Teaching Kids How To Trust God in Difficult Times: A 5-Day Hands-On Faith Lesson for Families

Some weeks, life just feels heavy.
Maybe your child is having a hard time at school.
Maybe you’re juggling too much and wondering if Heaven even notices.
Or maybe you’re simply longing for peace — the kind that seeps in quietly when the world feels loud.

Those are “Liberty Jail” moments — the kind that Joseph Smith experienced when he cried, “O God, where art Thou?”
And just like Joseph, we can help our kids learn that God is always near, even in the darkest seasons.

This 5-day, hands-on faith lesson is built to help families feel that truth through story, play, and gentle spiritual connection.
You can use it anytime: during hard transitions, a Come, Follow Me week, or as a simple rhythm to bring light back into your home.

🌤 Day 1 – When Life Feels Dark, God Sends Light

Focus: Predicting + Sorting

Read Together:
Choose a story about someone who faced hard things — Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, Job, Nephi, or even a personal family story.

Talk About:

“When things feel dark or unfair, does that mean God has left us?”
“What are some ways He still sends light?”

Activity – Light & Dark Sort:
Gather photos or objects (flashlight, candle, storm cloud, sunshine, stars).
Sort them into two groups: ☀️ Light Things and 🌑 Dark Things.
Then talk about how even in the dark pile, there’s still something — stars, moonlight, hope.

💬 Extension:
Sit in the dark with a flashlight.
Take turns sharing ways God has helped you feel His light — even in small ways.

🔤 Day 2 – G Is for God Is Near

Focus: Letters + Gratitude Counting

Craft – “G Is for God” Page:
Draw a big outline letter G.
Decorate it with yellow tissue paper, torn paper, or paint to look like light.
Repeat together:

“God is near. He shines in my heart.”

Counting Activity – 10 Blessings Game:
Give each child 10 objects (coins, pom-poms, cereal pieces).
Have them name 10 blessings — one for each object — and “give” one back to God as an offering of thanks.

💛 Lesson tie-in: When we count blessings, we start to notice how close He really is.

💪 Day 3 – Heavy Things Make Us Stronger

Focus: Predicting + Measuring

Object Lesson:
Hand your child a backpack or small weight.
Ask: “Is it heavy? What happens if you keep holding it for a while?”
Then explain that just like our muscles grow when we lift heavy things, our faith grows when we keep trusting God through hard things.

Activity – Faith Growth Chart:
Tape paper to a wall and mark your child’s height.
Say, “You’re growing on the outside — but your spirit grows too when you practice patience and faith.”

Optional Craft:
Draw a heart lifting weights labeled “Faith Muscles.”
Write one “hard thing” on each dumbbell and color it as a symbol of strength.

⚡ Day 4 – Stay Connected to God’s Power

Focus: Letters + Connection

Analogy:
Show a lamp plugged into the wall.
Ask: “What happens when we unplug it?”
Then talk about how prayer, kindness, and scriptures keep us “plugged in” to God’s power.

Activity – Power Connection Path:
Tape simple pictures (heart, praying hands, scriptures, smile, family) across the floor.
Use string or yarn to connect them like a “spiritual circuit.”
Each time your child connects one, say:

“When we choose love (or prayer, service, gratitude), God’s power flows through us!”

💬 Family Reflection:
“What helps you feel plugged in to God’s love?”

🕊 Day 5 – Cheerfully Do What Lies in Our Power

Focus: Recall + Retell + Service

Scripture Thought:

“Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power.” — Doctrine & Covenants 123:17

Activity – Peace Jar Hearts:
Set out a clear jar and paper hearts.
Each time someone brings peace — helps, forgives, comforts, prays — they write it on a heart and drop it in.
By the end of the week, read them aloud and notice how your jar of love has filled.

Easy Wrap-Up Craft – “Small Things” Collage:
Cut or draw pictures of small things that make a big difference (a seed, a light switch, a smile).
Glue them around the words:

“Even small things matter to God.”

Closing Thought:
Remind your kids that we can’t always control what happens, but we can control how we respond — cheerfully, faithfully, and with trust that God is near.

Why This Lesson Matters

When life feels dark, kids need more than reassurance — they need experiences that help them see God’s presence for themselves.

Every candle lit, every act of kindness, every paper heart dropped into a jar is a tangible reminder that light wins.
And as they learn to find God in hard times, they start to recognize Him in the easy ones too.