Share God's Word with Infants and Toddlers in the Church Nursery

Has your church already started a church nursery for infants and toddlers during church or adults' Bible study? Most churches just babysit until kids turn two or three. However, kids learn more than ever in the first few years of life. Read on to find out how to share God's Word with the little ones in your church nursery.

Steps

Sharing God's Word Through Games

  1. Use simple games to work wonders in teaching young ones about God. Have everyone lay on the ground and pretend to fall asleep. As soon as you begin singing "Rise and Shine," tots should rise up and sing with you. Play multiple rounds. You can also try a variety of ways to get up such as fast, slow, getting up and jumping, or spinning in circles.
  2. Use laundry baskets to teach the tots in your nursery about how much God loves when we share. Place one toddler at a time in a laundry basket. Push them around the room, collecting toys and books in the laundry basket as you go. After you've collected a sufficient amount of toys, ride around and share the toys with others around the room. Talk about how much God likes it when we share.
  3. Show the little ones how wonderful bubbles are. Sing this song to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell" as you blow bubbles, pretending that they're raindrops: "The rain drops fell on me, the raindrops fell on me, the raindrops fell down from the cloud, God made them all you see."
  4. Print out pictures of Jesus, preferably in color. Tape all of the pictures of Jesus on the wall around the room at a toddler's eye level. Encourage toddlers to walk around and find as many pictures of Jesus as they can. Point out that Jesus is with us everywhere.
  5. Sit with a child on your lap and a durable mirror in front of you. Ask the child "Who's that?" and "Who made (name of child)?" Point out all of his/her body parts, from hair to toes. Say "That's your (name of body part). God made your (name of body part)!"
  6. Change this classic nursery game "Peekaboo!" into a way to tell kids about Jesus. Don't just say "Peekaboo!" when you uncover your eyes, but instead, say "Peekaboo! God made you!" It's that simple, and saying that over and over will stick those words in a child's head.
  7. Try another game called "Animal Circle." Have all toddlers get in a circle. Place stuffed or plastic animals around the room. Encourage every child to walk away from the circle, go find an animal, and bring it back to you. Once a child comes back to you with an animal, say "Do you know what that is? God made (name of animal)!"
  8. Use a variation of "Peekaboo! God made you!" to reinforce the concept of Jesus rising from the dead. Place a figure of Jesus in a cup. Let all kids look inside. Tell them that Jesus died and was put in a dark cave. Tell everyone to cover their eyes with their hands. While their eyes are covered, pull Jesus out of the cup and set Him behind your back. Shout "Peekaboo!" and let everyone open their eyes. Show the empty cup, and then reveal Jesus from behind your back. Say "Jesus isn't in the tomb--He's alive!"
  9. Play the game called "The Sharing Bear." Grab a stuffed animal bear or other animal from your nursery's collection. Sit in a circle with all the toddlers in your nursery. Give the bear to one child, and encourage that child to pass it on to another child. Point out how nice it is to share with friends. This is also a great game to play when two children are finding over a toy: encourage the child holding onto the toy to "share" it with the other child and encourage the other child to "share" it back with the person who gave it to his/her.

Sharing God's Word Through Talking

  1. Use talking to help a child learn about their Savior. Saying the same things over and over ("God loves you!" and "God made you!") are great ways to instill those words into a child.
  2. Use comforting words in your nursery. Saying comforting words to a child who is tired, hurt, or sad helps the child begin to trust and feel comfortable with you. This also helps the child take another step toward trusting Jesus. If a child has just been hurt, try words such as "It will feel better soon." or "Everything will be alright soon." Words to a tired child might include "Shhh, I know you're tired, but everything will be alright."

Sharing God's Word Through Cradle Roll

  1. Know what cradle roll is. Cradle roll consists of songs and props. Almost every song has a prop or toy that is associated with it. Sometimes, every child gets a prop or toy to hold onto, and sometimes, the teacher just gets to hold something for everyone. Normally, children sit around a crescent-shaped table in seats while the teacher sits on the opposite side of the children. Cradle roll works for both infants and toddlers, although some verses may accommodate a specific age group better.
  2. Get ready to start. Place all the children in seats or chairs. Have your props organized in boxes beside you. Consider writing songs on notecards and laminating them to have for every class.
  3. Start with a welcome song. Sing this to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?" while pretending to "look" for every child and then finding them while peering through a paper towel tube: "Where is (child's name)? Where is (child's name)? Did he/she come? Did he/she come? Come to cradle roll class, come to cradle roll class. There he/she is! There he/she is!"
  4. Hand every child a toy car. Sing this to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It": "Did you come to church in a car? Did you come to church in a car? Did you come to church, did you come to church, did you come to church in a car?"
  5. Introduce the Bible. Sing "The B-I-B-L-E" as you let each child gently pat a Bible. Emphasize how special the Bible is and how we must carefully turn the pages and carefully pat it.
  6. Do activities to help them experience Creation. You don't have to go in order of days, just try the following ideas.
    • Glue a cotton ball to a popsicle stick. Sing the following to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" as children feel the "cloud": "Fluffy, fluffy, little clouds; God made you so very proud. Up above the world so high, Like a lamb in the sky. Fluffy, fluffy, little clouds; God made you so very proud."
    • Mix a bouquet of fake and real flowers together. Hold them up to each child to smell as you sing this to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star": "Thank you God for the flowers that grow; Thank you God for the pretty rose. Thank you God for a daisy that's white; What a very pretty sight. Thank you God for the flowers that grow; Thank you God for the pretty rose."
    • Attach glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceilings of your nursery. For infants under six months, glue the same stars that you glued to your ceiling onto a black glove. place the glove on your hand and position it above the infant's head. Encourage everyone older than 6 months to look up at the ceiling as you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" but instead of singing "How I wonder what you are" sing "God has put you where you are."
    • Purchase a plastic toy fish for every child. Let them suck on their fish as you sing this song to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round": "God made the fish to swim, swim, swim; swim, swim, swim; swim, swim, swim. God made the fish to swim, swim, swim; swim, swim, swim like this." Let children place their fish in the water after you're done singing or play with the fish in the water for added fun.
    • Give children a toy animal that is preferably plastic. Sing this song to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round" for every different kind of animal as kids play: "God made the (animal's name) to (something animal does), (something animal does), (something animal does); (something animal does), (something animal does), (something animal does); (something animal does), (something animal does), (something animal does). God made the (animal's name) to (something animal does), (something animal does), (something animal does); (something animal does), (something animal does), (something animal does) like this."
  7. Celebrate how special God made children and others like them. Try out these few ideas:
    • Give every child a baby doll to hold and rock as you sing this to the tune of "Rock a Bye Baby": Rock a Bye baby, God loves you so. He will never, let you go. God made you, and God made me; now go to sleep my dear baby."
    • Hold out an unbreakable mirror for all children to see themselves in as you sing this verse to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round": You're a pretty little (girl/boy) and God made you; God made you, God made you. You're a pretty little (girl/boy) and God made you; with (a feature of the child such as hair or eye color) too!

Sharing God's Word Through Caring

  1. Be supportive and encouraging from the get-go. A caring environment can make a lasting impression on both child and parent. Train all workers to smile, be friendly and keep the conversation focused on the child and parent. Play music softly in the background.
  2. Maintain a safe environment. Cleanliness and safety show whether you care or not. Read How to Keep the Church Nursery Safe and How to Keep the Church Nursery Clean to make sure that you're keeping up with both. Who wants to be in a nursery with a stinky diaper smell or visible dirt and dust? Keep kids and parents coming back so that you can continue to help them grow in God's Word by keeping things both clean and safe.
    • Keep things looking attractive. An attractive nursery is an awesome nursery in the minds of children and their parents. Follow the below steps to make sure that your nursery is always looking attractive:
    • Choose how you paint carefully. The wall color could be a common light blue which has a benefit: it's a calming color. Or you could choose a more modern red which would make parents think "clean!" and "updated!" Consider having an artist paint a mural of Jesus and children, Noah's ark or another work of art on the wall.
    • Hang ribbons from the ceilings. Ribbons in pale colors add beauty and give newborns something to look at.
    • Make everything as neat as the first time a couple takes their newborn baby into the baby's room. Everything is perfectly neat and put there with love. Leave your nursery looking like that after every use.
    • All toys should be updated and modern. Electronic toys, brightly colored toys and toys recently made will catch a child's eye and make parents think of your nursery as an up-to-date place rather than unsafe because it's so outdated.
    • Neatly group toys on low shelves. Low shelves will be at a child's eyesight making them feel welcomed.
    • Provide the right equipment: high chairs, cribs, changing tables, a device that plays music, glider rockers, bottle warmers, baby bouncers, activity seats and children's tables are all necessary when caring for children.
    • Follow the steps in How to Keep the Church Nursery Clean after each use!
  3. Provide proper childcare. Train all volunteers to properly care for infants and toddlers. Whether you're feeding a child, changing a diaper or even just carrying a toddler, there is a proper way to do it and incorrectly following a procedure may lead to a loss of trust from a child. Read the following articles to gain knowledge of how to properly care for the kids in your nursery:
  4. Discipline. Yes, discipline is part of an important nursery ministry. Although it may cause you to think of punishment and crying kids, discipline, especially discipline in a church nursery, shouldn't be any of those things. Your primary goal is to keep all children safe and to help them learn about what God wants us to behave like. Take these steps to help little ones do the right thing and to help your nursery volunteers know how to handle discipline:
    • Read books to children about Christian behavior. Look for those that emphasize why we are to behave like this and how things turn out better if we do.
    • Create a short list of clear, concise rules for older toddlers to follow. A list of rules that looks like the following with colored pictures posted at a child's eye level where you can weekly review them is the best: Share with friends. Never hit, bite, kick or punch. Use kind words. Listen to the nursery volunteers(volunteer's names) and do what they say. Tell the truth.
    • Play games such as "The Sharing Bear" that review good behavior.
    • Prevent bad behavior by having a clean-up song to sing when picking up toys, hanging a mobile over the changing table and keeping activities fun and active.
    • If children start to fight over a toy, start playing "The Sharing Bear" before they explode.
    • Praise children for their efforts to do the right thing.
    • Offer alternatives. Say "You can't bite friends, but you can bite this food" or "You can't hit other friends but you can hit this pillow." Sometimes going into a quiet corner with a child and reading a book for a few minutes to help them calm down is a good idea.
    • If a child hurts another child, have one volunteer comfort the child that was hurt and have another volunteer take the child who hurt the other child and have a one-minute conversation with them. Say something like "God doesn't want us to bite our friends. That hurts. You can ask for the toy back and tell me if someone isn't sharing, but you can't bite." The child who hurt the other child may need to refrain from using that toy for the rest of class as a natural punishment for the wrongdoing.

Tell both parents about the incident afterwards.

    • Let parents know that you'll be using natural punishments in the case that a child hurts another child or does something wrong after multiple warnings.
    • NEVER force a toddler to apologize. They do not understand that concept.

Sharing God's Word Through Other Activities

  1. Read books, books, books! Collect Christian baby books, children's Christian storybooks, baby Bibles and toddler Bibles. Read to children individually and in groups. If a child looses interest halfway through a book, that's okay! Just try a different book or come back to it later.
  2. Print out pictures of the following babies from the Bible and glue them to a notecard:
    • Baby Moses
    • Baby Jesus
    • Baby Samuel
    • Baby Isaac
  3. Laminate all of the notecards. Hole punch every notecard in the same place. Use yarn to tie all of them together. Write the name of every baby under each picture in permanent marker. As you show this booklet to all of the infants in your nursery, say "God made Baby Moses. God loves Baby Moses." At the end of the booklet say to the child "God made Baby (child's name). God loves Baby (child's name)." Sing this song to the tune of "London Bridge" after you've finished: "Thank you God for Baby Moses, Baby Jesus, Baby Samuel: Thank you God for Isaac too; How we love you!"
  4. Use mobiles to teach children about God. Mobiles can be hung above a changing table, crib or just on the ceiling.
    • Twist chenille wires into a circle. Use string to hang a balloon with the mouth and eyes of a fish on it and two clear Christmas ornaments as bubbles equally apart from the chenille wire circle. Tie string in all three places where the fish and bubbles are, and connect the strings above the mobile. Use a nail to push all of the string connected together into the ceiling. Say "God made the fish to swim" as you gently turn the mobile.
    • Purchase state-of-the-art mobiles form companies such as Fisher Price. Look for animals or people that you can point out who made them.
  5. Try this as a take-home gift for children and their families. Take a paper plate and use a permanent marker to draw six sections on it. Print out pictures of Jesus, food, water, parents, toys and the Bible. Glue one of each in each section. Point to a picture with the child, and say "Thank you God for (food)." Just point to an object and say these words for an infant but try to make things a bit more challenging for a toddler. Ask them to point to something and tell you what it is. Then, ask them who gave that thing to them. Thank God for His blessings.
  6. Pray! Prayer can be very powerful. Praying for the children in your nursery outside volunteering on Sunday's is very special and important. Praying with children is just as important, though. Pray a short prayer over infants and encourage toddlers to fold their hands and close their eyes with you. Say a short prayer, no longer than a couple sentences. Emphasize that you are talking to god and that He hears you.

Tips

  • If children loose interest in the middle of a song during cradle roll, move onto the next as quickly as possible.
  • Try to alternate between fast and slow songs during cradle roll time.

Warnings

  • Be sure that all activities with kids under three consist of no choking hazards.
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