Toddlers & movement

Thought about you guys while I was sitting in a waiting room last night watching toddlers with their relatively short attention spans, leaning to use language and social skills (talking to a friendly stranger in long sentences but I couldn't understand the little guy - something about a truck out the window), moving moving moving. Walking, running, climbing.

Which says incorporate as much gross motor into your lessons as you can. Ok. An example? Like walking around Jericho 7 times.  Save all your churches Amazon book boxes and tape them closed which will give you big cheap building  blocks. Build a wall with the kids and tell the Jericho story or sing a song and march around the wall and then make it fall down. I bet you can do that at least 5 times and keep their attention.  Abraham walking, taking a long trip. What will they bring? Put it in a bag. Walk around the room a couple of times. "Oh, I'm so hot!" "I'm tired. Are you tired?" Where will they sleep? Make a tent. Go to sleep. Wake up. Fill the bag. Pick up the tent. More walking. That kind of thing.

Look at this week's Bible story and see if you can tell the story with movement. Lots of movement. Simple movement. Walk. Run, March. Stretch, Make yourself big. Make yourself little.  Fast/Slow, Tip toe,  Stop/Freeze. (You might have to practice that one.) Show them. Do it with them. Make it fun. Use movement in your story telling.

I'm not saying they will intellectually remember and be able to regurgitate what you're teaching them but they will remember the activity and they will remember the fun and they will associate it with church and God and maybe someday it will be another small building block as they grow faith.

Oh...remember...Toddlers aren't the only age group that like to move!