![dad blessing_thumb[4]](http://saintedwardparish.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dad-blessing_thumb4-150x150.jpg "dad blessing_thumb[4]")
Teaching children about the Holy Trinity is a dilemma for parents! How God can be one yet three, how the Trinity can be separate but the same is one of the deepest mysteries of our faith. Some will say, “We’re not supposed to understand it.”
That answer isn’t going to cut it with a curious child. He or she wants an answer, in black and white, and they want it now!
Here are some ways you can illustrate the Trinity to children of all ages.
Shamrock Activity
take your child outside to a grassy field and let them look for clover. The three-leafed clover, or shamrock, is the way that St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.
Back in the house, give your child a green construction paper shamrock and have them write “God” on the stem, and “Father,” “Son” and “Holy Spirit” on each of the three leaves. On the back, have them glue a printed quote (most likely legendary) from St. Patrick: “Even the plants of the field tell about God. The shamrock has three leaves but only one stem. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three gods, but one God.”
The Triangle
Draw a triangle on a piece of paper. The three points are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Explain that when God sent his Son, Jesus, to us and when he sends the Holy Spirit to us every day, he sends part of himself – part of the triangle as a whole – and not just a separate entity.
The Apple
Cut an apple down the middle from top to bottom. Show your child that an apple is skin, flesh and seeds – three parts. Without any one of them, it wouldn’t be an apple. The Trinity, too, works together as one.
Three Candles
Light three candles. Notice that there are three separate flames. Now, with help from another set of hands, tilt the tops of the candles so that the flames come together as one flame. Together they are one flame, yet three separate flames.
Here is a puzzle for you and your child: Trinity_Sunday
and A Word Search Trinity Sunday Word Search
We must be careful that as we teach children the Trinity we aren’t teaching them false doctrine. Many of the object lessons that are used to teach the Trinity are actually early church heresies.
When we give kids the impression that they should be able to understand everything about God we set them up for failure. No wonder they begin to doubt truth as they reach their teen years and early 20ties. We fooled them as children to think that they could understand everything – we “lied” to them.
I agree we need to be careful. Young children need concrete examples. They do not think in the abstract. By middle school,we need to deepen their understanding…with each age bracket that understanding is enlarged and we can speak in the abstract. We can only do so by building on lived experienced.
Thank you for your comments