For parents, there’s a lot to teach kids, from how they can make a difference in politics to the beauty of faith traditions worldwide. To help preschool and kindergarten-aged children learn about the traditions and rituals of numerous religions, Reverend Vicki Michela Garlock, Ph.D., penned ABCs of the World’s Religions. This non-devotional book is one parents can learn from with their kids. In addition to the book, how can parents talk with their kids about different religions? Vicki answers this question below.
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Starting a conversation with kids about different religions (Guest post)
We all know the old saying, “Never talk about politics or religion.” But, as most parents know, avoiding a topic is practically a guarantee that your kids will bring it up! Kids often seem keenly aware of our insecurities – regularly unearthing them like a long-lost toy in the back of the closet.
But, there are many reasons why you might actually want to start a conversation about religion with your kids. Perhaps you drive by a Buddhist center every day on the way to school. Maybe you are getting ready to travel to a Muslim-majority country. Maybe your kids are asking questions about current events in the Middle East. You might also be part of a multifaith family. Or maybe you just enjoy raising kids who are curious about the world around them.
Regardless of your motivation, here are 5 tips for starting a conversation about different religions with kids.
1. Consider their motivation
When my son was in 2nd grade, he came home from school and asked if we could play the “Christmas dice game.” Yeah, I was lost, too. My mind raced as I tried to recall the different games our family had played at Christmastime – Uno? Life? Yahtzee?
It took a minute, but, as it all turned out, a Jewish mom had visited their classroom to talk about Hanukkah. She read a book about how Jewish families celebrate the holiday and then showed them how to play dreidel. My son assumed there must be a Christmas version of the game, and dice were the closest thing he could conjure up.
He had definitely learned that there are different religions, that Hanukkah usually happens around the same time as Christmas, that both holidays are joyful occasions with delicious foods and special gifts, and that many people celebrate with family. For a 7-year-old, he knew a lot! And once I knew all that, it was pretty easy to answer his query: There is no Christmas dice game that is analogous to playing dreidel, which is one of the things that makes Hanukkah unique!
Sometimes, the source of our kids’ curiosity is obvious. A young Sikh boy in school wears a patka. A Muslim friend who spends the night doesn’t eat bacon with his eggs in the morning. A family pet dies, prompting conversations about what happens after death. But sometimes it’s worth asking what, exactly, they’ve got on their minds. I’ve been surprised more than once!
2. Focus on the tangibles
Fifty years ago, Huston Smith wrote the now-classic book The World’s Religions. It focused heavily on beliefs, and we are still living under that shadow. In my experience, kids don’t care that much about beliefs. More importantly, every major religious tradition comprises a wide range of intrafaith belief systems. This is to be expected with over 2 billion Christians, almost 2 billion Muslims, and over 1 billion Hindus!
Kids (and many adults, too) are much more interested in aspects of religion that we can experience with our senses – what holydays people celebrate, what people wear, where people worship, what people eat, and what rituals they perform. When you look at different religions using this type of lens, it becomes very easy to identify both the similarities and the differences. For example, in my recent kids’ book, ABCs of the World’s Religions, A is for Altar. On the left-hand page, I use a rhyming couplet to introduce the concept. On the right-hand page, I explore how altars show up in various religious traditions.
This approach also works for rituals (F is for Fasting), head-coverings (H is for Hijab), and sharing with those in need (Z is for Zakat). It recently received a Silver Award from the Nonfiction Authors Association.
3. Match your kids’ cognitive abilities
When my daughter was in 6th grade, she completed a World Religions unit in her Social Studies class. The homework chart asked the students to identify the founder of each religion. I said, “Well, that’s a little difficult. What did you put for Christianity?” She said, “Jesus.” And I said, “Well some people might say it was really the Apostle Paul. But OK. Jesus probably makes the most sense. What did you put for Judaism?” And she said, “Moses.” And I said, “Well, it’s called an Abrahamic religion for a reason. Are you sure you’re not supposed to put Abraham?” And that’s when she replied, as she got up from the dinner table, “Yep. That’s exactly why I didn’t ask for your help.” Clearly, an undergraduate course in world religions was not necessary for filling out a middle school outline!
This is especially true when it comes to news headlines. Many headlines about the protests in the U.S. focus on pro-Palestinian vs. pro-Israeli factions. But the situation in the Middle East is extremely complicated. Historical claims to the land in that region go back for millennia. Several adjacent countries – including Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria – are influencing political policy (or the lack thereof). And the global military-industrial complex is working overtime.
If your teenager is taking AP Gov., this level of discussion might be warranted. Otherwise, it might make sense to talk in more general terms – about the importance of working for peace, about the fact that we’re all living on this planet together, about the hard work of listening to viewpoints different from your own, and about practicing compassion.
4. Make use of readily available resources
It’s true that your 6th-grader doesn’t need an undergraduate World Religions course, but neither do you! There are lots of resources out there that provide straightforward information with no attempts to convert. A few of my favorites, which offer free resources for parents and educators, include:
- Learning for Justice – Religion
- Journeys in Film
- Religion Matters
- Islamic Networks Group – Resources for Educators
Many published kids’ books also take a “non-devotional” perspective, but it can be hard to tell from the brief descriptions found on websites and back covers. This link takes you to my Book Recommendations page. For each major world religion, I offer my non-devotional picks for the most popular holydays. These books can often be found in your local library.
Another hurdle when it comes to published kids’ books is that each book deals with only a single holyday or a single religion. If we really want to bridge long-accepted religious divides, then kids need ways to explore both similarities and differences across different faith traditions. My latest release, ABCs of the World’s Religions, and my previously-published books are all designed to do exactly that.
We All Have Sacred Spaces (Eaton Press, 2020) explores the interiors and exteriors of worship spaces in seven different traditions (Indigenous, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism). This book received a gold award from the Nonfiction Authors Association and a Bronz “IPPY” award in the Juvenile/Young Adult Multicultural Nonfiction category.
Embracing Peace: Stories from the World’s Faith Traditions (Eaton Press, 2021) present 16 different peace-related stories from 8 different traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American, Sub-Saharan African, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism).
There aren’t many other books that take the same multifaith approach, but these are a few that are out there:
5. Stay cool when talking to kids about religion
And most importantly, don’t sweat it! You talk to kids about all sorts of difficult topics – racism, death, divorce, sexism, and your less-than-exemplary relatives. Take a deep breath and find your center. You don’t need all the answers. You are allowed to share your own uncertainty.
And exploring together is often one of the best ways to connect. Before you know it, your kids will be showing you how to search for incredibly interesting, religion-related content on TikTok.
About author Vicki Garlock
Vicki is the founder of World Religions for Kids, a company dedicated to improving religious literacy in children and their adults. She is also an award-winning kids’ book author and the blog editor for Religion Matters.
She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology with dual specialties in neuroscience and cognitive development and served as a full-time college professor for over a decade before moving into her multifaith work. Vicki regularly works with educators, parents, and faith communities. She and her husband live in Asheville, NC, and have two almost-grown children. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter/X or TikTok (@learnreligions).
How do you handle answering unexpected questions from your child about different religions? In what ways do you encourage curiosity and open-mindedness when it comes to religious beliefs with your family?
Sounds like a really good book. Children are very curious, and they adore rituals of all sorts!
For years, I taught Sunday School at our Unitarian-Universalist church and our focus was always on the similarities of the world’s religions, those things we often call universal truths. Look closely, and the messages are the same.
Dorothy, I LOVE that you bring up this concept of universal truths. The core beliefs. What unites us. Thank you for such an amazing comment!
I truly believe we all have a lot more in common than not! People seem intent on magnifying the differences these days.
It’s perspective and I prefer your positive one!
Thanks!!! 💕🩷💕
💗🥂🙌