The first article suggested ideas for advertising, welcome, song and story time. If you missed it, you can find it here. This second article looks at prayer, toys, faith at home and building relationships.
1. Go on a prayer retreat
How is your prayer life and that of your team? It might be useful to close a week early so that the leaders can have a short retreat to recharge their spiritual batteries: a time for reflection and drawing close to God. Caring leaders are often more like Martha than Mary, but sometimes you need to give yourself permission to sit at the Lord’s feet. Maybe if there are other toddler groups nearby you could jointly get someone to come and lead a morning’s retreat for you. Jesus went away to quiet places to pray, so it’s not letting your community down if you need to do this too. It could lead to interesting conversation starters with toddler group members.
2. Pray for your toddler group
Toddler groups are at the forefront of mission, welcoming people week in, week out. Ask for prayer partners to commit to pray for you and your group every week and don’t forget to update them regularly. Also request that the group is prayed for regularly as part of your church Sunday intercessions or suggest that families from the group could lead the intercessions from time to time.
3. Pray at your group
Some groups have a prayer tree for people to write and hang prayers on. Or perhaps your group could have a prayer box for people to put their prayers into and leaders can pray for them after the group. You may be available for prayer in person at less busy times so make it clear that you’d be willing to do this.
4. Pray after story time
There are many imaginative ways of doing this. Some toddler groups use bubbles every week as an aid to prayer after story time. When the bubbles burst, imagine the prayers being released to God. Other groups end every session with a special prayer of blessing which the children learn to associate with the group.
5. Praying with babies and toddlers
Babies can sometimes be overlooked as spiritual beings. Perhaps your group can have the privilege of starting families off on a lifetime of prayer. The wonder of having a baby often makes parents ponder big questions about the meaning life. Praying with Babies is a booklet with many excellent and thoughtful ideas. Use these ideas to encourage parents to pray for their baby from top to toe. If you have a baby group or area set aside for babies, you may like to use a Praying Together card. Leaders can use it to pray alongside someone unfamiliar with prayer or with a small group. There’s also a Praying with Toddlers booklet, which can be given out for use at home. If you would like copies of these booklets and the card to print off, contact the children’s ministry team.
6 Have great toys!
Tired toys and torn books don’t really reflect the generosity and hospitality of God, do they? So throw them out! Nor do grubby toys, so wash them regularly and check they’re safe. Some groups like to have church-based toys or toys which relate to Bible stories. The booklet Church for Children has ideas for these and suggested websites. Please contact the children’s ministry team for a copy of the booklet.
7. Encourage faith at home
On the Church of England’s Going for Growth website there are ideas and resources for nurturing the spiritual life of families and children in their early years. The recent Toddler Project Research findings has various suggestions including gifts of storybooks, follow-up packs to events and simple prayers. Recognising that children spend most of their time with their families, it’s good to encourage parents to be confident in their own faith so that they can pass it on their children. A few churches with enough volunteers for a crèche run Alpha courses or Bible study group during or after their toddler group. Others do it with children round their feet or parents take it in turn to run a crèche.
8. Build relationships
However wonderful the toys or delicious the coffee and cake, building genuine friendships and enabling others to do so is the best way of making community, drawing people to God and what the group will be remembered for. Having enough time to sit and chat is a challenge as we often rush around organising the group. Sharing the vision of the group can encourage church parents and others to come along be a listening ear and a regular friendly face. It can be a lonely life as a new parent. Often people say, ‘this group’s been like a second family. I don’t know how I’d have coped without it.’ Toddler groups are brilliant ambassadors for the church.