Move and Worship Together as a Family

November 1, 2025

I love dancing. I’m one of those women who dance barefoot in my kitchen. One of my favorite times to dance is early in the morning. I have a playlist of morning worship songs that I turn on, and then I spend time worshiping God with my body and my voice (and since my kids magically wake up the moment I do, I don’t even have to be quiet). This time with God sets the mood for the rest of the day, as I imagine other parents feel about their morning coffee and devotions.

There are so many physical ways that we can commune with God. If dancing isn’t your thing, I encourage you to try some of the other ones out with your children so they can have the fullest possible relationship with their Creator. To get you started, here are a few different ways that you and your children can worship God with your entire bodies:

• kneeling in prayer (Psalm 95:6)
• laying hands on a person (James 5:14)
• standing, clapping (Psalm 47:1)
• closing eyes, raising hands (1 Timothy 2:8)
• washing feet (John 13:5-14)
• bowing heads
• crying
• folding hands
• taking communion

Wriggling Reverently

We need to be reverent when we talk to God with our bodies, which doesn’t necessarily mean being solemn and silent. It means deep admiration, love, or respect for someone. When people revere sports teams or singers, they are seldom quiet. They scream and dance, hug each other, cheer, clap, and cry. When children are squirmy when they pray or bouncy when they’re singing in church, that is okay.

Teach the difference between reverent wriggling and distracted squirming. Here are three tips to help them learn to worship God with their whole bodies:

1. Give them focus aids. Kids use fidget toys in schools to help them focus on their work. Let them use these toys while praying, too. Want a more spiritually focused fidget toy instead of a brightly colored bubble popper? Try prayer beads or a stone with a Bible verse written on it.
2. Set the mood. Remind your children that you are gathering to worship God together. As they dance, clap, pray, and praise God, they focus on him alone as if God is the only one watching.
3. Practice. This is a fun one. Let children practice communicating with God with their whole bodies. They can pray while kneeling with their hands raised high, dance to songs that adore God, and talk to God through acts of loving service.

There are many different ways God has created us to praise him. Some are loud, like dancing, shouting, and hitting cymbals together (Psalm 71:23, Psalm 150:1-6), and some are quiet (Matthew 6:6). Don’t be scared to find out which ones are your favorites and which ones your kids love. God will be glad to meet you there.