needing quiet activities for church!!!

[Deborah]

The church we are attending does not have a nursery or Sunday school.

Do you have any creative ideas to keep an 18 month old and a 3 year old busy? :confused:

I have the older ones take notes or draw something from the sermon, but this doesn't work so great with the littler ones.

[Jean in Newcastle]

A toddler's busy book

 

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Book-Activity-Pockets-Learning/dp/B00000J3LL

[kmacnchs]

Age-appropriate Bible, notepad, and pencil. We do not allow a bunch of toys or food. However our 2yo (VERY BUSY) is a slow eater so I let her finish her snack (as a church, we have snack & fellowship in between Sunday School and church) at the beginning of church. Other than that, they are to stand and sing when it is singing time and stop what they are doing when it is praying time - this makes it choppy enough to make it bearable for them. During the sermon, when 2yo gets bored, sometimes I will give her my Bible to leaf through and if she is doing well, sitting in daddy's lap is always a treat.

 

Since it is something to get used to, I recommend practicing at home. Everyday after lunch, I had mine sit on the floor with their hands in their laps for an allotted time. This was practice. If they could do it for "x" amt. of time w/nothing, then they would last longer during church with some things to help occupy themselves.

[Susan in TN]

Cheerios, small stickers, pencil, small paper notebook, yarn, sillyputty. I usually have a couple things in my purse and wait until they absolutely seem to need something before taking anything out. Some of my kids have had a much easier time in services than others, so it's been a real learning experience for dh and I as well.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Susan in TN

[Carol in Cal.]

1. Exercise between Sunday school and church. I used to make DD run around and around the gym in that period, to work out the stress of sitting still and prepare her to do it again.

2. Enable them to participate. They should stand when others do, and sit, and fold their hands during the prayer. As early as possible, review the prayers and liturgical songs by saying/singing them over and over, maybe in the car. At a very young age they will be able to sing along. It's surprising how early they do that--memorization is so easy at that age.

3. Whisper directly into their ear during speaking parts. So, for instance, I would whisper a summary of the Bible readings or the prayers or even the sermon into DD's ear while it was going on. She tended not to talk while I was talking, and so she would be quiet. Fringe benefit--she would also learn more from the service that way.

4. Cuddle time--the littles love to cuddle with Mom and Dad.

5. Eat during the sermon. I admit that this was a compromise, and less than ideal, but the sermons are just too long for reasonable quietness any other way. I would bring goldfish crackers, a rare treat, and feed them to DD. Cheerios are also good. The key is something that is non-messy and easy to see so you can get any crumbs picked up.

6. One toy only, and a very thoroughly vetted one. A stuffed animal with no bell or chime is good--if it falls to the floor no one will hear that. I compromised on a Barbie once, and was so embarassed when DD took all her clothes off, but then she showed me how once the clothes were out of the way she could push Barbie's hands together into a praying position. Awwwww!

[Vida Winter]

I would bring a small bag of quilt scraps and/or a little doll or stuffed animal to play with - nice and quiet. Also a small quilt to cuddle up in since the sanctuary is usually cold except for summer. A little coloring book and a bag of about 5-6 crayons. I have also let my little one play with my rosary beads.

[mom2agang]

Crafty pipe cleaners.

[milovany]

Be up front! We have found that the very-youngers really enjoy being able to SEE and take part in what's happening. And then I whisper in their ear constantly during the liturgy to tell them what's happening. They can whisper questions back (ideal, obviously, for the 3yo, not necessarily the 18mo). We tend to want to sit in back with such littles, but I have honestly found more "success" standing closer to the front. Our priest calls the noises children make "holy noise."

[Deborah]

these are great ideas!

wouldn't have thought of yarn and pipe cleaners..going out to get some!

I just thought of bible felt books or magnetic books

...still thinking.. any more ideas? :bigear:

[fairfarmhand]

Pipe cleaners and I know of one mom who would hide pennies and small things in her Bible and let the littles look for them!

[bethben]

I second small stickers. I always have a sheet on hand in my diaper bag. There have been some Sundays that dd comes out with stickers all over her face.

 

Beth

[FairProspects]

Well, personally I can't give my boys stickers as they would end up all over the sanctuary, but magnetic Bible story books, coloring books, pencils, crayons & paper as well as wiki-sticks have worked well for us. We also have a Children's Bible with real pictures (its the one TOG uses, but I can't think of the name right now) that the kids like to look at because of all the pictures.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Once DD was off the bottle, I no longer allowed snacks in church. The only thing she is allowed to bring is a stuffed animal (a quiet one!) and books. I have a Mass book and a children's Bible she was allowed to have. Other than that she is expected to participate and sit quietly, unless she is asking me a question regarding the sermon/readings/some other part of Mass.

 

Then again... this is the same child who would sit and watch Mass on TV at 2. :tongue_smilie:I guess I had it pretty easy!

[Dmmetler]

The Handwriting WIthout Tears flip crayons are great for things like this-10 colors in a tiny, contained space. I bought a box of 20 packs and donated them to hand out with the children's bulletins at church ;).

[Chelle in MO]

 

Wikki Stix and Smencils are fun!

[MaMa2005]

We used the magnetic books. I bought four of them so there was a different one for each Sunday of the month (more or less). I loved them because they didn't make a sound, they couldn't away from DS, and by rotating them, he thought they were so COOL each time he saw one.

 

At our former church, they make bags for the children that contain colored pencils, coloring books, small stuffed dolls, etc. One weekend, the person in charge of the bags sent her husband out to find some toys for the little guys to play with. When he got home, he just said he had bought some cars and the wife said to put them in the bags.

 

It wasn't until Sunday morning, during the sermon, that the wife realized what kind of cars they were. The husband had bought the kind that you pull back to put tension on the wheels and then let go! There must have been 15-20 little cars zooming all over the sanctuary with little boys crawling under pews after them. I haven't laughed that hard in church in a long time.

[Beth S]

Betty Lukens has made Bible Story Felts, but also Felt Books.

 

Here's an example of the Family House Book. You (or a willing grandma) cut out all the pieces.

 

http://www.onlineauction.com/index.php/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/u%3E%3C/beta/register/index.php?page=auction:view_item&auction_id=693093

 

We have about 6 different ones: Dress-up Bears, Noah's Ark, farm scenes, Bible Stories. We used them about 10 years ago, bringing one to church per week.

[ScoutTN]

A great book for help on training children to participate in worship,

Parenting In The Pew by Robbie Castleman.

 

We do quiet/busy books, coloring and a matchbox car for our almost 3yo. Just during the sermon and communion. I think the pipecleaners would be good too. I need to change out his church bag toys more often...

[duckens]

--10 foam stickers + 1/2 sheet of construction paper for each child. It takes time for those little hands to pull the paper off the back of the foamstickers.

 

ETA: Put each "set" into a quart-sized ziplock bag. You can pack 10 of them for the next 5 weeks at once, and just grab a couple each week as you pack the diaperbag.

 

--Small Magnadoodle.

 

--A couple of toys (I'm thinking of small plastic animals) that are ONLY available during church time

Edited June 14, 2010 by duckens

[JFSinIL]

Sewing cards/yarn for 3-yr-old, board books for both.

[JFSinIL]

The husband had bought the kind that you pull back to put tension on the wheels and then let go! There must have been 15-20 little cars zooming all over the sanctuary with little boys crawling under pews after them. I haven't laughed that hard in church in a long time.

 

This is great!!!:D

[MamaSheep]

I keep a bag of little plastic animals or bugs in my bag that I take to church. Really my kids should be old enough to get along without them these days, but church is really stressful for Aspie ds and sometimes it helps him to have something to hold and play with a little. And since dd's big brother has a toy it's hard to convince dd that she's old enough not to need one. And then there's her ADHD...sigh. So I still bring something small like that just in case.

 

We often sit on the row behind a cute little family who have four children under 5 years old (they have 1 yr old twins) that keep them busy. The mom has a stack of file folders she brings. On the inside of each folder there are little activities. For example (I'm making this up, I can't remember any actual activities I've seen in her folders) there might be some little cartoon pictures of, say, loaves and fishes glued to the inside of the folder, and then there is an envelope full of copies of the same loaves and fishes, and the child will sit and see if she can match them up. Or there might be a counting game or a picture from a Bible story with lift-up flaps or something. I think it's a great idea to have them in file folders and if I ever had another little one I think that's what I would do.