St John’s Toddlers Online During Lockdown
When we started discussing ways to tackle the Coronavirus at Toddlers, little did we know just how innovative we would have to be. What started as a conversation about the strict use of hand gel and the possibility of limiting numbers at our Toddler group, has evolved into a number of online initiatives to support our parents/carers and our team.
When we knew that lockdown was coming, I paired each member of my team with a ‘Moving Buddy’ with the intention that they could phone, encourage and help each other with shopping etc. I have a large team, whose ages range from 19 to 82 and this has enabled us to keep in touch with and support each other.
I also emailed all the parents/carers on our register explaining why we had to shut and attached our Toddler End of Term Easter Service that we had had to cancel, along with links to the songs and stories we would have shared. I also created, and sent out, a list of Ideas for Entertaining Your Young Children During Lockdown including links to stories, songs and activities for toddlers that families could do at home.
Over the past few months I have tried to keep in touch with my team and the Toddler parents by emailing them regularly with information, links to online information/events, the numbers for useful helplines and other resources, including online church events as well as just to keep in touch. We also have a Toddler Group Facebook page.
Once lockdown became established and we realised that it would be extended indefinitely parents began getting in touch saying that their children were really missing us, our story time and our singing sessions. I asked Heidi Adams, our storyteller, if she could film herself reading stories and put them online. She amazingly rose to the challenge, made some films of her-self reading stories, like she does at Toddlers, and she put Toddler Story Time on YouTube! She has continued to read new stories every couple of days and we now have a whole library online.
“...it is so rewarding to hear a child choose ‘My God is So Big!’ as their favourite song...”
I also began receiving requests from parents asking me to try and recreate our Toddler singing sessions online, as their children were missing seeing familiar faces. I spoke with Heidi and we produced ‘Toddler Song Time’ and ‘Toddler Music Time - Fun with Instruments, Scarves and Hats’ which Heidi added to her YouTube channel. These films have enabled the parents to catch 20 minutes peace, with a cup of tea, while their children are entertained, and all of them feel remembered and part of Toddlers again. I have received several emails thanking us for making them as well as WhatsApp films of toddlers singing and dancing along with us!
Having had a conversation with Nathan Burden about how even children of 5 and 6 were finding it hard to understand why, and how, they had to stay 2m apart when they saw friends in the street or the park, I wrote a book called ‘You In Your Safe Bubble and I In Mine.’ Heidi has read this book for the Toddlers and the links to all these initiatives can be found on the Toddler page of the church website.
The lockdown has been a difficult time for many of our congregation and many in our community, not least those with young children. Many have had no access to their support networks and there are many who live in homes with no garden, or even a balcony, to play out in. For this reason, and having had several phone calls with parents who were struggling with feelings of isolation, we decided a few weeks ago to run a Toddler session on Zoom. We meet for 40 minutes on Wednesday mornings to sing, chat and listen to Heidi read a story. We started with a small group but this number is growing as word spreads and others ask to join. It is quite challenging to host, making sure that all the little voices are acknowledged and heard, but it is so rewarding to hear a child choose ‘My God is So Big!’ as their favourite song, or to see a whole group of children, on screen, simultaneously smile and bounce enthusiastically as they join in the songs and story with us.
“I am really missing Toddlers, my wonderful team and my small friends and their families...”
This unprecedented time has really made us dig deep and use our creativity to reach and support Toddler families. But it has also presented us with opportunities to reach out to people, to show them love and compassion, and have conversations about faith and God that we might not otherwise have had. Just last week, while delivering some Blessing Bags, containing craft activities, toys and snacks for a rainy day, to some of our Toddler families, I was able to have several conversations about faith over fear, and about prayer and God’s protection, that I would not usually have the chance to have.
I am really missing Toddlers, my wonderful team and my small friends and their families, who we long to welcome back, support and comfort with a smile, a chat and a cup of tea. But for now, these initiatives have enabled us to keep in touch with each other. And through these initiatives we have been able to drop messages, links and songs about God’s love into homes who might otherwise not have heard them.
Please pray that these messages will bear fruit and that God will show us what our next project should be. Thank you.
Kate Diwakar
Toddler Pastor
If you would like to find out more about these resources, get in touch with Kate.