An amazing amount of development takes place in the first three years of life.
Although some choose to simply provide basic creche or nursery care for this age group, there is also a real opportunity for these children to have guided spiritual growth in a classroom setting.
Much of the material provided on this website relates to children aged 3 years and older. Infants and toddlers can benefit more from age-specific material. This age group can learn lessons such as “God Made the World,” “God Made Me,” and “God Loves Me.” Click here for free Curriculum for 0-2 year olds to Download and Print.
Age-Appropriate Teaching Methods
- Repetitive activities and routines: Knowing what to expect and being able to use skills are both comforting and confidence-building to young children. Children of this age rarely get “bored.” Infants and toddlers have a great time when teachers sing the same songs over and over and bring out familiar teaching objects one-by-one.
- Sensory experiences: Everything is learned through the senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing and seeing. Use all of these in your teaching to connect children to God and His Word.
- Curriculum: Most of the teaching material on this website relates to children aged three and older, but infants and toddlers (ages 0-2) will need some special attention specifically relating to their learning needs.
Click here for free Curriculum to Download and Print
Teaching Tips
Infants
- Teachers who teach this age group should be loving and able to make the children feel secure. They should create a safe space in which children can explore and move around.
- When young infants begin attending Bible class, they are likely to simply observe what is going on around them. Involvement increases with age.
- Infants are centred on themselves and their own physical needs. They crave security and are unable to control their emotions. In fact, their emotions are often controlled by their physical needs.
- Some of the first ways infants might participate in Bible class include patting a Bible, ringing a welcome bell and looking in a mirror.
- You will probably need at least one adult helper in this class.
Toddlers
- Teachers who teach toddlers should centre activities around things the toddlers can touch and see. They should model patience and understanding and provide calm interactions and safe boundaries for this sometimes very energetic age group. The rhythm of song and poetry can help set the tone for your time with the children.
- As they approach their third birthday, toddlers are mastering new skills such as drawing, doing puzzles and imaginary play. They still struggle to control their emotions and have genuine difficulty understanding concepts such as sharing.
- Toilet training is usually going on at this stage, so ask parents to take their child to the toilet before your time together starts.
Relating To the Bible at This Age
- Allow the infants and toddlers to hold small Bibles. They should be inexpensive because they will inevitably be chewed, pulled apart and torn.
- Show the children how to hold the Bible carefully and how to turn the pages.
- Place a sticker of Jesus inside the front cover so the children can “find Jesus” when they hold their bibles.
- Hold the Bible in front of each child, in turn, and slide your finger along as you “read” from it. I usually read, “God Loves Suzy,” (inserting the child’s name), or “God loves Mummy,” or “God loves Daddy.”
Other Helpful Online Resources
- The ABC’s of Spiritual Growth
- How to Sing With Toddlers
- Free Tunes for Many Children’s Songs (adapt words to fit your Bible class)
- Baby Growth and Development
- Toddler Growth and Development
- Child Development
- Play and Developmental Stages
Thank you. I always struggle with how to teach this age, and your plans/suggestions help.
Thank you, Dawn. I hope you will continue to find the materials helpful. What a blessing to introduce God to children at such a young age.
May God continue to bless you and the children you teach,
Mary
Thank you so much for sharing the Infant & Toddler Curriculum! Your resources are amazing and very complete! The downloadable lessons are particularly useful for me since I’ve been assigned as the leader in the newly-created Infant (1 year olds) group at my local church in Monterrey, Mexico, and had no idea as to how or where to start creating bible lessons appropriate for the age. This site has given me insight and activity ideas pertinent to this young age group. I’m starting out simply translating your work for the first lessons until I am able to create some series of my own with other themes.
Thank you again for sharing, and may God bless you and keep increasing your wisdom in your continuous growth in Christ.
Hi Barbara, I’m so glad you are able to use the lessons in Monterrey. I’d love to hear about the lessons you create in the future. May God bless you as you teach these little ones.
Xin chao! Thank you so much for those free downloadable lessons for infants. It’s really a BIG blessing to our Filipino church here in Vietnam. Our church will be launching a Babies’ Bible Class every Sunday this 2017 and I was worried where to find a suitable material for that class in a country where Christian literature is scarce. When I’ve read through the lessons you’ve prepared, it gave me hope and courage to start our Babies’ Bible Class. Thank you and God bless us all!
Hi Olive
How exciting that your church is going to be launching a babies’ Bible class. I’m so happy Mission Bible Class can play a small part in that!
God bless you as you teach children in Vietnam.