How can you explain the concept of repentance to your children?

Joel Beeke explains in this video that you can help illustrate the concept of repentance to your children by helping them to understand that just as they are moved to grief when they sin against their earthly father, they should also sorrow because they are sinning against their heavenly Father. 

That is what true repentance is like. When we sin, we must realize that we have sinned against our heavenly Father. There is a deep grief over our sin and a longing to be with Christ in Heaven. For those who truly repent, the smallest sins grieve you because you want to live for God.

He mentioned that the reformer John Owen said that individuals should doubt their salvation if they are not concerned about remaining and indwelling sin in their own life.  

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) - "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."  

I'd like to say it this way, especially to children. There's a great difference between being sorry because a policeman stopped me on the highway for speeding and gave me a ticket and I say to him, oh I'm sorry but really what I'm saying is I just don't want this ticket. And I'm not grieved. I don't say, oh Mr. Policeman, I'm so sorry I've offended you.

I love you so much. You may respect policemen, but you don't have a personal love to that policeman that moves you to tears of grief. But if you sin against your dad and you love your dad and you realize you just treated him wrongly, this will move you to a heartfelt grief. That's what true repentance is like. I've sinned against my Father in heaven.

My Father who's never done me any ill. My Father who's always been better to me in the worst moments of my life than I've been to Him in the best moments of my life. So there's a deep grief, oh that I could be done with sin and a longing to be with Christ in heaven. Where I no more have to say Evil is present with me because I'll have a perfect soul and a perfect body. You see John Owen the Puritan said, if you can't say that your greatest burden in this life is your own remaining indwelling sin, I doubt if you're even a Christian.

False repentance. You never come to that point where you are the major problem in your life and your sin. In true repentance you're always your own greatest enemy because you're too weak, You can stumble over a straw. You know, the smallest sins sometimes take you captive and it grieves you. You want to live totally for God.

So that's the difference. It's the difference between hard conviction and consequences conviction.