everyday technology {for families}

today on my brain: parents, and empowering them to incorporate easy, simple, everyday spiritual practices into their families' lives. call me a broken record. or, super focused. i'll answer to either. 

today, a few ideas for encouraging parents to utilize technolgy in modeling faith every day. technology is here to stay, and already an everyday part of our children's lives, so why not encourage parents to incorporate it into faith practices? right. let's incorporate. and encourage. 

Digital Notebook {Noteability}: a digital notebook helps children regulary reflect on their faith. ask older children, "what does your faith look like today?" and encourage them to write their response, record a verbal reply, or insert an image into their digital notebook. ask younger children "what does jesus look like to you?" and encourage children to draw pictures. helping children get into the daily practice of reflecting on their faith is a great discipline, and using a digital notebook allows you to save, share, and store their replies for the future. 

Digital Bible {YouVersion}: utilizing a digital bible on your tablet or phone is the way to go. as a family, you can create a reading plan, highlight notes, and compare chapters in various versions. and, if your child as a phone he takes to school, he can continue reading throughout the day. the digital bible is a great way to share & experience the bible together as a family. 

Digital Prayer Notebook {Prayer Notebook}: keeping track of a family's prayers can be so difficult. but, no longer! i personally love the prayer notebook app -- it is really fantastic for tracking prayers, and setting time to pray each day. the prayer notebook app has a feature in which you can set it to prayer mode -- you set a timer, and your prayer requests appear on the screen. a perfect way for families to gather and pray together. 

Digital Music {Grand Piano}: many children are super musical, but too young to formally play an instrument. consider a digital instrument. encourage your child to create an original song for the family to listen to on the way to school in the morning that helps focus and give clarity for the day. or, during the evening, have a family time of worship. play your favorite worship song while encouraging each person to play along on a digital instrument. {ps: apply the same logic to any type of art a child is interested in. find a video, dance, poetry, or painting app that gives children the opportunity to create. ask them to create an element the family can use during a time of worship.}

Digital Games {JellyTelly}: find an online space where you can play games, watch videos, and simply have fun together as a family. i'm a fan of jellytelly, but really, anywhere that encourages laughing, playing, and enjoyment is good. for older kids, put them in charge of choosing the video and game for the family to play each day. have fun as family! 

technology is a great tool for families, and specifically for parents interested in modeling authentic, everyday spirituality. what tools would you add to this list?