Dear friend,

Is it just me, or do you sometimes find it difficult to find the energy and enthusiasm to keep leading a toddler group week after week? I found myself talking openly about it to a friend the other day, so there’s an article below about when it all seems too much...

Anyway, Christmas will be on its way soon, so you’ll find a special edition of Small talk with tips on coping with Christmas with toddlers, which you can give to parents.

Thank you for all your comments and ideas. I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading them. And I’ve included a couple of my own seasonal craft ideas in this issue – let me know how you get on with them!

God bless,

Naomi Buckler, Care for the Family
www.careforthefamily.org.uk/playtime

PS As we mentioned in the last issue, the Playtime web pages are in the process of moving across to Care for the Family’s Engage website, so you may notice some changes.

It was just after I’d written an article about all the things to do to get ready for the new term, when my toddler group was about to restart and I hadn’t done any of them! So I emailed a friend:

“At the moment I’m trying to get myself motivated to start our toddler group again tomorrow. We haven’t had a chance to meet up as a team (because of holidays) and so it all seems to be on my shoulders, and I do find running the group so hard.

Here’s a round-up of what’s on around the country at the beginning of 2009...

Children’s Ministry Conference: Eastbourne, Friday 23 to Sunday 25 January

Once again this year there is a specialist ‘Under 5s’ stream. You’ll hear from several people who have been guest speakers at Care for the Family’s Playtime conferences in the past – so we know they are good! You can visit their website to find out more. There are also a few free places available.

Scripture Union Tiddlywinks Training – Ministry with Under 5s: London, Saturday 7 March

Working with young children is a demanding but exciting ministry, with a growing recognition within the church. Explore how young children develop and express their faith, and how this can be nurtured this through a variety of activities. Find out more on the Scripture Union website.

World Book Day: Thursday 5 March

You can now register your toddler group for the free £1 book tokens and find out more at www.worldbookday.com

I thought I'd tell you about a couple of seasonal crafts that have been very popular in my own toddler group. Be warned – the soapy snowmen craft is great fun, but messy!

Balloon calendars

This craft provides an opportunity to practise threading, and looks effective all year round.

• Draw a balloon shape (see photo) and photocopy onto coloured heavy paper or card.
• Cut out the balloon and punch holes top and bottom as shown.
• The children can then thread through ribbon or curling ribbon and attach to a calendar tab – you’ll need a bit of sellotape to hold it in place on the back.
• You can decorate the balloon. We even cut out a photo of our family and stuck it on so that we were ‘in the basket’ and gave them out as Christmas presents to relatives.

This issue of 'Small talk' is full of tips for parents about coping with Christmas and toddlers!

Email me if you have ideas for what topics we could include in 'Small talk' in the future. And please do let the parents in your group know about the support Care for the Family offers families. They can find out more by visiting www.careforthefamily.org.uk

Colour PDF for printing as a poster
Black and white PDF for photocopying

It's been fantastic to get lots of feedback from you all. Read on to hear a selection of your questions and comments and bright ideas. Keep sending them in and we'll try to include as many as possible in future issues.

“I love getting the Playtime newsletter. It always has fantastic ideas in it. Unfortunately the July 2008 one came too late for those of us here in Scotland. We broke up at the end of June for the school summer holidays. This meant that we missed the opportunity of giving out the ‘ideas for the holidays’ sheet or indeed the newsletter itself. Maybe it would be possible to have a Scottish version or just email a few weeks earlier.” Katharine, Aberdeenshire

Naomi says: “Thank you – we’ll try to remember for 2009!”

The information in this newsletter is supplied in good faith, but Care for the Family cannot accept responsibility for any advice or recommendations made by other organisations, resources or websites.