Hi friends!

This post will be a little different, but I wanted to share some things that have been very helpful for my kiddos at worship to encourage participation and active listening.

Let’s face it taking kids to church is HARD. Solo or with help it is hard and we can all use all the tips we can get.

You know your kids best and some of these things may not work for you, but it may work for some. So without further ado….

First up is the…..

Church Bag

We have used a church bag since they were little bitty and this has been a sure thing for us. Now they are a bit older, I don’t bring it anymore (later in the post I will talk about what we do now). This bag was designated for church only and they couldn’t play with the stuff in it during week, so it made it special for church and kept their interest! (We also kept it in the car, so we wouldn’t forget it.)

I am going to list items below by age that we used:

• 6-10mo
  • Finger puppets
  • Board Books (Listed in amazon link)
  • Amazon has a so many options for baby Biblical toys if you want to stay on theme.
  • Dollar Tree has baby toys too!
  • Busy Bible (you can find many of these on amazon)
  • Snacks and plenty of them!
• 11mo-4yr
  • The Beginner Bible for Little Ones by Zonderkids
  • Small toys (cars, babies, dolls, fidget toys)
  • Crayons (the big ones are great)
  • Dollar tree has a lot of options for Bible themed coloring books, but you can find a lot of printable options as well.
  • Bible books, they have a lot at dollar tree as well.
  • Mini Magnetic drawing boards.
  • Can’t forget snacks!

Tips:

Don’t get discouraged, when they are little they are loud, they can’t sit still and etc. It is ok. They are the future of the church and it is vital that we persevere and keep taking them.

When mine were small, I said “I know I need to take them, but I don’t hear anything and I feel like I can babysit them at home.” Well, that is true. But they are LISTENING, they are paying attention. Even if all we get out of worship was the fellowship that is better than nothing at all. Trust me, I have kept taking mine and it DOES pay off.

Also, be sure to take them out when they get too rowdy or loud. When you do make them sit somewhere with no toys or anything. I always said “We can go back in and play with toys, you have to be quiet.” As they got older I replaced “quiet” with “respectful.” Sometimes I would leave the auditorium 10+ times. I also tried to sit near an exit. 😉

Ok for older kids!

5yrs old and UP!

• We got them Bibles, Bible cases, pens and etc. (Amazon, Walmart and Ollies) Have fun with it and let them choose their stuff. They may not be able to read great yet and that is ok! Encourage them to be excited to learn about God.
• We also use Sermon Note pages (download below).
  • They may not do a “great” job, but they will over time grow in their note taking.
  • At home talk about how to take notes and even through the service show them what to write where.

Tips:

They still may want to color and draw, let them! We had a rule that they couldn’t do any of that until the preacher is preaching. This allowed them have to participate for at least part of the service. Eventually they participate with the entire service.

After services in the car ask them about what they heard and learned. You might get some off the wall answers, but that is ok your encouraging active listening.

PRO TIP!!! Keep your expectations low. HAHA! Jokes aside…

Over all, just relax parents. Keep showing up, keep talking about expectations, keep praising God and you won’t regret it!

Sermon Notes Download

Sermon Note Pages download. You can use these however you see fit, folder, binder, print for the entire congregation and post on socials. I don’t mind and don’t need credit, just honor God!

If you have tips and tricks leave them in the comments!