Paganism is a natural, healthy, and mindful way of life, and regular pagan routines promote physical & mental health as well as better development for your kids.

Your daily routines form a backbone for each and every day of your family, and children without routines have a harder time going through life.

Just like with all the other things we’ve been doing for millennia, scientists are gradually discovering and documenting the benefits of these old practices (I will include study links).

This post will help you understand why you need routines with little kids and give a few ideas for building routines with your children.

Benefits of routines for young children

There are countless well-documented benefits of routines for young children.

Physical health

The presence of routines in your kids’ life helps them maintain a healthy weight and level of physical activity.

Any physical training and development requires consistency.

When meals and training sessions come at the same time it’s hard to overeat or slack.

Mental health

Routines instill a sense of safety, proactivity, and independence (I know what to do next) in kids. They also minimize bad behavior, and with clear routines, there’s less room for things to go sideways.

In fact, the mental health benefits of having routines with your kids come from everything I list here.

Security and stability

Routines help structure the day for your kids, and even though most of our life is full of the unexpected and random, as it should be, the routines tie it all together.

This is especially important if you travel a lot or live an expat lifestyle.

No matter where you go with the kids, some parts of their day remain the same even in new settings, and that is comforting them and keeping them happier.

Anchoring to the flow of time better

With routines, your kids will understand time better.

There are fewer surprises and less frustration when they need to transition from activities.

When everything happens the same way and roughly at the same time, every day, young kids measure their day with routines.

Sibling relationships

Routines shared by everyone across the family help brothers and sisters be friendlier.

They create a fair environment with a certain amount of peer pressure to be doing good things together, and they give your kids topics for discussion when you are not present.

More bandwidth for the good stuff

This is one of the main benefits of routines for adults as well, and you will definitely notice it.

The less time your kids spend worrying what what they will do, wear, or eat next, the more resources they have for creative activities and growth.

The outside world is often chaos, and to effectively deal with that your inner circle daily life needs to be predictable, routined, and secure.

Pagan routine ideas for young kids

There are daily rituals and routines in absolutely every culture and religion.

I’ll share a few things that we do in our family to give you a Pagan perspective that is aimed at creating a healthier, proactive, and life-loving environment.

Sun salutation

Sun gazing within 15 minutes upon waking has been proven beneficial – it actually helps regulate sleep the following night, promotes melatonin production (it’s probably the most powerful immune system factor), and a ton of other things.

We say a short prayer to the Sun because it’s the giver of all Earthly life and growth.

Like all Pagan European prayers, ours consists of an address, a praise, and then a request. Keep your prayers short and simple and add things appropriate to each occasion.

Then we do a small set of stretching exercises, to wake up our legs, pelvises, backs, and shoulders. I may do a post on the morning routine later – you can use the Strength Side channel for amazing mobility and stretching ideas.

Prayers before meals

Before each meal we say a prayer thanking the Gods and our ancestors for having all we have, and we add things we’re proud of that day or things we hope for.

Saying thanks is important because it highlights the happy times of each day for the kids.

Saying any words while the food is already served (i.e. artificially delaying your meal while you already smell it) has a ton of health benefits. This practice stimulates digestion, releases more hunger hormones, and lets you be more mindful about eating.

Christians have been saying grace before meals forever, and obviously, it’s a custom common with any other culture and faith because it’s a foundational human thing.

Thanking places for hosting us

A big part of our native Slavic/Baltic animism is acknowledging the spirit and power of every place.

Wherever we come to spend time, we are leaving our thoughts, our words, our energy.

When we go to sacred places like forests, water springs, and mountain summits, we leave little gifts upon entering – could be gummy bears, coins, or anything else we value and want to share.

Whenever we leave a playground, or a picnic spot in a forest, or a beach – we say a quick thanks to the place.

Reading in turns

I read a lot as a kid (perhaps too much), but modern kids just can’t read. The books are gone from public spaces, and everyone is overhyped and moving through information too fast. Short-form videos are an absolute monstrosity for our minds and spirits.

As I was teaching my kids to read I found that the best way to do that is to sit down together and each read our their own book aloud. We listen to each other in turns, and it helps us bond and slow down. As a result, they get better at reading.

I pick Greek and Nordic myths and fairy tales, adventure stuff like Jack London, the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, our local authors, and so on. The books you read obviously need to be as closely related to European Paganism and our natural spirit as possible.

Bedtime routine

Falling asleep, especially falling asleep on time, is a huge problem in some families, but kids need a lot of sleep, so this one is important.

A bedtime routine is a must if you care about your kids.

I’ve developed a Pagan bedtime routine for my children that helps them relax, unload their daily emotional luggage, and tune in for a good night’s sleep.

Let me go over it to possibly give you some ideas, should be useful if you have trouble putting your kids to sleep on time.

First, have a candle burning nearby in the evening. Seeing real fire gives you a feeling of that cozy primordial calmness – and it’s been recently proven how good infrared light is for you.

When infrared light gets onto your skin, your body (the mitochondria in every cell) starts secreting melatonin which calms you down, prepares for sleep and boosts your immunity. It stimulates your lymphatic and cardiovascular system too (1, 2, etc.).

We start by reading – warm yellow topical light from a lamp with an incandescent lightbulb and a candle. The helps everyone ground, and unwind after all the screens and blue light, and the reading is actually fun.

Then the kids go to brush their teeth and wash themselves. I come in as they wash their feet and say a prayer to the Water – some local traditional chants thanking the water for flowing through our whole world and nourishing all life. I ask it to wash off anything bad and unnecessary off of my kids.

Then I put the kids into their beds, the room is totally dark except for the candle. We list the things we’re grateful for that day. This is an extremely powerful technique that I adopted years ago, and it’s the perfect antidote against depression, anxiety, and aimlessness.

After all that, we have a short “free microphone” session. The kids have a chance to ask any questions they have for me or each other – and sometimes I learn interesting stuff they forget otherwise.

Once that is done we say goodnight to the Fire and I put off the candle.

Be open to change

Your routines are not set in stone and may vary depending on what our current lifestyle is and the evolving physical and psychological needs of the kids. What matters is that you run every routine for enough time for it to become a routine.

When we go on vacations we invent location-specific routines that later add up to great memories. For instance, visiting the beach before sleep and saying goodnight to the sea, or them having tea together at a nearby cafe while waiting for me to get ready.

Every kid is different – so observe them and see what they like, and then help them design a backbone for their days.