Printable Bible quizzes for kids and quiet book samples for toddlers are great ways to get your kids engaged during Mass.
I find it impossible to keep my toddler engaged with Montessori busy book It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even go to church unless my parents come with me to help with the kids. Otherwise it’s pointless for me to go because I don’t get anything out of it anyway. Usually when I try to go to Mass by myself there are a lot of people around trying to help, which is quite embarrassing.
For a quiet time at Mass with a little support from you, printable Bible tests are great. They give you a topic to talk about calmly with your children while they make sure they behave. You can conduct quizzes that correspond to the week’s Bible readings at church, this way you can both be interactive with the week’s mass teachings. There are tons of printable Bible quizzes available all over the internet.
But if you meditate during Mass and want your toddler to be a little more independent so you can focus, quiet book patterns are great. And you can create your own bouquet based on your ideas of what your child will be interested in. But what exactly is a quiet book? A quiet book is a set of pages of material meant to keep a baby or toddler occupied during quiet moments as adults.
To create a pattern book
, just take your toddler to a fabric store and let them help you choose some patterns that catch their attention. The fabrics should have a thicker density. Then go down different aisles to choose things you want to sew onto the sides. You can choose fabric flowers, butterflies, stars and even different buttons that you can sew to form different shapes. Then, when your child is busy playing or watching a cartoon at home, sew sides of the fabric together and attach a few items you chose to draw your child’s attention to each side. Patches or charms of your favorite cartoon characters may even be available. Or, to be more appropriate for Mass, you can find fabric images of Jesus, Mary, apostles or saints.
You may have to be patient and slowly wait for progress if you let your toddler sit quietly during Mass. But the key is getting them used to doing one quiet activity and sitting still, rather than expecting to get up and walk around when they want. Sitting still can start out in shorter increments, but as you keep at it, the lengths of time will become longer and longer.
Marta Sauret has a bachelor’s degree in professional writing, but is also a working mom who runs her own business while taking her kids to work. In addition to running her business and updating her blog, including her post talking about quiet activities for kids, Marta Sauret has been featured in GI Jobs, Shades of Grey, Nuances, Poetry.com, North Hills Monthly Magazine, Living as the Quiet Books for Toddlers in UK and USA city and more.