What would you like to see

[MrsR]

At a parent and tots group? We're starting one tomorrow at church and I just wanted to gather some ideas from other parents we have arts and crafts area, baby/younger toddler area and a toddler/older children area. Do you like games to be played? Do you prefer it to be quite free or more structured? We're also offering juice, milk, tea and biscuits at 'circle time' plus some singing. Any and all ideas are welcome!

 

[xxbeckyxx]

I like mine because it's quite structured - there are always 2 'leaders' who help get conversations started if there are lots of new mums so everyone gets involved, otherwise sometimes it can get a bit cliquey.
Is your 'baby area' safe enough to lay babies down/put them down in car seats etc, without being bothered by the toddlers? Cos I don't like to have my coffee when holding Lizzie (too clumsy!), so it's good to have somewhere they can lay and look at toys etc if poss

 

[MrsR]

Yeah we've got the foam click together flooring, play gyms, bouncers etc in the baby baby area so parents can pop babys on there and I'll be supervising that area then there's a row of back to back chairs separating that area and the older toddler area (which has a small climbing frame, trikes, cars, a hone corner, tunnels etc) the younger toddler area is next to the baby area but seperate and the toys include mega blocks, cars car mats, musical instruments etc

Thank you so much for answering x

 

[Elfs Mummy]

My church one sounds quite similar at ours we have four/ five sections at one end of the hall we have the baby area next to the coffee and craft area and at the other end we have a home area, happy land, tents and cars and then lego things. so the stuff for the slightly older children. We had it quite sectioned of to begin with but changed that when we became bigger i find it really works having the baby area next to the coffee section as Mums can chat etc and not have to worry about baby. We always have a story which is lovely and they have their biscuits during the story so they sit down and listen, we found that as the children got older they struggled to sit down and stay in the same place so the children each made a placemat with their name on and they love sitting on them (idk why but it seems to work well) last week we only had one little boy start running around and causing mayhem (was really funny watching his Mum chace him) we make sure that every week follows the same structure so the children know what to expect and so do the Mums. Good Luck

 

[MrsR]

Thanks for the ideas! Yeah sounds scarily similar! Lol x oooooh placemats sound like a good idea. We're gonna have free play til 11 then tidy up and circle time. I was wondering if you guys would prefer a choice of fruit or biscuits on offer at circle time? Also do you think it might be beneficial for us to have a specific 'tidy up' song?

 

[amyjayne77]

CAKE lol!!!

Only joking. I have never been to a m&b group cos I'm scared it will all be full of good friends who might be a bit cliquey. I don't know why, I'm quite a confident person now, but was very shy at school so maybe that's where it came from. If it was quite structured in that there was someone to initiate conversation in the groups of mums I'd be happier going. Biscuits and fruit for the kids sounds like a nice choice! And yea cake! lol

 

[MrsR]

I'm loving the cake idea

Yeah I'm going to make sure that if anyone looks left out that I talk to them and bring them into the group x it'll be a really really good thing for me as I'm quite shy and tend to panic about what people think of me x

 

[Elfs Mummy]

We have a tidy up time bell that one of the children rings at 11 !! they take it in turns each wweek xx

 

[MrsR]

Does it work well?

 

[Elfs Mummy]

Yup and they all 'help' tidying up very cute

 

[MrsR]

Yay! Thank you all so much for your answers x

 

[tinkerbell86]

Yeah keeping everyone involved and trying to avoid getting big clicks so people aren't pushed out!!

 

[MrsR]

Well it went really really really well! There were no cliques and we made sure we chatted to the parents as well as interacted with the children. It was brilliant! We had circle time with biscuits and juice for the children and tea and coffee for the adults then sang games which got the children picking things out of bags, sharing and doing actions! Loved it and realised how much I miss being a nursery nurse

 

[charliebear]

Glad it went well.

AJ's groups are quite structured and he responds well to it. He'll play then tidy up when its time, and go and sit down for snack and smoothies then over to the carpet for songs and stories.

Where in the NE are you? x

 

[MrsR]

I'm in Middlesbrough

The children were brilliant and took the cue to tidy up really really well! We have a special needs child too and he did exceptionally well!

 

[PinkPunch]

Sounds like you did a great job Helen! Are your songs/stories biblical?

 

[MrsR]

We have a goodbye song that our leader made up that goes along the lines of 'thank you God for all our friends' and 'thank you God for lots of fun' which at the end we say a group 'aaaaaaaamen!' but we're slowly going to introduce more biblical songs (like 'father Abraham') with lots of movements and joining in each week x it's a slow intro for parents that have never been to church rather than a massive bombardment

 

[Sam's Mum]

Glad it went so well I might have to steal some ideas too! I run our local one with a couple of other mums so we're always looking for new stuff. Does anyone have any ideas for people they get to visit etc? We have visits from baby sing & sign, a music school, guide dogs, police etc. but would love to hear more ideas if anyone's had visits from anyone else!