Toddler Jam
a musical playgroup for children and their carers
 I have just relocated from Perth, Australia to the UK to start work in family and children’s ministry at St. Joseph’s church. I actually ran this group back in Australia in a suburban church (St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Wanneroo). The average numbers at the group were about 35 – 40 children, about 25-30 families (although we had 40+ families on the register).
The group began 5 years ago, after I saw the idea at a Kids’ Ministry expo. The idea came from a Worship Pastor at a Baptist church in Perth who has a real heart for music and for kids and families. The unique thing about the group is that we offered live music, not CDs. We had a piano player (who was very skilled) and each week he would play and I would sing as we led the kids together. We had a mixture of songs which included action songs and nursery rhymes, we had a couple of percussion songs where the kids used plastic plates as cymbals and another where they had musical instruments. We also used a bubble machine and scarves in a quieter song and also had a quiet song where all the kids lay on the floor with their teddy bears for some chill out time.
 Another important thing about the group was that it was for all children 4 and under, so siblings could attend together (with their parents of course). Some musical activities are age group specific which is harder to juggle for Mums with other young children. We also made it a casual attendance so people didn’t have to pay term fees in advance. This was mostly really good, except when we started to get bigger!
The group format was to have a picture book story to start, then 35-40 mins of music time. This was followed by morning tea (included in the fees) for both kids and carers and then a relaxed playtime for the kids while the Mums had some time to chat. We brought out the toys from the crèche and set up tables for drawing, playdough etc.
 The main purpose of this group was friendship/relationship evangelism with the Mums. As well as building friendships in the group we also invited them to women’s events, parenting courses, church family events, special all age services and Exploring Christianity groups. No huge responses in terms of people becoming Christians, but some definitely came along to various things and heard the gospel – and God is working in their lives. We certainly had contact with over 40 families we’d never met before. They came into the church building which many of them had not done before and they became aware of what else was happening, and that God’s people were really just like them and the church had something to offer. We certainly made it clear we were Christians and sometimes included Christian kids’ songs in the music programme. We had Mums’ night outs as well, which were good for relationship building.
We also obviously cared for the kids as well and made it a fun, safe place for them to be. Most children gained in confidence as time went by and loved being involved. It was nice to be able to serve the Mums too, in terms of morning tea etc – give them some care too.
The group started off 5 years ago with about 10 children and mainly through word of mouth grew and grew. My last week at the group there were about 50 children there – a special farewell of course, but nevertheless those families were all on our books. Apart from myself and the piano player we had others helping with welcoming/taking fees and serving morning tea. Also some church families came who saw it as a ministry not just another group to bring their own children along to.
I certainly think something like this could be started elsewhere and be very successful. I am hoping to develop something similar in the church at Merry Hill.
Liz, St. Joseph’s Church, Merry Hill, Wolverhampton |
