Archdiocese of Baltimore

Comment

Comment by Michele on August 1, 2009 at 11:38am

That sounds great!

Comment by Jamie Mc on July 31, 2009 at 7:29am

We are offering a nursery complete with toys, books, coloring, and such for parents of little ones who want to go to Mass and pray in peace. It will be a little like Sunday school for them, as I'm planning to have a small faith related activity which I'm hoping to be able to match to the readings for the week or a Saint or other feast of the Church. But with little ones I know that sometimes they'd rather just play, so I'm going to keep it pretty flexible. Our parish doesn't have a cry room and I know of some parents who won't go to Mass because they think their kids are too loud or "wild" to be in Mass. I'm hoping this will help those parents to get to mass and maybe give them a start point if they are having trouble talking to the little ones about our faith.

Comment by Michele on July 30, 2009 at 9:39pm

Wow. God bless you for taking that challenge! So Nursery Ministry...is that like the Sunday School program for nursery aged children or more like when some parishes pull little kids out of Mass during the readings and homily? I don't have experience with either, but I do love googling!

There are some good links to crafts, coloring and other ideas pulling from our Church calendar for kids here. http://www.catholicmom.com/catholic_kids.htm
specifically coloring here...
http://www.catholicmom.com/coloring_pages.htm

This also looked like it has some interesting resources.
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/lessonplans.htm

Lots more out there but I'm not certain age, time limit, etc. that you have to work with.

Off the top of my head...I'd say try to stick to:
*basic Catholic prayers and encouraging recitation from memory
*as many "lessons" and activities as you possibly can that are linked to the church calendar (ie: what time of year we are in, colors they will see that go with that time,etc.) to help them understand the Church year
*celebrating holy people and role models in our Church history - every day is a saint's feast day and they are great inspiration, plus they have great stories and what kid doesn't love a good story?! (: Many have children's videos/dvds out to teach the life of the saint on an elementary level.

Good Luck and we'll keep you and your planning in prayer. God will guide you.
Thanks for posting and keep us updated on how you are doing!

<3
Michele

Comment by Jamie Mc on July 30, 2009 at 3:46pm

Hi I'm Jamie, and I am a mom to two ages 3 and 2 and I coordinate our Church's Nursery Ministry. I just started and its the first time I've taken on something like this, so if anyone has any advice I'd greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!
Jamie

Comment by Michele on June 21, 2009 at 2:02pm

Hi! I too am a SAHM with our one son -14 months. My husband and I have been married for 3.5 years. I turn 30 on Tuesday! (:

Hopefully I'll have some time this week to chat more. Thanks for joining the group ladies! I am new to online socializing and look forward to chatting with other Catholic Moms! (:

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Father's Day.

Comment by Donna Blasdell on June 20, 2009 at 10:23pm

Hi everyone!

I am Donna, a SAHM, married to Richard for 22 years. We have 9 living children ranging in age from 17 down to 2. I am a Catechist with my parish where I teach the kindergartners.
How is everyone doing?