Rays of Sunshine: Keeping Kids Quiet At Church

How do YOU keep your kids quiet during church services? I've been collecting ideas about ways to keep kids quiet in church, so PLEASE share your ideas!

For me, it's Wednesday! That means heading off to the library to get books for Samuel. I have learned that if I get him some awesome books about snakes, dinosaurs, cars, skeletons, jungle animals, etc. and DON'T let him see them until church time, our mid-week service is alot more peaceful! He will sit and look at those books for almost the whole service. This is awesome, as anyone attending church with small, hyper kids will understand. Olivia is much easier; she is usually happy with her blankie, a dollie or purse, and maybe one or two small toys.

Another trick: gummy worms. The kids love them and offer to share with their friends, which I'm sure the parents love. Also, Samuel likes to tie his into knots before eating, or his favorite thing is to pretend that it's a snake, inching its way all around the seats, on the floor, etc. This is good for 10-15 minutes of quiet! I've also been known to bring other kinds of candy. Sshhh, please don't report me to the Bad Parent Police! haha...but like this week; I found some SweetTarts on sale and yes, am planning to take them to church to dole out one by one. Bribery is awesome for keeping the kids quiet.

My friend Cheyenne uses orange tic-tacs (why orange, I wonder). She said this keeps her son, Huck, quiet for awhile. She also heard from a friend about using plain scotch tape! You take some, let the kids have pieces, and they have fun sticking it on things, pulling it back off, etc.

I found that the traditional "Monkey's In A Barrel" is awesome at our church, because the bottom of the chairs have metal bars that the monkey's can be hung from. This kept Olivia quiet once for a LONG time! I was raving to everyone afterwards!

A favorite idea that lots of mothers told me even when Samuel was just a baby: keep some really fun (quiet) toys separate and never let the kids play with them, except at church. That way they are 'new' and fun. My friend Frances rotates her bag of church toys for her son; sometimes he has his safari animals, then the next week it will be his cars, and then his Toy Story toys. And of course, my friend Tara writes her son's name on his toys because our church has about a million little kids, so this way they get their toys back after all the kids have 'shared' with each other!

Speaking of sharing, I've found that if there is a child in front or behind us, they love peering over or under the seat to see all of Samuel's toys. And of course, he wants to have what THEY are playing with. Human nature, isn't it! To want what someone else has. So I'll whisper to him to switch toys, and this has worked out well. The kids exchange toys and are super happy playing with 'new' toys for the duration of the service! I've often joked that we mommies should just automatically switch toy bags at the beginning of service. This also helps Samuel to learn that some things are 'his' and some things are 'other kids'...and that it's OK to share, and then you return toys to their rightful owners. This is a huge lesson for a preschooler!

At the end of a church service after Samuel, Olivia, Jayda, and Texas shared toys all service. It looked like a tornado had hit! But they were all quiet and that's what mattered....haha...

I remember as a kid, sitting with a pen or pencil and a pad of paper. I drew and drew, and I guess this was my mom's way of keeping me still. This is great for our kids as well; we have those large sketching board toys and Samuel loves those, although sometimes Elton has to sit and draw with him. He draws various fun things for Samuel to identify.

I also remember taking Barbie to church, but one night in particular I wanted to show my best friend my new Barbie, and she was sitting several rows behind us. I thought if I just held up Barbie and waved her around, my friend would see her, so I did just that. Barbie was naked, though, and for some reason after that night I wasn't allowed to

bring Barbie to church anymore.

Anyway, if you have any awesome suggestions please share them.

On to another Evy's Tree giveaway (this is her Spring Preview week so she's doing lots of giveaways!). Look at this gorgeous kids design!