A few months ago, I desperately asked for your help with any ideas on how to get a toddler to sit through church… we were definitely struggling. Now, Ledger rarely needs to be taken out and Sunday’s are much better! Here’s what took from your comments.
Quite a few people suggested not letting Ledger play at all. They said he will eventually learn how to sit there…This did NOT work for us. Our goal is to eventually get him to go without toys, but for right now, we have to keep him busy. We do try to put off toys as long as we can, our goal being after the sacrament.
I created a church bag, and this is what we packed yesterday. He only gets to play with these items on Sundays, which makes church very exciting for him.
My bag always includes:
- Some sort of snacks. I love packing raisins, cheese, or marshmallows because they don’t make a mess. Goldfish or pretzels usually end up in there as well.
- His Sippy with apple juice.
- Stickers! I found Thomas the Train stickers at Target and he LOVES them. (If anyone sees anymore let me know!)
- A coloring book & crayons or his Color Wonder marker book. Color Wonder is great because the markers only write in the book.
- Picture books that I rotate, and there is usually a religious one about Jesus.
- We bought his Cars magnet book at Deseret Book, and that seems to keeps him busy the longest.
- My SIL made this mat for him, and we LOVE it. If sitting on the hard chairs, we put the mat down and it helps reduce the banging. I usually pack 2 cars along with it.
- And the biggest HELP OF ALL is when he is naughty and needs to be taken out, we make sure he is never put down. We try to make leaving the room more of a punishment than staying in the chapel.
- I hope to make some quiet books in the future. Do you know of any great online tutorials? I’d love to make one before the twins arrive.
One mom said that it helps to let her kids get some energy out before church. With one o'clock church, we decided to give it a shot, and even walked to church in the brisk 40 degrees. I think it helped, and he stayed in the chapel the entire meeting :)
Still want more ideas? Click here for the actual post, and you can read ALL the comments and suggestions. There’s some great ones!
What a nice post. Our chapel tends to be very noisy. I think it's great you are making an effort. :)
ReplyDeleteSome people might find this macabre but I think it's funny. The bad guy's arms snap off when Ammon defends the sheep. http://laurathoughts81.blogspot.ca/2011/06/quiet-book-week-ammon-protects-sheep.html She has several fun pages but that one's my favourite.
ReplyDeleteHa sounds interesting, can't wait to take a look!
DeleteGlad Ledger is doing better for you. I have some quiet books pinned from pinterest that I have been wanting to make. I have also seen popsicle sticks and you cut up a church picture and they have to put it together, like a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad things are going much better! My friend made a way cute quiet book. Here is the tutorial/ideas for the book: http://craftingwithheart.blogspot.com/2011/06/quiet-book.html
ReplyDeleteMaybe it will help give you ideas. Another idea is in my old Presidency our young women group made quiet books for our service project at girls camp for all the kids in our nursery (not too many) so it worked nicely. Instead of felt and velcro we used paper and laminated everything. Then used magnets for all the pieces and covered an old binder with a picnic table cloth cause it was soft but still water proof (easy to clean up). I liked the idea but it probably works better for older kids because the magnets are a bit more tricky but it was more quiet then velcro. These quiet books had the theme of Noah's ark and other church stories for the activities. Good luck.
Love the idea of the service project!
DeleteHere is a link to an ABC book that I made for my toddler, it's all church themed. She loves it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/84904196@N07/
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteOne more tip, as the kids get older there are great church activity books out there, but rather then having to buy one for each kid, just buy one of each kind and photocopy the pages for them to use over and over. Be realistic until they are 10-12 they are going to need a little something to get them through so keep it church related and then they can learn something, and they don't need to do it the whole time, but they will need breaks. After that if they really need a break they can read their scriptures, my 16 year old is special needs and he will generally read his scriptures about 75% of the time, but at least he is being quiet. Even right now for our toddler all his books and toys are church related and he is excited because they are his Sunday things and he only gets to use them on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteIf we do take our toddler out for a punishment, we don't make it fun. We make them sit there on the couch.
ReplyDeleteWhat GREAT news! I am glad he is doing better! What GREAT ideas too! Thank you for sharing! I have a friend who has a cute quiet book, I will have to see if she has a pattern and let you know! I have also seen laminated file folders with church pictures and things to match using velcro. It doesn't have to just be church pictures either, I have one that has the ABC's.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for sharing! Have a GREAT week! Much love!
Glad you are making headway....I really think it is just the age. Too much energy, too close to nap time, too much stimulation, too many other distractions. I figure they call them the "terrible-two's" because it lasts two years. Seriously, my son (and now my grandson) were like little tazmanians at that age and they started at about 18 months and it ended for my son at about 3 1/2. My grandson is almost 3 but really challenging in public places where he loves to throw fits. But alas, they grow out of it nd then as a mom, you'll wonder where the time went. But once Ledger learns the ropes then....two little boys will take Ledger's place!! By the time they come along, he will be doing just fine. The pictures of him all dressed up in his Sunday best with his hair just all styled are just adorable. He's so cute!!
ReplyDeleteSuch great help!! Thanks for sharing! I am going to try that "not putting them down" thing when we have to go out. I would definitely try the quiet book as well because we can usually get about 10 minutes of stillness out of our little girl with it, and she's not a kid who EVER really sits still. I just searched "quiet book" on pinterest and found my favorite pages and copied them!
ReplyDeleteI know each church/religion is different but I give you parents SO much credit who take their children into service with them. In our church we have preschool ministry where children newborn through Kindergarten go to designated classrooms to learn about God, etc. (obviously the newborns aren't learning much, but it's a starting point! :)) Kids don't sit in service with us until they are in 1st grade. I just can't even imagine trying to keep a toddler quiet/entertained during the sermon while also trying to pay attention and get something from the sermon myself! :) My son just started sitting with us in September and it's hard enough keeping him still and he's SEVEN! ;) Again, I give you SO much credit!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGoogle "Gospel ABC's Quiet Book". It's a super cute idea that you can personalize! You can use family pictures for quite a few of the letters (E for eternal families with a picture of your wedding day, D for daddy, M for mommy, L for ledger, P for preslee, etc). The link that connects you to "theideadoorflies" site had cute idea for what to do for all the letters.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of waiting until after the passing of the sacrement. It teaches the importance of sitting quietly/reverantly. During this time, I will whisper in little ears Bible or Book of Mormon stories. But we don't give out snacks until the Priesthood holders are sitting with their families.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow up post. As a mother of twin toddlers, one thing I've learned that might be helpful in a year or so for you is you need 2 of the exact same thing for church. Our girls always want the toy their sister has and it doesn't matter how many different toys I have. I have to have 2 of everything for church. At home I make them share and take turns, but church is harder when they start fighting over it.
ReplyDeletehow to make the best quiet book.... get about 10 ladies together who are interested. Have 10 (or more) of ideas you could choose from and each person pick an idea and make 10 of them. It is so much easier to make 10 of one thing (and cheaper) than buying small amounts of 10 different ideas. Put your items in a large zip lock and have a swapping party. You can explain what your bag is and hand them out. I got a bunch of really cute things that I would never think or have the skills to do :) It was way fun! Only down side is it's not a book, it's 10 bags you get but it's kinda nice to just grab 2 or 3 different bags each week for church. The kids love it! Our favs have been the felt cut out ice cream sunday stacking, or snow man felt men, some have buttoning things, laminated puzzles with cars pictures, popsicle sticks with colored dots and you match them up with felt shaped popsicles, mini chalk boards, stringing beads, sewing thick felt shapes that are hole punched with shoe string. There are more I can't remember :) Have fun! Your little guy is getting so big! I love reading your blog :)
ReplyDeletehey, I went to look for magnet books on ebay, and I found this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thomas-Magnetic-Play-Book-Thomas-Friends-/321077478632?pt=US_Childrens_Books&hash=item4ac1b584e8 maybe that can take place of the Thomas stickers??
ReplyDeleteDo you have one of the squishy photo albums for kids? Mine loved seeing the family photos and you can swap them out often.
ReplyDeleteLedger's hair is so cute like this!! he is so darling. I totally understand the sacrament struggle..we switched to morning which helped a lot..it's just this age but we are making progress as well and I need to copy a few of these tips also!! Miss ya!
ReplyDeleteLot's of fun ideas. I haven't had toddlers for a while, but what helped the most believe it or not was 'practicing' appropriate reverent behaviour on week days, usually during fhe. I believe all children should learn to be able to sit quetly on command for about an hour if necessary. Quiet books and church books are great, but never until after sacrament. As they got older, they could have word puzzles and drawing supplies too. But I never saw the need for snacks...? They have a snack in nursery - I don't see why they would need a snack in sacrament meeting too? I also agree on holding them /making being taken out less appealing than staying in. Sigh. I was so much better at parenting toddlers than teens... Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite quiet toys was an I spy bag- like a bean bag with a clear plastic window and fun things to find inside, like plastic animals, ABC's numbers, and shapes, this is great for the car too:) I love the idea of a swap too, so clever!
ReplyDeleteI totally need these tips soon! Thanks for this post! I pinned it for later!
ReplyDeleteWe are going through this same thing right now with our 2 year old. Thank you for sharing. I think I'm going to try a few of your ideas. :) Ledger looks SO CUTE in his Sunday Best!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother quiet activity for kids during church is flat, black, round magnets. My grandkids love to line the magnets up all over the hymn book and then gather them all up with another magnet. It keeps them entertained for a long time. All ages like this - from age 2 to our 8 year old.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete