Visual Schedule

So part of having a schedule that you follow is actually having a schedule to look at, so that everyone in the room, teachers, parents, substitutes, and child alike know what is coming next.  If it is large enough that you can see it from anywhere in the room then you don't have to divert your attention from what you ae doing to figure out what time something is going to happen or what is coming next. If you make it with pictures than the kids will know what is coming next and they will be able to be at peace that their favorite part of the day is coming.

If you use a pocket chart than you can change the order of things without too much excitement in the room. Or you can put specific pictures such as playdough on the days you are doing play dough and mr. potato head on the days you do potato heads. . .

Or you can be a little less specific and more rigid and just stick to your schedule every week and have it on a poster board unmoveable.  I think that is what I will do.  When I get it made I will surely post pictures of it.

anyhow a large visual schedule will make all nurserys run more smoothly.

Craig and I both agree the less time spent in unstructured play time the better.  This does not mean that we should have no fun, or no play. It just means that playing with toys tends to lead to tears and lots of noise, and people getting hurt.  So I have been exploring for some ideas of activities we can do at the beginning and end of nursery. I found a website called LDS Treasure it seams to have some fun Ideas.

Nursery Games

Two hours is a long time to entertain toddlers. The schedule suggested in the lesson manual is valuable for making the time move along without allowing children to become bored or fussy. However, it can be challenging to think of games to play with children so young.

Little ones like simple games. Anything with a bit of action will entertain them and the same games can be played week after week. Toddlers like that which is familiar, so don't try to think of new games for each week. It takes time for them to learn activities. Introduce one or two new games at a time. Eventually you'll learn to stop just before the children become bored, but this takes practice. Watch your students to see if you can tell when they are getting tired or perhaps too stimulated. Then notice what happens just before that.

Following are some simple activities that will keep your little ones occupied for the fifteen minute gathering time:

Blanket and Ball

Have all the children hold the edge of a blanket or sheet. Place an under-inflated ball, cloth doll, stuffed animal or other safe toy on the blanket. Have all the children bounce the blanket up and down to make the toy bounce. This may not sound exciting, but toddlers find this highly amusing. They especially enjoy trying to knock the toy off the blanket, which is why it must be safe.

Blowing Up a Balloon

I believe this was in a previous nursery manual. Children join hands and move in very close together. They gradually move backwards, blowing as they move. When they are stretched as far as their arms will go, yell "Pop!" and fall down. Children love anything involving falling down.

Flashlight Chase

Move a flashlight beam slowly around the room. Let the children try to stomp on it. If each adult has a light, you can keep a number of children occupied at once.

Balance Beam Game

Create a masking tape line around the room in a square. Have the children line up on the line and move around it following your instructions. Have the children hop, wiggle, tip-toe, take large and small steps and so on. Tell them to pretend they are on a high wire or balance beam way up high.

Let's Pretend

Have the children pretend to be anything that fits your lesson or interests them. They can be animals, trees, butterflies, fish, and so on.

Line Ball

Have the children sit in a line facing to the left. Give the first child on the left a ball. He must turn around (scooting while sitting) and roll it to the next child. That child catches it and also turns around to roll it. If you have a large nursery, make two lines. The last child could get up and run to the front of the line and sit down.

Toy Pass

Have all the children sit or stand in a line. Give the first child a toy. Have her place it on her head and take it to the next child. Vary this game by thinking of new ways to get the toy from child to child.

Block Stack

If your nursery has blocks or other stacking toys, let each child in turn get a block and stack it up. Build the excitement. When it topples, laugh. This helps children decide it's okay to make mistakes.

By Terrie Lynn Bittner

Ok So another problem I have noticed during nursery is the "Magic Carpets"  for lesson time. I tried these as a teacher for circle time and it never worked, kids don't sit still they are all over the place. It is a just a mess I prefer not to deal with.  I think I will use chairs I am not sure how to transition.  Currently the kids go from singing time (which is in the primary room) back to the nursery room where snack is all set up. I think that is one of the things that is working well in nursery. The kids walk in and each gets hand sanatizer on their hands and then goes to sit down at snack. The lesson is currently immidiately after snack.  The problem I see with this is that not all the kids get done with snack at the same time. and also I want to use chairs for the lesson. I also want them to get scritpures. so bring chairs, and getting scriptures, might be overly chaotic. I would like to just have chairs already set up. I have thought about having lesson in an empty room, but that might create too much transition, too many opportunities to loose kids, but they seam ok going back and forth from singing time, and it signals to them that it is time to pay attention. So a seperate room might be a good idea. Someone submitted this idea to sugardoodle:

We have a large group of Nursery children and we have a hard time getting anyone to sit for our lessons and we have a harder time getting our ideas across. So my co-leader and I talked the Primary President into letting us use an empty room for our lessons, and now we divide our children into groups and bring them into the other (very empty) room for our lesson! We hang pictures up low on the wall and pretend that we're walking through a "museum"- discussing each picture as it pertains to the lesson. Then we sit on the floor and do our activities and the rest of our lesson. The children LOVE it and its different enough to totally keep their interest. Helps that there are no outside distractions! It works much better with our older crowd than our younger crowd, but we're hoping that it helps prepare our older children for Sunbeams next year! (Idea by Vickie Kelly)
I really like this idea. I am not sure how it will work with kids finishing snack at different times. or if lesson needs to be moved to a different time.  I would also have to find out if there are any empty rooms that we could use.

If you are Ready for Our Lesson

I think the best resourses are the ones that the church provides.  I think it is a given that you use those. And I think that the majority of the lesson and such should come straight from the manual provided. This way you know you are teaching what the Lord would have the kids know. It also has some great ideas for most nursery. For instance,  Transition are hard on kids and mandatory that you get them down for there to be peace in nursery. They have some great ideas for how to help this. One that I really like is their transition to Lesson time. 

Sing this song to the tune of "if your happy and you know it"

If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down
If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down
If you are ready for our lesson, it will surely be a blessing.
If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down.

I could change it up, since I plan on haveing them get their scritpures,

If you are ready for our lesson, get your scriptures,
If you are ready for our lesson, get your scritpures,
If you are ready for our lesson, it will surely be a blessing.
If you are ready for our lesson, get your scritpures.

Then when most the kids have started getting their scritpures sing the previous verse
If you are ready for our lesson come sit down etc.

I Read the Scriptures

Nursery is not just babysitting. Nusery is to teach the youngest children about Jesus, the Gospel, their Divine Nature, and how to follow the prophet. It is there teach the basics of the gospel and to begin life long habits.  I have a friend who use to teach seminary, she told me that she was amazed at how many kids start seminary in nineth grade who have never owned their own set of scriptures. Who didn't know how to use scriptures. Nursery is suppose to prepare kids to be able to be ready for Primary. There are countless stories of people who's testimonys of certain subjects have roots all the way back in nursery. They know that the gospel is true because their nursery leader knew it was true. As nursery leaders and teachers we are the first experience children have with the gospel outside their own home. . . and in some cases the first experience the kids have with the gospel period. It is mandatory that we express the love for the gospel and our testimonies to these very young children.

I love this idea. (once again found on sugardoodle)
by Janis Peterson

---

I just wanted to share an idea that my friend, Kristen, told me they did in her old ward and I think it is great! The church sells the softcover Book of Mormon's. Each child in the nursery got their own scriptures. Each Sunday they would read a scripture from the Book of Mormon and put a small sticker on that page or put it next to the scripture. She shared how her daughter would just sit at home and in sacrment meeting and go through her scriptures and try to find the pages with the stickers in it. 

I thought this was a great way to introduce the scriptures to the little ones. Any way that there can be a hands on experience with the scriptures for these little ones is great.


ADDITIONAL NOTE by Yvonne Moo: I prepared paperback Book of Mormons with a name and picture of each child on the cover of their own. I ask them to get their scriptures as I begin the lesson. I highlight the scripture prior, then during the lesson we assist each to find the new scripture, then I read a portion and everyone puts a sticker to mark it. We, the leaders, help them to flip through to glance at the prior scriptures. It only lasts a few minutes, but I've enjoyed introducing them to the Book of Mormon. It will go with them when they move on to Sunbeams.

I love the additional note on this by Yvonne Moo.  I like having the kids learn that you use the scriptures for lessons, that the truths of the gospel are found in the scriptures. I like the idea of highlighting the scripture before the lesson. I also like the idea of having happy stickers that the child places next to the previously highlighted scripture. In my opinion this will help build ownership and also help the children recognize that the scriptures make them happy.

I like the idea of keeping the scriptures at church, because in our ward they would never make it back. . . I think that in most any ward with nursery children it would be only a few that would make it.  I think that giving them their set of scriptures when they graduate from nursery would be a great idea. Then they have them that they can take to sunbeams.  They own them, they have scriptures marked and they know their scriptures make them happy.