The fact is that I have no specific information, and this is the truth no faith honestly states.
You did not understand me but I thought, you would. That frustrated me and I used the wrong term "appreciation". I was talking about the un-specific objects in a household, either laid out or hanged on the walls. A kid cannot make anything of them, since it lacks the intellect at a young age (speaking of toddlers and pre-schools) to fully understand objects in an abstract way. When an object is not used as something practical, like a tea pot or a knife, which it will understand slowly but surely because its parents are using them daily, it will jus accept those objects as something normal but nothing what disturbs it in particular.
For the adult, a religious figurine or Jesus on the cross, has a specific meaning and in that sense I said "specific". For the child, it doesn't. Until it starts to ask questions.
You are right that when parents start wanting to explain their inner world to the child, they are going to fail since, for a kid, there is no God and there is no invisible entity to whom one can "talk". Adults make the mistake in wanting to explain these objects, way before the kid is ready for it, while it is enough to just have them there and use them in front of the kids eyes, like sitting down to pray (putting themselves in a meditative state) in the presence of that object.
These objects are just helpers to get into the posture of meditation/contemplation. The signs of religion are therefor made distinct from daily busy life, in order to make it easier for the adult to help him to get out of his usual habit into a more contemplative one. From my point of view, that is also, what churches are for. To interrupt the busy week with a contemplative Sunday morning. I am not of the notion that humans are all and always capable of being so disciplined, and if they are not able to sit down and take their times to reflect on other than daily tasks, they need the socially available space where everyone sits still.
It is the specific objects and, for example, table prayers, which will eventually catch the kids attention. Then it will start to ask why its mother or father do that and have these objects and what they are for.
Now, here comes the sensitive part and the skill of the parent how much information he shall give to a kid. And I agree, kids from pastors or priests are often rebellious because of the inability of the parent to let the kid come to its own conclusions but to interfere. The best thing, from my point of view, is to answer as little as possible or give very simple answers (appropriate to the kids age). If a kid does not stop to ask, you simply use the means to distract it and lead its attention to something else. One day, it WILL understand. The sooner, the less the adult forces it to have to understand.
But even the force parents use, like ordering them out of bed on Sunday mornings, does not hurt the child. It's annoying, yes, it is not something one understands, yes, but the wider meaning of having visible signs of separation between profane every day life and spiritual life I do not under estimate. It is one form of discipline and I am strongly convinced that every kid needs discipline (and I think you do not misunderstand that term and how I mean it).
Of course, you could say that you can do without all of it and you'd be right. Which I would describe as "exceptional".
I do understand discipline, and strongly encouraged my kids in it. I also understand ritual, and also used ritual and prayer when raising my kids. I probably talk too much though.
LoL, we both do talk too much :)