Welcome to our Little Resources material!
As a Church, we believe in covenantal theology. We believe in the place of all generations in our church family. We believe in the passing on of our faith to our children. We want to encourage churches to make sure that this includes the tiniest members of our church families – the under-5s.
This resource is a collection of materials that will help you with this vital ministry. The idea is that it will be constantly added to and updated as we collect more materials to help with ministry this age group. You can also make recommendations to add to it as you try different things.
The resource includes:
- Articles: these include articles written for our own denominational magazines and those from outside of PCI that we have been given permission to share.
- Teaching options: there are some options for teaching materials for this age group and we want to make sure that you know what those are and how to access them easily.
- Event plans: we are planning to pilot six different types of event over three years for the under-5s and then to give you everything that your congregation, group of churches or presbytery would need to run similar events in your local area. We will do everything we can to support you in this.
- Reading material: there are some great books and reading materials out there to help us think about ministry with this age. This section includes reviews of some of these. Please feel free to recommend any books to us that we can include in this section.
We are excited to work together to make ministry with under-5s within our denomination the best that it can be as the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
This section includes articles that have been written for our denominational magazines, the Presbyterian Herald and Reachout, and other publications, e.g. Childrenswork magazine and from Care for the Family resources.
Childrenswork magazine (www.childrenswork.co.uk) is a UK written and based magazine for leaders full of ideas and stories about how to minister to children within the Christian context. They offer a free copy of their latest magazine on request and also subscription rates.
Care for the Family is a national charity which aims to promote strong family life and to help those who face family difficulties. Part of the work that they do is called Playtime and provides support and advice for anyone interested in engaging with young families in a toddler group setting. Toddler groups are a lifeline to the parents, carers and toddlers who come along each week. They are also an extremely accessible ‘first step’ into the church for these families.
Toddle Into Church
The Good Parent Guide for Parent and Toddler Groups
Such as these...
What does Sesame Street have to teach our pre-school ministry
Worship for Children
More than a Story
Can Preschoolers really worship?
This section contains some teaching resources that are available for this age group. There is not a massive range available although it is a growing market. If you have tried anything that has worked well and would like to tell others, please feel free to contact us with the information and we can add it to the resources recommended.
The resources here include:
First Look (Orange)
Tiddlywinks (Scripture Union)
Bubbles (Scripture Union)
Gospel Story for Kids
Gospel Project for Kids
Playful songs and Bible Stories (Group Publishing)
Big Big God
Encylopedia of Bible Crafts for Preschoolers
Play through the Bible
This section includes the outlines of pilot events that have been run by PCI or locall congregations and all the resources needed are included to allow you, your congregation or your presbytery to replicate the event. We plan to run at least one event each year aimed at 0-4 year-olds in different places and then add the information needed here.
Events include:
Little Day Out to Streamvale Farm
Baby and Toddlers Praise Party
Little Day Out to the Teddy Bear's Picnic
Little Day Out Christmas
Possible other events coming soon:
- Little Day Out Easter
- Little Day Out Football
- Little Day Out Overseas
This section contains some other reading that you might like to do about ministry with the under-5s and also some other resources that are good to consider in the wider scope of ministry with this age group.
Let's Stick Together
Starting School
Working With Under-5s
Wonderfully Made
Parentalk