Have you ever played with your kids in a sandbox? Kids love building sandcastles. But do you know what they love more? Knocking them down. Nothing makes my kids happier than watching me get “upset” as they smash whatever I’ve made.

Jesus compares our lives to a house and His teachings to a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). He says we will stand firm if we build our lives on Him, but we will crumble like a house built on sand if we don’t.

Unfortunately, the world loves smashing our faith. As our kids grow older, it will try to smash their faith too. As Christian parents, we must lay a solid foundation for our kids’ faith. We must lay a bedrock of Jesus’ teachings upon which their faith can develop and mature.

How do we do this? Going to church is a start. Taking your kids to church weekly certainly shores up their foundation in Christ. But beyond that, what else can we do?

Surprisingly, we have discovered several fun ways to foster our kids’ faith. Fun is rarely mentioned in discussions of Christian parenting. But children learn best when they’re having fun. It makes their faith enjoyable and memorable. And it makes our job easier because they want us to foster their faith.

Here are four fun ways we are fostering our kids’ faith:

Bible App
Our family just finished The Bible App for Kids. This free app is a digital storybook Bible. It has over 40 stories. Each is narrated, interactive, and includes an activity to help your kids remember it.

We read the Bible often as a family. This is our kids’ favorite version by far. When your two-year-old brings you the iPad and asks to read the Bible, you know it’s good!

AWANA Club
AWANA Clubs are offered by many Baptist churches. This program emphasizes Scripture memorization. Each child is given a handbook. It contains lessons to complete at home with Scriptures to memorize. For each Scripture, they receive “AWANA bucks” to spend on prizes. And they are awarded based on their progress in the handbook.

Our daughters participated in AWANA for the first time this year. They loved it! Each week’s meeting included worship and teaching, games and activities, and group time. There were also several special events. As a former pastor, believe me when I say AWANA is better than any other midweek program.

Church Camp
Our daughters will also attend church camp this summer. They will no doubt have fun and meet new friends. But church camp is more than that. It’s a time to detach from all distractions to connect with God in nature. It’s a time to hear His Word and reflect on our level of obedience.

The Holy Spirit uses camp in a special way. We hope He uses our daughters’ experience the same way He used ours – to produce faith and commitment to Jesus in their hearts.

Faith-Themed Attractions
Our family recently took a vacation to northern Kentucky. We visited the Ark Encounter. This full-size replica of Noah’s Ark recreates the experience of being onboard during the Flood. We also visited the Creation Museum. This museum recreates scenes from the Bible and houses exhibits that support its reliability.

Through these attractions, our kids experienced the Bible in a new way. We’re also interested in the Holy Land Experience. This attraction recreates Jerusalem in the first-century. Live actors perform scenes from Jesus’ life. Since it’s near Orlando, we hope to visit on our next Disney trip.

How are you fostering your kids’ faith? Share your thoughts with a comment below!