How to Pick the Right Devotional for Your Kid

There's No "One Size Fits All" Devotional — And That's the Point

Most dads, when they decide they want to start doing devotions with their kids, do the same thing. They google "kids devotional," click the first result, buy it, and then discover it's written for a children's Sunday school class in 1987. It's too churchy, the kid checks out on day two, and the whole thing quietly dies.

That's not a you problem. That's a wrong-tool problem.

Picking the right devotional isn't complicated, but it does require about sixty seconds of intentional thought. You need to ask two questions: What is my kid's age and stage? And: What's actually going on in their life right now? When those two things match the content, something different happens. They lean in. They ask questions. They come back the next night without you having to drag them.

I built Hosted Devotions with 18 different series because I kept running into situations — with my own boys and in conversations with other dads — where the right series wasn't a general one. It was a specific one. A boy who just became a big brother needs something different than a kid who's struggling with anxiety. A 10-year-old needs something different than a 6-year-old. Here's how to find what your kid actually needs.

Start With Age

Age is the first filter. Not because older kids can't read simpler material, but because the conversation style has to match where your kid is developmentally. A 5-year-old needs wonder and story. A 12-year-old needs honesty and a little challenge.

Ages 4–7: Wonder and Foundation

Little kids are concrete thinkers. They're not ready for abstract theology, and they don't need it. What they need are big, clear, beautiful ideas delivered in a voice they trust — yours. The best series for this age group are the ones that answer the big questions simply and plant something that grows over time.

• Who Made Me — Perfect for the stage when every sentence out of your kid's mouth ends in "but why?" This series walks through creation, identity, and purpose in language a 5-year-old can actually hold onto. If your kid has started asking where God lives or why God made spiders, start here.
• Let Me Tell You About God — A gentle, story-forward introduction to who God is. No assumptions, no church background required. Great for ages 5–8, and especially useful if you're not sure how to introduce the concept of God without making it feel like a religion lesson.
• You Are My Son — This one is about identity. Who is my kid, in God's eyes? Worth doing with any boy between 5 and 9 who's at the age where he's starting to figure out who he is. Expect some slow moments and some moments where your kid suddenly goes very quiet.
• You Are My Daughter — The daughter equivalent of You Are My Son. Same foundation, built for girls. If you have a daughter between 5 and 9, this is a natural first series.

Ages 7–11: Situations and Challenges

This is the age where life starts happening to your kid. New school. New social dynamics. A sibling arrives. A friend is mean. Anxiety shows up. This is the age group where situation-specific series shine — because they meet your kid exactly where they are.

• Big Brother Devotional — If your son just became a big brother, or is about to, this is the one. I wrote this series because I watched my oldest navigate becoming a big brother and realized there was nothing out there that took that transition seriously. It's about responsibility, identity, and what it means to lead someone smaller than you.
• New Kid Devotional — Moving to a new school, a new neighborhood, or a new city? This series is built for that exact feeling — being the outsider, trying to figure out where you fit, wondering if anyone will like you. It's not cheerful fluff. It's honest and it helps.
• Worry Warriors — Anxiety in kids is more common than most dads realize, and this age group is peak onset. This series talks about worry directly — what it is, where it comes from, and what to do with it. It's practical without being clinical.
• Learning to Handle Big Feelings — Anger, sadness, jealousy, frustration. If your kid has big emotional reactions and you're not sure how to talk about that in a spiritual context, this series gives you the framework. Good for ages 6–10.
• Bully-Proof Devotional — If your kid has encountered a bully, is afraid of bullies, or — and this matters — if you're worried your kid might be the one doing the bullying, this series addresses it from both angles. It teaches confidence, kindness, and what to actually do.

Ages 10–14: Depth and Character

Tweens push back. That's not a sign the devotionals aren't working — it's a sign your kid is developing exactly the way they should. The key with this age group is to pick series that respect their intelligence. They can smell condescension from a mile away. They want something that treats them like they're almost grown, because they kind of are.

• Legacy (14-Day) — This is the most substantial series in the library. It's built for older kids and dads who want to go deeper — talking about what kind of man or woman your kid wants to become, what they'll leave behind, and what they believe. Plan for longer conversations. That's not a bug; it's the whole point.

Now Filter by Situation

Age gets you in the right neighborhood. Situation gets you to the right door. Think about what's actually happening in your kid's world right now — not what you wish was happening, not the idealized version of their childhood. What's real?

Here's a quick situation map:

• New sibling arriving or recently arrived → Big Brother Devotional
• Moved to a new school or city → New Kid Devotional
• Struggling with worry or anxiety → Worry Warriors
• Having big emotional outbursts → Learning to Handle Big Feelings
• Bullying (being bullied or bullying others) → Bully-Proof Devotional
• Big identity questions — "Who am I? Does God love me?" → You Are My Son or You Are My Daughter
• Starting fresh with faith basics → Let Me Tell You About God
• Questions about creation and purpose → Who Made Me
• Ready for deeper character work (tweens) → Legacy

The full library has 18 series covering topics ranging from courage to kindness to purpose to faith foundations. If you're not sure where to start, browse the full library — each series page has a clear description of who it's for and what it covers.

What If Nothing Fits?

Sometimes your kid's situation is specific enough that no off-the-shelf series feels exactly right. Maybe it's a combination of things — anxiety plus a new school plus a hard family season. Maybe your kid has questions that don't fit neatly into one topic.

That's what the Create Your Own feature is for. You give it the details about your kid — age, what they're going through, what you want the series to focus on — and it builds a custom series for exactly that situation. I didn't want Hosted Devotions to be a library you browse and hope something fits. I wanted it to actually fit.

If you're curious about how to put a consistent routine around whichever series you choose, this guide on starting bedtime devotions walks through the whole setup from scratch. And if you're still working out what makes a devotional actually worth reading (vs. the ones that die on day three), check out the breakdown on keeping devotions engaging for kids.

One Final Thought

Don't overthink this. Pick a series that roughly matches your kid's age and whatever situation feels most relevant right now. Start tonight. You can always switch series after you finish one — and most dads do. Once your kid gets into the rhythm, they'll start asking for the next one.

That's the whole game. Get the first series right enough that they want the second one.