Resources for Toddler Groups

Toddler groups can be an essential part of a family’s week. They are a welcoming space for parents and carers and the children they bring along, providing the much-needed opportunity for grown-ups to chat with a cuppa while their wee ones play.

They are also a great opportunity for churches to demonstrate God’s love to, with, and amongst their local community, and can sometimes start people and families on the road to faith. In the Church of England booklet ‘It’s Just the Toddler Group‘, it says: ‘Many people in churches today can trace the beginnings of their own journey of faith to an initial contact through a local toddler group.’

At the very least, toddler groups enable a church to form relationships with people they might not otherwise see, provide a much-needed service, and get children used to being in a church environment. Could the creation of a toddler group be a future step for your church?

This page will aim to provide ideas and resources for running toddler groups, to help you think through and plan your own group. It will contain tips from people who already run groups, and links to further reading.

We hope you decide to take the plunge and launch your own group. If you would like to discuss it with someone, email Fee Reynolds, the Advisor for Christian Life, on freynolds@dioceseofedinburgh.org.

Resources to help you run a toddler group

1277 is a community that seeks to make the 1277 days between birth and nursery school count. It has gathered a selection of great resources for those who run, or are thinking of running, a toddler group. See its recommended resources here.

Tips for starting a toddler group #1

Becky Wills is Children’s and Young People’s Worker at St Peter’s, Lutton Place, which holds its toddler group every Monday and Thursday morning during term time. St Peter’s, Lutton Place Toddler Group is one of three groups featured in a recent post about toddler groups in the diocese.

These are Becky’s tips for starting a toddler group.

1.

Try to build a team of volunteers which is larger than you need for a session, so that there is capacity to cope with illness. Consider only meeting during term time so volunteers have rest. In order to maintain contact and boost our Christian distinctiveness, in the holidays we have a few “Special” sessions with seasonal Christian themes or child-friendly Bible stories, for example Easter and Daniel and the lion’s den, with extra craft activities and a story for children up to about 6 years old. We get great attendance as our toddler families are desperate for somewhere to go in the school holidays! 

2.

One of the team should be a dedicated kitchen/refreshments person. Just having someone to deal with this takes enormous pressure off the leader. Good coffee and tea, and fresh fruit cut into bite-sized chunks are good refreshment options.

3.

Registration forms are important. Ensure that your contact form contains tick boxes for permissions for things like photos in church magazines or website – it is much easier to have one form per family unit to refer to for everything. WhatsApp is useful but we have discovered that a chat group with parents/carers can get de-railed so we are looking to move to a WhatsApp Community Group where you can only broadcast to members – they cannot comment. If you are setting up from scratch I would go for that option! 

4.

Create a welcoming and warm environment. Take this both literally and metaphorically! Bright colours, space between different activities, some soft textiles, and, above all, a warm smile and a greeting for both carer and child, all help to help people feel that they are welcome and belong.

5.

Between the ages of 0 and 3, children go through different developmental stages, and have different needs. A mix of big toys, dressing up clothes, imaginary play areas like a play kitchen, fine motor skills activities like wooden jigsaws, colouring, and a reading area give different opportunities for learning, play and socialisation.

Tips for starting a toddler group #2

Rachel Cooney is Director of Children’s Ministry and Baby Bank Manager at Ps & Gs, Edinburgh, which holds its toddler group every Thursday morning and afternoon during term time.

These are Rachel’s tips for starting a toddler group.

1. Why?

It is essential to discern why you are running the group – agree your vision and strategy for the group, and share this with the rest of your team so they can be praying and carrying the vision with you. 

At Ps & Gs, Babies & Toddlers (Bs & Ts) is a ministry – we aim to create a safe space, and a sense of community and belonging. We come alongside families, get to know them and do life with them. We support and pray for our families.

2. Who?

It is essential to identify your context and its needs – who is your group for? People in your congregation? People in your community? Both?

It is essential to discern who will be on your team – recruiting the right people for your team is invaluable as they will carry the ministry with you. Our Bs & Ts team are a huge support and encouragement to me.

3. What?

What will you offer as part of your group? What will you charge (if anything)?

Consistency is key – we have found that having the same structure each week and the same play areas really helps the children settle in and know what to expect. 

Our Bs & Ts groups run for an hour and a half. The first hour and fifteen minutes is free-play, then we finish with “Music Time” altogether in a circle. We have a set list we sing each week, which the children love. Over time the children learn the actions to the songs and sing along, since the set list stays the same.

We offer a balanced snack as part of Bs & Ts, which has been a real draw for the children and their parents/carers. This includes breadsticks, raisins, cheese and apples.

We do not include a Bible story, whereas some groups do. We aim to make our group accessible for all, and prefer to build positive relationships with our families and invite them along to our special/seasonal events and services. We were delighted to see one of our dads, from Bs & Ts, start coming to evening services at the end of last year then his whole family started coming to morning services after Easter this year. He was recently affirmed at an evening service. 

We ask for a voluntary donation of £2 per unit (family). We have, on occasion, talked about increasing the cost but we like to keep the group affordable. Families referred through our Baby Bank, and New Scots, do not pay to attend. Previously, when working in low income areas, we have not charged those who attend. 

4. Where?

What space(s) are you using and what works in that space?

Resource your group accordingly.

We use our ground floor hall as a cafe, which is where tea/coffee and snack are served. 

We use our main space for our group; it’s our biggest space so we can cater for the numbers that come along and it means that people become familiar with church if they are returning for other events and services.

We have the babies in a separate area to the toddlers, for safety, and we have different play areas cordoned off including colouring, Play-Doh, imaginative play (dressing up, play kitchens and home area), vehicles, construction/blocks, books and jigsaws, ride-on toys etc.

Previously, I have run groups in smaller spaces and have not included ride-on toys. I have scaled everything down and used playpens/room dividers to split the different play areas.

Ensure your space is safe and childproof, ensure Health & Safety and Safeguarding policies and procedures are shared and followed, and First Aiders are identified.

5. Review

Regularly review, with your team, in light of your vision.

What is working? What is not working? Why?

Implement any agreed actions.