply by using different colors. All you need is a pair of sticks and some yarn or ribbon. Make a God’s Eye in yellows or reds for solar celebrations, green and brown for an earth ceremony, or in the colors of your family’s household deities. Hang them on a wall or place on an altar.

7. Salt Dough Ornaments
Salt dough is one of the easiest things in the world to make, and you can create just about anything from it. You can follow our easy Salt Dough recipe, and use it with cookie cutters to make your own Sabbat ornaments. After your ornaments have cooled, paint them and decorate with your favorite Pagan and Wiccan symbols.
After you’ve painted them, seal them with clear varnish. If you’re planning to hang them, poke a hole through the ornament BEFORE baking them. Then after you’ve varnished them, run a ribbon or thread through the hole.

8. Wheel of the Year Journal
Get your child a blank notebook, and have them keep track of the patterns of nature. Note the dates that the first buds appear in spring, when birds begin to migrate, and when the weather changes. If your child is old enough to surf the Internet, have him predict the weather for the next few days and then compare it to your local weather forecast — and then see who’s right! As the Wheel of the Year turns, your child can help you prepare for upcoming Sabbat celebrations.

9. Mythic Tales
Many parents aren’t really sure how to incorporate their Pagan beliefs into their children’s upbringing, so story time is a great way to do this. Teach your child the myths and legends of your pantheon. Storytelling is an age-old tradition, so why not use it to educate your kids about what you believe? Tell them tales of gods and heroes, fairies, and even your own ancestors.

10. Singing and Chanting
There are a ton of great songs out there for Pagan kids, and most of them are really simple. You can make up your own with some simple rhymes and a little bit of ingenuity. Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and celebrate the gifts of the earth. If you want to find pre-recorded music for your kids, read some of the Pagan and Wiccan magazines; there are nearly always ads for Pagan musicians and their work.

Recommended Reading for Pagan Parents
• Madden, Kristin: Pagan Parenting. Madden’s book focuses looks at the development of kids from birth onward. She includes tips on how to encourage your children’s psychic and magickal abilities, as well as teaching them rituals and meditation skills.
• Serith, Ceisiwr: The Pagan Family. Serith looks at raising a family in non-mainstream religions, and offers dozens of excellent suggestions on how to incorporate Pagan beliefs into day-to-day living. This book is presently out of print, but it pops up a lot on used-book lists, so keep an eye out for it.
• Starhawk: Circle Round – Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. Starhawk and fellow authors Anne Hill and Diane Baker include numerous ideas for each Sabbat, life milestones, and craft and recipe ideas. This book offers some excellent suggestions for families trying to instill Pagan beliefs into their children.

Excerpts from Patti Wigington

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