Why Church Nursery Ministry Matters
Never think that church nursery ministry is babysitting. It is actually a great opportunity to minister to and teach the youngest guests of your church.
WHY CHURCH NURSERY MINISTRY MATTERS
Four-month-old babies can recognize emotions in people’s faces according to the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development. (source) This means a nursery worker’s mood affects the babies.
Nine-month-old babies focus more on an object’s identity when pointed at by someone, and they focus more on an object’s location when reached at by someone, according to the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development. (source) This means that a nursery worker’s gestures influence how a preverbal infant understands and learns.
Although it is important to realize that your actions as a nursery worker influence babies, it is even more important to understand that babies do not process things the same way that an adult does. For example, adults process color with the left hemisphere of their brains because they use linguistic labels for color. Prelinguistic babies, on the other hand, process color with the right hemisphere of their brains because they see color as it truly exists, independent of linguistics labels. (source & source)
Oddly enough, the language you speak influences what colors you see because linguistic labels determine how you divide the color spectrum, according to MIT.
UNDERSTANDING BABIES
I recommend three resources for learning how to better understand babies and communicate with them.
#1 - Dunstan Baby Language (birth to 3 months)
Dunstan Baby Language teaches you to recognize 5 universal sounds that all babies make from birth to 3-months-old. They communicate hunger (Neh), tiredness (Owh), need to burp (Eh), gas (Eair), and discomfort (Heh).
#2 - The Happiest Baby
The Happiest Baby gives the 5 S’s for keeping a baby comfortable and happy - Swaddle, Sway (bounce), Shh, Side, and Suck. For example, the sound “Shh” comforts a baby because it mimics the sound of the womb.
#3 - Baby Signs
Baby Signs is a proven sign language program for hearing babies that reduces frustration and eases communication.
A GREAT CHURCH NURSERY MINISTRY
A great church nursery ministry strives to understand their babies and meet their needs. And a great nursery should also be teaching their babies mentally stimulating principles like Baby Signs as well as spiritually stimulating principles. For example, a way to teach babies what the Bible is and to love it is to have them hug or kiss their Bible.
For Discussion:
- What tips do you have for a great church nursery ministry?
Steven Dilla Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
A great church nursery focuses first on the kids and second on the parents. When a parent walks in, does your nursery shout, “clean, safe and secure!” - or leave parents with hesitations?
The nursery is one of the only places in church where volunteers serve in two ministries at once. First to the children, and second to the parents who are able to focus their attention on worship with confidence their child is in excellent care.
John Said,
September 2, 2008 @ 9:16 am
This is an amazing article. I am sending it to all my children and nursery volunteers to read. Thanks for your work on this!
Chris Moncus Said,
September 2, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
Sent to all our children’s ministry staff. Thanks a ton!
Diane Stensrud Said,
September 10, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Thanks for sharing! I will use this information in training Nursery and Pre-school helpers. I thought the “Baby Language” tape was particularly useful for helpers who are not yet parents! We appreciate your efforts - they help us all!