A Prayer for Children: Creativity and Patience

Partners in the garden of life

Creativity and patience go hand in hand in nature. A seed grows into a flower, plant, or tree; a tadpole into a frog; a caterpillar into a butterfly. These are all beautiful examples of the creative process.

But if nature came with a label it might read: Warning! High Level of Patience Required. Our lives are like that too. We may forget that patience is key to growth and unfolding. But what if instead of resisting the idea, we helped our children become patiently persistent?

As we tune in to nature, we also tune in to our own innate creativity and wisdom. It’s been found that by third grade, children begin scoring lower on creative assessments, and systematic learning and testing start taking precedence.

Creativity, patience, imagination, and play are superpowers that we mindfully want to help develop and nurture in our children. It’s up to us to keep the gifts of play and imagination present in our children’s lives.

Going for a walk—whether along the beach, through a forest, in our backyard, or simply around the block—provides the ability to connect with and explore the stages of life. Our children learn best through experience.

Children love games, and fostering a connection to nature has numerous benefits. Why not have an outdoor scavenger hunt? Allow them to taste, touch, see, hear, smell, and sense the world around them.

They can touch the bark of different trees, listen for birds chirping, see clouds passing through the sky, taste local honey, or smell different flowers. Ask them what they feel, see, or hear in their hearts.

Countless conversations can arise from each plant, creature, or puddle we encounter. The reality that the moon is always full and the sun is always shining, even when we can’t see them, provides an interesting way to talk about perception.

There is a universe of ideas to explore!

We will discover how patience is intertwined with creation—in nature and in our lives. Just as you don’t plant a seed and hurry it along to grow, we can’t pursue a creative endeavor and expect to reach desired results without time, practice, instruction, and development.

Encouraging children’s creativity, imagination, play, and patience helps them keep a “what’s possible” mentality, which is healthy soil for their gifts and talents to bloom.

A Prayer for Children’s Creativity and Patience

Taking a deep, centering breath, we become aware of our heart space, aware of the sun radiating its light and love, aware of the countless stars in the sky.

We dwell in awe of the infinite nature of life, remembering and recognizing that our children are part of this magnificent universe. Beautiful, perfect, whole, and complete in their human forms, their souls are as vast as the cosmos, connected to and through all of life.

We remember they are full of infinite potential and possibility. We see them blessed with the courage to create and the patience to trust the process.

A Shared Family Prayer for Creativity and Peace

I feel my connection to everything and everyone around me.

I know that love is the creative energy that dwells in all living things, including me.

I trust my ability to bring beauty, ingenuity, and peace to the world by being creative, patient, and persistent.

And so it is.

Together we affirm: