Church quiet bags

During Lent, I set out to make 12 quiet bags to be used by young children in our church (roughly ages 3 to 6).  In the Orthodox church, the children stay in the service with their family.  Many young children need to step away from time to time since they can't focus for the full length of the service, and in our church, we have a video-feed room where we can take the children until we are ready to rejoin the liturgy.  Over the past 10 years, we have been trying to transform this space, especially as the number of young children has been growing!  It used to be a congested space filled with toys, which were hard to peel a child away from.  We have weeded out toys and furniture, and we now have these church-related quiet bags that the children can use to continue their worship and education.  We are trying to create an environment that fosters the continuation of our worship instead of feeling like we are leaving worship.  For parents, juggling young kids in church can feel overwhelming.  After having done it for 10 years I was pleased to think up these bags to help all of us have a focused time at church.  I am sharing them in case any other Orthodox parishes or parents are looking for something similar for their children.
   Each bag has an iron-on picture on the front, which shows the theme of the items in that bag.

The Church / Liturgy: This bag has a puzzle of the sacraments of the church that I bought from the ancient faith store online.  The magnet drawing board suggests some different church symbols the child can draw, and the board book shows some of the things we see at liturgy.

Jonah:  I painted a peg-doll Jonah that can be eaten by the zipper-pouch whale.  The popsicle-stick puzzle shows Jonah inside the big fish on one side, and it shows the empty tomb on the other side (two puzzles in one, and it is a stepping stone to teach the meaning/foreshadowing of Jonah's story).  Also included is a board book story of Jonah.

Easter/Pascha:  This bag has a story about the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem, a toy donkey, a peg-doll of Jesus, and "palms" to reenact Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.  The wooden eggs were painted to tell the story of Easter from Jesus' triumphal entry, the last supper, the cross, tomb, and then finally his resurrection.  Also included is a laminated picture of the icons in our particular parish that tell this story so the children can find them themselves.

Prayer: A wooden candle holder with wooden candles encourages children to think of some things they would like to pray for.  They can hold the prayer rope and parents can introduce them to meditative prayer.  The popsicle-stick puzzle is an incense censor.

Nativity:  A book about the animals and people present at Jesus' birth is complemented with wooden nativity figures (purchased from Serrv fair trade goods online).  Children can use the figures to reenact the story of Jesus' birth.

The Cross:  The magnet drawing board encourages children to draw some of the different styles of crosses used by Christians.  The wooden lacing cross wasn't too difficult to make with a jigsaw, drill, and sandpaper.  The felt cross can be decorated in different ways.  The laminated card encourages children to take a look around the church to see the many places where they can find crosses, from the priest's vestments to the icons of martyrs... they are everywhere!

Mary the Theotokos:  This bag has a black-and-white strip of icons showing the major events in the life of the Theotokos.  Cut out and laminated color icons can be matched to the black-and-white story. A cross popsicle stick "spool" holds red yard in an envelope explaining that Mary works with a spool in the icon of the Annunciation.  Children can wind and unwind the yarn (which can actually turn out to be a lovely meditative practice).  There is also a folding icon of Mary.

Angels:  There is a laminated prayer to your guardian angel along with a laminated photo of one of the angel icons in our church for the children to find on their own.  A lacing angel was made from wood.  Some geometric blocks can be put together like a puzzle to make the image of an angel.

Jesus:  Some icons taken from old church calendars were used to make a booklet of the life of Jesus.  Wooden letters can be used for young children to spell out Jesus' name; on the envelope holding them are some scriptures about the power of Jesus' name.  Felt hearts can be placed from smallest to largest with a cross to show Jesus' love.

Noah's ark:  A magnetic toy of Noah's ark is fun for the kids to position the different animals and people from the story.  A lift-the-flap board book helps tell the story.  Popsicle sticks painted the color of the rainbow makes a puzzle to show God's promise.

Creation:  The story cube in this picture came from the Ancient Faith Store, but I quickly realized that little hands tear these cubes apart, even with a request for parental oversight on the bag.  I'll have to replace (probably with a board book) or remove the cube, but it would be a good thing for an older, reading child.  There is a felt picture showing the things God created along with a popsicle puzzle of a fox on one side and a mountain on the other.

Jesus' teachings:  There is a story cube in this bag as well, which hasn't gotten torn yet (but we'll see).  The cube has all the beatitudes on it.  I made a laminated story of Matthew 5:14 with an electric candle, candle stand, and bowl for the children to act out the verse (or sing "This Little Light of Mine").  

Here is our Children's Chapel in its updated form (I don't have a 'before' picture).  There are icons hanging under the cross (took the picture before the paint finished drying!), many of which are the children's patron saints.  There are mats in the corner basket that the kids can roll out to designate their working space when they use one of the quiet bags.  We are doing Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for Sunday School, so the Montessori style the children are learning there helps as we try to make this a calm, worshipful space.  There are also some age-appropriate books on the shelf and a few small wooden puzzles for children too small for the bags.  

Communication has been important as we get used to changes. The bags are hung out of the reach of the children so that they don't all get pulled down, mixed up, and destroyed. Instead of parents kicking our feet up while kids play, we are trying to engage in teaching and modeling for them what it means to be a part of the liturgy.  So far the quiet bags have been well-received, and I'm hopeful that they will help enrich these little people's lives and faith.  It is my pleasure to share these ideas with you!  I may work on another set of bags for the 1 to 2-year-olds with items that are nearly indestructible...another day.