Creative Ways to Teach Babies in the Church Nursery

A church nursery isn’t just about babysitting — it’s about teaching! Use these creative ways to teach babies and help them learn about God.

Point That Finger

While pointing may be considered an impolite gesture, for babies it’s a critical building block for speech development. Pointing is a nonverbal way to communicate and teaches babies about back-and-forth communication. A baby may point at a cup and an adult’s response will be, “Do you want the cup?” Not only is the baby communicating a need, but the adult’s response also places a word with the desired object. Help babies build their faith vocabulary by pointing at these items while children are in the nursery:

•  Jesus: Point to a picture of Jesus and tell babies his name. Associate the relationship we can have with Jesus by sharing affirming truths as you point: “Jesus loves you, Kelsey,” or “Jesus protects you, Tyler.”
• Church: Display a picture of your church building or go outside and point at the building, telling babies this is the church where they come to learn about Jesus.
• Bible: Point at a Bible and say, “That’s a Bible. It teaches us about Jesus.”

Birth Announcement Wishes

Let everyone know when a new baby is born at your church and create a special memento for the parents at the same time.

Ask new parents for a photo of their newborn and the baby’s vital statistics, such as birth date, height, weight, and name. Then create a decorative birth certificate with the information and place the photo and certificate behind a mat board. Hang the announcement in your nursery check-in area, and encourage families to write congratulation wishes on the mat with a permanent marker.

When the mat is full of good wishes, place the entire birth announcement in a frame and deliver it to parents as a gift from your church families and nursery.

Share Bear

Babies learn to be kind to each other as they share this bear. You’ll need a stuffed bear and a timer.

Introduce a stuffed bear and tell babies they’ll each hold the bear during class. Give the bear to one child and set the timer for three minutes. When the timer sounds, the child chooses someone who hasn’t yet had a turn with the bear.

Talk about caring for and sharing with friends. Remind kids that Jesus wants us to be kind.

Kate Wicker
Scottsdale, Georgia

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