Lasting Values - Tools for Building Up the Next Generation of Pro-Lifers Call me old fashioned or behind the times but I am (and will always be) an enthusiastic proponent of preserving children's innocence for as long as possible. Too often nowadays children are denied the opportunity to "just be kids" during their fleeting childhood and are instead inundated with messaging that encourages them to grow up, act years beyond their actual age, or introduces them to mature themes long before they are actually ready for that exposure. In fact, I would argue that there are no true kids anymore. Instead we have generations of up-and-coming mini adults who haven't been afforded the luxury of being naive yet genuine. Again, call me an old-fogey, but I think this is a great loss and one that should be corrected if only to grant kids the ability to rediscover simplicity again. To that end (though some Pro-Lifers may argue the point), children shouldn't be exposed to the brutality of abortion until they are mature enough to face it intentionally. Just as parents should protect their children from death by abortion they should also shield their children from confronting the practice at a young age, as that responsibility falls to the adults who can actively combat it. However, there is a difference between protection and the building up of values (the latter of which can be presented in age appropriate terms).
Kids don't need to watch Unplanned at seven-years-old. Images of aborted babies is something they should not have to comprehend at eleven. And books like The Walls Are Talking and Subverted are reads that are as inappropriate as having a child swallow Crime and Punishment "because they have to understand its themes eventually." In short, there is a proper age for everything and childhood is not the time to tackle the issue of abortion. The correct time will arrive eventually and when it does patience and wisdom should be applied, but only then. However, there are plenty of resources that exist to develop a care for life (as a whole) which is a suitable lesson for children and one that can inform deeper belief systems when the time is right.
Storks: Adoption, Friendship, Adventure - in this vibrant animated comedy that's perfect for kids of all ages, a hapless orphan and an anxious stork team up the deliver an accidental baby to a little boy who urgently wants a sibling. Though storks don't deliver babies anymore and the journey is fraught with peril (namely scheming bosses, strangely collaborative wolves, and a crazy stork with a connection to Orphan Tulip) as time passes the unlikely due find themselves deeply devoted to their charge and their mission of giving her a family. They might not be mailmen in the traditional sense but their package is precious and well worth the snow, rain, heat, and gloom they must go through to deliver her. Exploring themes of belonging and found family, Storks is an adorable and deeply touching promotion of Pro-Life adjacent values. It's easy for kids to understand and is a wonderful option for a family movie night - alla family values.
When You Were Inside Mommy and Before Your Birthday: Science, Love, Understanding - often produced to explain a new sibling to young children these two picture books are more profound than they outwardly seem. Through their stunning illustrations and simple yet accurate words both books follow a baby's growth from conception to birth while easily explaining the process for little ears. Before Your Birthday is particularly inspiring as it credits the entire birth process to God early on and depicts several different delivery techniques (hospital, C-section, and homebirth), enabling parents to personalize their child's understanding of pregnancy, delivery, and birth. Heartbeat Press also highly recommends Pro-Life Kids! and My Birthday, Jesus' Birthday as stellar Pro-Life kids books and wholeheartedly promotes teaching kids how life begins and why it should be respected.
Pregnant Mother Anatomy Puzzle: Education, Art, Reverence - offered by companies like Genius Games, beautifully crafted and reverent toys like this act as natural teaching tools and early science education for littles. Getting to put together a depiction of the delicately interwoven connection between mother and child exposes kids to just how unique and powerful that link is and can also give them a reference point that will quickly come to mind when interacting with pregnant women and their children, promoting immediate insight.
Pregnancy Resource Center Clothing Collection: Hard Work, Empathy, Accomplishment - perfectly timed as the weather gets colder this kid friendly activity acts as an easy contribution to Pro-Life work. Round up those items that your kids don't wear anymore, search them for fixable stains and rips, drop them off at your local pregnancy resource center, and impress upon your kids the importance of paying good fortune forward. There is always a need for donations and the entire experience is a great lesson. No hands are too little to help, every action is worthwhile, and sharing can be fun.
Kids hold great potential, especially when it is promoted well and early, and are far more preceptive of right and wrong than most adults. Nurturing an early respect for life should be a non-negotiable part of the Pro-Life movement as doing so quite literally builds the future of the movement and cultivates a much needed reverence for life as a whole.
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