Children love to sing and nursery and action rhymes are great to keep them active and build language skills. Encourage parents to join in too!
I’ve made a Pinterest board of nursery rhymes and activities to go with them. Click on the pictures on the board and they will take you to the web link!
Here’s an activity to help the children to see how Jesus is able to identify with their everyday experiences because of the human experiences He had himself. This activity focuses on having the strength to do the right thing, even when it’s difficult, knowing that Jesus himself was tempted but stood strong.
Give the children some sandpaper, a paperclip and a copy of this verse:
Because He Himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
Running toddler groups in church can be a great way of building relationships with the local community as well as providing a place of support, care and fun for families. It’s also a great opportunity to gently let the story of Jesus be known in what we do, who we are and the hospitality we provide. You are likely to have some books for the children to read with their parents and it’s a good idea to include amongst them some really good quality Bible stories. Here are some recommendations:
Christmas and Easter are wonderful opportunities to tell the stories themselves and this is a great version for reading aloud:
Who knows what conversations might arise from the questions children ask their parents! Happy reading 🙂
This is an idea for the whole family to get involved in!
Take a jam or coffee jar and decorate it (I used sparkly paper because I like that type of thing!)
Cut up some bits of paper and put them by the jar with some pens or pencils. Put the jar somewhere accessible to everybody at any time e.g kitchen table. When something good happens or someone has been kind to you, write it on a slip of paper and put it in the jar.
Make a routine of opening the jar once a day or once a week when everyone is together, reading the slips and saying thank you to God for His blessings! Maybe you could even glue them all into a book to look back at in the future to see how God has blessed you!
Here’s an idea to gently introduce some of the themes of the story of Jesus calming the storm to children under 3…
Sensory bottles (fill used water bottles with the following and seal with superglue):
1. Water, green glitter and blue seed beads
2. Rice and matchsticks (to make rain/ storm noises)
3.Water, blue and green sequins and blue and green mini Pom-poms
4.Water, coloured with a little bit of blue food colouring (filled to just over half way up the bottle), topped up to the top of the bottle with baby oil.
5. Baby oil, blue and green sequins and blue loom bands.
As you can see, the idea was to keep with a blue/green ‘water’ theme. The baby oil and water mix is great as there is a clear separation of the two after the shaken mixture comes to a rest. Baby oil looks like water from the outside, but slightly slows down the sinking of the objects.
Let the children shake the bottles for the ‘storm’ and then watch as the contents settle and become ‘calm.’
I love the versatility of pipe cleaners and children seem to feel the same! They are great for playing
with and they are also great for praying with…
Here is a version of some prayers I did at a recent All- Age service with the whole congregation. The prayers would work well with a small group of children or in a family prayer time. Take time to talk with children about each section as you go along so that they know clearly who and what they are praying for. They will undoubtedly have lots of suggestions!
1. Shape the pipe cleaner into an initial or a shape that stands for one of your friends.
Hold the shape and tell God how your friend might need His help. Ask God to bless them.
2. Screw the pipe cleaner up.
Think about people in the world who live in confusion and don’t understand what is happening to them- people who live in war torn areas, who have to leave their homes, who don’t know where they will get their next meal. Hold the shape and ask God to help them.
3. Link your pipe cleaner with someone else’s.
Think about people who are lonely- those who have no friends, family or support around them. Ask God to send them people who will be their friends.
4. Loop the pipe cleaner around your wrist.
Think about when God has been with you this week. Has he answered any of your prayers? If you have any prayers, ask God now. Thank God for always being with us and caring for us. Wear the pipe cleaner around your wrist as a reminder of God being with you.
The Well Creative Children's ministry 