Recently I took my two-year-old nephew to the Unicorn Theatre. Unicorn started as a touring company in 1947, and in 2005 custom-built a performance space near London Bridge, specifically designed for children to encounter theatre.
I was nervous. Two-year-olds are unpredictable at the best of times, and this one wasn’t mine, so I’m not as expert with him as his mum is. I was taking him in public, to a place where other people would be hoping to enjoy an experience, and I was worried he’d play up and embarrass me. I was worried he’d get bored.
And it occurred to me – this is probably the way many parents feel, bringing their toddlers to church.
I needn’t have been concerned; the experience was wonderful, and it made me think about what churches can learn from the Unicorn. There were two main aspects that struck me – the performance itself and the space.
First of all, the performance. The show was 50 minutes long – a bit shorter than an average Sunday service. Conventional wisdom is that toddlers need lots of action; bright lights and colours, lots of movement and noise. But this show – about polar bears trying to climb a mountain – was anything but. There was a simple set, and not much action. It was peaceful, almost contemplative, and calm. But here’s what kept my nephew, and most of the others, totally absorbed:
- There was a constant undercurrent of whispering. Parents leaned in and softly said, ‘Look – the polar bears need to cross the river; I wonder what they’ll do?’ or ‘They’ve found the sandwiches – are they sharing nicely?’ This seemed like second nature to these parents, yet when parents bring their kids to church, suddenly they forget to do this, or think it won’t be welcomed. Encourage parents to whisper with their children – Carolyn Carter Brown’s excellent article on Whispering With Children can show them how.
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There was a great deal of visual repetition. The polar bears had a map and every time they completed a step, they took out the map and showed their progress. I’m sure you can think of ways this type of visual guide could be incorporated into a Sunday service!
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The show was multi-sensory. Light and darkness were used effectively, gentle music helped set the different moods. At the end, the shiny crinkly fabric that had been used to make the mountains was passed through the audience for children to touch. As the bears in the show crossed the river, a small toy canoe made its way through the audience.
Now on to the space.
- There was a car park for prams in the lobby, and a greeter who smiled and pointed it out to us. This put me right at ease and made me feel welcome – no worries about folding up the pram, getting it out of the way, making a mess.
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There were tables and chairs in the lobby, , squares on the floor with action words like ‘jump’ and ‘look up’ on them. The ceiling was decked with coloured paper lanterns. The theatre also had a play area, with blocks and stuffed animals and beanbags. How could this inspire you to make your community spaces more child-friendly, before and after the services? Even a few beanbags in the corner, some floor-level lighting, and a few Bible story books can make a big difference to parents who arrive early or want to stay and socialise after church.
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The seats were comfortable, and raked so even the children at the back could see. Often, turning up late means that children spend the service staring at the back of someone’s head.
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Toilets had child-level basins, and there were two sets of handrails on all sets of stairs – one at child level and one at adult level.
The primary feeling I had was one of safety – this was a relaxed place where children were allowed to be children. That didn’t mean it was chaotic, slapstick, brightly coloured or hyper-stimulating. Quite the opposite – the children were quiet and attentive during the show, and generally calm and happy before and after. It just meant that thought had gone into producing a space and an experience where children were not an afterthought or a problem to be solved, but welcome guests whose needs were taken into account.
Few of us can start from scratch, either with our services or our buildings, but this experience challenges us to think differently about how we welcome young children and their families into our communities.
Margaret Pritchard Houston is Families Worker at St George’s Campden Hill and knows all there is to know about travelling polar bears.
Image: Unicorn Theatre by Don, used under Creative Commons licence.