I've taught K-2nd grade before, but I've never taught the babies-2 age group, which is what I'll be teaching this summer.

How much time should their lesson be (since their attention span won't be all that long)? What kind of activities can you do with them?

Any and all pointers for this age group would be appreciated!

Something we have done for the past several years with our babies-two classes is to make little t-shirts or oneies with the kids. last year they put the child's hand print on the shirt in brown paint and then took their fist to make a white ball in the 'glove' They then wrote VBS '07 and the child's name on the shirt. They would then dress them in the shirts and take several pictures of the kids for mom & dad.
most of the time for the babies and even younger ones, the schedule is determined by the needs of the child with short teachable moments thrown in the mix. Our Twos can go by a set schedule in very small amounts of time. Our kids will go to music, outside to play & have snacks and even crafts. Bring in new toys and ideas in the teaching material so the kids will know it is different from Sunday school. Be sure to send something home everyday even if it a simple picture that you wrote on and they 'colored'. There is some cool paints and markers that mark only on the special paper. check the books for these paints and markers for a tropical set that the kids could share for the week. (will leave a faint mark on the wall but not in the color of the pen or marker, more like a water mark! Learned about that one the hard way!!!)

This time is not just a baby-sitting time. check out the teacher's kit and guide for the age group. Lots & lots of fun stuff planned jsut for them. Take advantage of the teachable moments you will have each day!

Thank you! That's a great idea!

I haven't gotten my teacher's kit yet, I'm supposed to get it Wednesday night. But I knew I didn't want it to be just "play time" or babysitting.

Thanks again!

I really enjoy working with Babies-2s in Sunday School and VBS. Usually I set up the suggested learning centers and as children choose and participate in the different activities teachers share Bible story conversation, Bible phrase, etc. This way they will hear the Bible story and phrase multiple times during the session. It also helps them relate the Bible truths to what they are doing.

I've also found that snack time is a great time to tell/review the Bible story.

This is the first year that I will be directing babies through three year olds. I have been told that last year the activities were over andthere was still lots of time left in the schedule. Since two and three year olds have short attention spans, what is everyone doing to keep the children interested and learning during the three hour time block? We are considering adding more crafts and activities..

Please pray for me as I take this on...

We plan to make an additional sand play room to entertain the babies-3's. (don't use the regular room that the kids will spend the majority of the time in because the sand gets very messy) We will take an empty room cover the floors with tarps and bring in several sand boxes. This will work great for the island theme as well. The little ones loved getting to play in the sand (wthout the blazing sun).

JJB, that's a great idea if you have the space to do it! Unfortunately we don't, but thanks for the suggestion, We may be able to utilize it next year if God allows us to finish our building. God bless you VBS.

As a cheap alternative, I take plastic storage containers of sand and put under the outisde pavillion. The kids can play in the sand and I put the cover on when we leave for the evening. We can easily sweep the concrete floor at the end of VBS. While they are out there, I sometimes give them a small bucket of water and foam brushes and tell them we are painting for a mission project. They love that.

Moon Sand!! I will be teaching babies-2 for the first time and wanted a sand station in the room. Moon Sand is that fabulous stuff that works like sand, modable etc. but is less messy becuase it wants to stay together, and it doesn't dry out. Now since I have a samll number planning to be there, I went ahead and ordered it. But I have seen places on the web where you can make this stuff. The you can go to Wal MArt...buy beach toys and cookie molds for the to build and make things with. Of course, beware of the $100.oo cover charge to get out of wal-mart, especioally with VBS on the brain.