What can parents do to make their child interested in Krishna consciousness?
First, it is very important that the parents themselves be Krishna conscious. When one is Krishna conscious himself then one can think of many ways to give it to others.
The child can be put to bed and awakened to the accompaniment of Krishna bhajans or chanting of the holy names. Pictures of baby Krishna in the form of posters and calendars can adorn the walls of the child’s room. A Deity of baby Krishna may be gifted to the child so that the child befriends Krishna from his early life and spends more time in his ‘friend’s’ association as days pass by. Different festivals like dipotsava, pushyabhiseka can be celebrated which increase the child’s remembrance of the Lord. During the day, different pastimes of Krishna can be narrated to stimulate the child’s attraction for Krishna. Children can be supplied with different coloring books to help them paint and remember Krishna.(Rama Ramji, Pune)
I have a belief that children do not learn from what we speak, but from what we do. Thus, as parents we must lead our kin by example and not just by words.
I try to do this by chanting the holy name of Lord during my day-to-day activities viz. bathing, while waiting at some client’s reception etc. My wife and I haven’t watched television or films etc nor have we heard any film music since last five years. We have replaced this with hearing kirtanas, and bhajanas. Instead of reading newspapers or novels etc. we read Bhagavad-gita daily. Our children have become interested in Krishna consciousness naturally and are eager to attend programs with us. (Nainesh Varma, Ahmedabad.)