Question:

We're building a new parish hall, with a new nursery in it. There's been a large donation specifically for the children's part of it. We can't possibly spend it all on outfitting one small nursery. The rest is to be spent on other aspects of "Children's Ministry". Any ideas?


Answer:

Definately get the Godly Play figures, although I lean also toward more active toys like a ply-wood cut-out Noah's Ark with pairs of a variety of stuffed animals.

I'm inclined to say, if you have enough money for a piano, go for it. But in practice, most Sunday Schools I've worked with haven't used the piano that they've got. It's a good tool if you have a formal children's choir, or if your Sunday School class sits and stands in formal rows and the teacher sits at a distance to lead them. In modern Sunday Schools the arrangement is more intimate and informal and guitars are the more common lead instrument. Maybe a guitar? It's just that the chance to provide a piano doesn't come around as often as the chance to provide a guitar.

How about commissioning a local quilter to make some baby activity blankets on scriptural themes? You can use them as wall-hangings in the nursery when they're not in use, and have the additional advantage that parents can borrow them to take their babies into church if you ever get to that point in your inclusivity (see, I'm 'way more radical than you!) You want images that allow you to use a lot of different textures and shapes.

I'd go for quite small -- big enough that a baby can roll over without rolling off, but not so big as to take up an awkward amount of space in a small nursery or meeting-room. Any choke-hazards have to be triple-stitched for safety. Appliques should be big, bold and simplistic: one furry lamb rather than three more intricate ones, for example.

Maybe a separate space for preschoolers? It's hard for pre-k kids to sit through church, but the *nursery* isn't the place for them. One church in Toronto made a space for preschoolers by removing two front pews and putting in their place a deep-pile oriental carpet so small children could sit in comfort instead of squirming in too-hard too-big pews, and still participate in the worship life of the church.

Preschoolers can and do sit through a full service if they feel welcome and included and have their needs met. Their needs include somewhat more movement than adults. This need can be met in several ways: providing a carpet or less structured space than narrow rows of pews; having a policy of allowing children to move quietly from one welcoming snuggle to another; inviting children to come sit in the chancel during the sermon, baptisms, consecration and/or a special "children's lesson"; offering liturgical toys or colouring activities that can occupy the children during the sermon. (It's *very* helpful, too, if the preacher can say something like "put your crayons away now, the sermon's over" just the same way he gives liturgical instructions like "please stand" and "you may be seated" to the adults).

Puppets, now, are a wonderful aid for children's lessons and even -- if you have a particularly talented preacher -- as a sermon aid.

And I have always had a yearning to do a flannel-graph altar frontal, so that someone could put up illustrations in felt of the bible lesson. Arranging the flannel icons could be done either before church or during the readings themselves -- or even during the children's lesson if you have one. Children (and adults, but we being more sophisticated hide our boredom better) engage better with the word if there is also a visual focus. Children's bibles have great illustrations; I'm sure there are ways to capture the power of those illustrations to aid listening to the lectionary. Stained glass windows do it, but any one church can handle only a few windows, and there are 89 books in the bible to be illustrated!