I wish I were more like a preschooler.

That thought comes to mind every time I watch children between two and five years old sing and dance to worship songs. Typically they just stand up and start dancing. No anxiety over whether or not they look cool, and no cares if anyone is dancing the way they are—just uninhibited movement with the music. In fact, kids in these ages aren't flustered even when they don't know all the words to a song, they sing whatever they can at the top of their lungs and straight from their hearts. Preschoolers have plenty of capacity to authentically worship God.

Yes, I wish I were more like a preschooler; reaching up high toward God and singing His praises with my whole heart and soul. Even though you and I can't literally go back in age to join children in this age group, we can become very deliberate about the music we use to lead them in worship.

To start, let's agree that worship music for preschoolers is so much more than simply helping them work their wiggles out. Indeed, as we help young children build a foundation of simple truths, such as "God made me," "Jesus loves everyone," or "God wants me to obey," our approach should focus on helping kids express and reinforce those same truths through worship. Building from there, quality preschool music then combines concepts that children learn about God with how their young bodies and minds have developed. To choose music that helps preschoolers do this, our ministry searches for and writes songs with three key characteristics:

1. Directs them to God
Many songs for preschoolers focus strongly on motions for preschoolers to participate in, but have no mention of God. The song should teach them a simple truth about God, such as, "Jesus is My Friend," or the song should direct the children to worshipping a certain attribute about God, such as "God's love is good."

2. Child Targeted
Listen to the song to be targeted towards a preschooler in the following areas:

Lyrics
The lyrics should be vocabulary that preschoolers understand. Just as you would adapt language to tell them a Bible story, lyrics in music should be adapted as well. This will allow the child to fully understand what they are singing about.

Repetition
The songs lyrics should be heavily repeated in the chorus and verse. The repetition allows the child to know and predict what is going to happen next in the song. They are more successful and capable of participating in the song without prompts as well as more capable of remembering the song, when there is good repetition.

Tempo/Rhythm
The tempo and rhythm of the song should be slow and simple enough that the preschoolers can process and understand the lyrics. Preschoolers need time to figure out what do to with their bodies, what to say, and then time to do it.

Sound
The sound of the music should be simple enough for a preschooler to hear the beat and melody of the music. Many songs have a lot of noise throughout the song that discourages the preschooler from hearing the melody. Preschoolers don't need to sing a song that sounds like a difficult hip-hop tune. Fun and cool for a preschooler happens when he or she can participate in the song.

3. Purposeful Motions
Motions are important for a preschooler to learn the song. When the motions support the lyrics, the children are able to learn the song better. Motions also allow children to participate in the song on their own without necessarily learning all the words, since their body development tends to come easier than their vocabulary. Good motions do not distract from the lyrics and are large movements that repeat.

When we pick out worship songs designed for preschoolers, we won't see only the wiggles being released. We'll see them reaching up high with their whole heart and soul worshipping the God they love.

Kerri Mahla serves as the director of early childhood in Promiseland, the children's ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, and helped develop several preschool worship songs on the new CD "Reach Up High."

Copyright © 2006 Promiseland.

Read more from 'Programming and Teaching'

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