Question for church goers - what, if anything does your church do for pre-schoolers?

[Niecie]

I have been involved in a toddler group at a church for several years since my children where little. Over the years a pram service has evolved which now runs, once a month, at the end of the toddler group.

The service was taken first by a curate who has now left the church and then by a member of the congregation who was also a teacher and has been doing a great job of engaging with the little ones and their parents. Even though my DC are at school now, I still go along to give moral support and to help out a little with the service and to do a related craft activity during the toddler group.

The lady who has been running it is retired and wants to step down. She isn't a member of the church any more and only comes to the toddler group because it is local and she brings her granddaughter. She doesn't want to commit to being the person in charge any more which is fair enough. I don't have the skills or the inclination to continue running it alone so we are at a bit of an impasse. Where do we go from here?

One option is to scrap the pram service and do something else for pre-schooler and their parents but the question is what? I thought I would throw it open to MN to see what other churchs do, if anything, for pre-schoolers.

FWIW we have a sunday school where children can go from the age of 3 but the toddler group has a completely different clientele (for want of a better word) and a lot of them are younger and of course, they are with their mothers.

Sorry, this turned out a bit long and thanks for reading.

Lots of churches are doing messy church which is a way of engaging with families who don't necessarily come to church. You do need a small team of people who are committed to this for it to work, people from the leadership and congregation preferably - and most run it either after school or on a weekend. It's basically getting families together to do craft - so pre-schoolers can be as much a part of it as it's not 'dumping children to get on with it' - then usually a short service with songs and story type thing - all very simple, then it ends with a meal together. We find it brings families together, they've really enjoyed that aspect of it, and the community it brings. Maybe some of your toddler mums might be interested in something like this?

I used to run a toddler group and we also did a service, but only once a term - this was more manageable, we'd always follow it with party food and it was a lovely atmosphere.

I suppose as with anything it depends on having people willing to put time into things, I hope you can find some solutions :)

We have a family service once a month which runs on a sunday afternoon at 4. It brings in a lot of families from the village who don't otherwise come to church.
We have a few 'old school' hymns then different activities/ crafts to do. The service is about 40 mins, then we have a childrens tea afterwards with little sanwiches cake etc.
Its very quaint and english, but my family and the others who go love it!

We have a weekly toddler group - the singing at the end is a mixture of nursery rhymes and christian songs e.g Jesus love is very wonderful etc. There is also a special childrens service aimed specifically at toddlers/pre-schoolers just before Christmas and Easter. On Sundays there is a creche for babies and various sunday school groups for 3+. Another church near us does a monthly service on a weekday afternoon but sadly it hasn't been that well attended recently.

Thanks for the replies!

Madhairday - I had heard of messy church but not really what it was about (apart from being messy!) so thanks for the link. The only thing that bothers me slightly is that it would be aimed at different people - the toddler groups parents and children are not the same as the people who would come at the weekend by and large. I am also a bit worried that we would do the messy church probably at the weekend and nobody would turn up!!

Once a term might be a good compromise for the weekday service, especially if you can make it a big event. It must work out pretty well - I assume its Christmas in the Autumn term, Easter for the Spring and goodbyes and end of year in July?

partyof52010 - the lady who is stepping down goes to a church in another part of town (she fell out with our vicar so I am even more grateful she bothers to come back for toddler group) which does a 4pm Sunday service for children. Again, I am not sure how many people would turn up although I suppose you don't know until you try!

newlark - that is my concern really - that to do a service, mid week without some other attraction like a toddler group wouldn't be successful.

Thank you all. Something to think about. Cutting back on services might be the way to go - we could cover 3 services a year, just about. If there is an appetite for messy church or separate weekend services then they could be organised separately.

Bit late to this thread. Just to say our church runs Messy Church but in school hours. So it is effectively a toddler/preschooler group. It doesn't have to be run after school or at weekends. Ours is on a Monday from 11.30 to 1.30. We have a few baby type toys, a craft activity and painting in the bell tower! Lunch is shared at 12 noon with sandwich type stuff for kids and soup and bread for adults. After that there is a sing song which is vaguely religious and then a story/ thought related to the craft theme (eg Moses in the reeds, prayer, praise etc). Then we do the lords prayer with actions. After a tidy up we all share cakes.
It works really well as an event. We have a rota for providing sandwiches, food, soup and craft. Any one can sign up to help altho it has to be said that it is often the same few. We average around 17 families most of whom never come to Sunday church services. There are messy church books that you can buy but they seem to be aimed at a slightly older child but there are still useful ideas.
Hope that helps

Thanks Smallstuff!

That sounds quite ambitious, running it for lunch as well. Can I ask how much the parents pay for the session?

My concern is getting to people to help - it would be the same few all the time I suppose, i.e. me probably. I can't think of many other people who are free. Serves me right for working for myself at home - I have flexibility that other people don't.

I could press gang a few others perhaps. I shall go on the hunt for resources.

Just another question if you don't mind, do you have a leader who does the story telling and the prayers? That is what bothers me - I wouldn't want to do that bit!

We have a church pre-school, a parent and toddler group, and a fortnightly toddler service.

In addition, we have a weekly coffee morning for families who attend these, as well as holiday activities (eg picnics) when everything else has shut down.

We also host a parenting course in conjunction with our health visitors.

Obviously, everyone involved gets invited to our main church activities. We have three or four families joining our church every year as a result of these community activities.

Our church is only tiny so doesn't do anything special, although the school have a toddler group once a week. Instead we just have every service as a family service. Sunday school runs during the service for any over 3s who want to go and at the back of church there is a box of toys for younger children.

Parents are encouraged to relax and enjoy the service and not worry if there lo makes a noise (within reason of course) Ds is 17 months and often goes and stands with the vicar while he does the sermon!