Kids Sitting Calmly in Church During Praise and Worship?

I tell my kids that if they sing and praise and behave, we get to stop at the playground on the way out. Try that.

Hi S.,
Sometimes it seems children are intimidated by an atmosphere that is different. I have been having "praise and worship" at home with my little granddaughter. I'll put on some contemporary worship and we dance and clap and she loves it. And then there are times I think they know you are doing something "special" and want you to hold them to be a part of it! I know it can be frustrating when you are trying your best to focus on the Lord! I will pray for your 3 year old to feel more comfortable.................

Does your church allow snacks or a drink because if they do you can give him something to hold in his hands and distract him for a little bit and maybe hear the praise in worship instead of leaving with him It works for me.

Good morning S.,

When I was your son's age, my parents brought us a couple pieces of paper and a pen... which was special because we did not usually get to use pens. (We being my sister and I.) My parents gave us a list of things to try to draw for them... like Daniel in the lions den, or David and Goliath. The other goal was to get it all to fit on those pieces of paper because we were not given any more paper, and if it ran out... then we had to just sit there. If we misbehaved then it was either a spanking or we went out to the car and sat in silence with one of my parents. We learned very, very quickly to obey. It may sound rather harsh, however, I have such deep, deep respect for my parents today and the way they helped me to respect church.

Have a wonderful day! And good luck!
B.

Does your church have a nursery that you could leave him in so that you can enjoy the service?

We take colors and coloring books as well as snacks to church but when they get too squirmy or start making noise.. out they go!

Our church does not require our young ones to sit still. They are welcome to bring a book or toy and play quietly. We have been attending since my daughter was 18 months old and have never had a problem. I think it's wonderful you encourage him to sing and dance, that's what praise and worship is all about. I would like to invite you to church with us, maybe a different environment would help. Contact me if you're interested.
God Bless!

My kiddos are 3 1/2 and 19 months old, at our church our preacher and his wife give the young kids a tamborine during praise and worship, acctually i was always concerned with the way my kids acted during church (and we have been going since before me and my hubby got married almost 5 yrs ago), but they are fine with it, no one says anything, acctually they enjoy seeing the kids yelling to the music. After praise and worship, some of the older teens take my kids to the back for sunday school, i think its better, except my kids are the only young ones there anymore. But, i agree with what one mommy said or rather her pastor said, you wouldnt take your 3 year old to college classes and expect them to pass, so why expect them to sit still, if there is no one to take the kiddos for you, then take a color book, or we even take a drawing pad with us, one you can get from walmart (even a smaller version for only 88 cents) the magnectic kind, and they draw, or we even take non noisy toys for her to play with. I hope this helps you, if you have any more worries maybe you should talk to your pastor about the way you feel.

I dont believe that you can use the words; children, calm and church, all in the same sentence. Its kinda like wood, gasoline and a torch.

My mother used to pinch us.

I truly hope that this made you laugh!!!:)

Margaret:)

Many churches have begun holding "Kids Church" for their members children. They have their Sunday School classes either before or after "Kids Church" which is held while members ten and older can go to Praise & Worship.

No child ever sits still no matter what cause at that age they can't be still.I have 3 kids and 2 neices and they was the same way but 1 of my neices is 4 years old and she is still the same way.She is always trying to sit in someones lap and also standing in front of them talking.She use to walk around the church talking and sitting by people while the pastor is preaching.We would have to hold her in someones lap where she can't go anywhere or make her go to sleep.Good luck

I don't care how old they are, going to church with kids is difficult. They have to sit still, they have to be there, they have to be nice, especially to each other. There are times when my oldest kids (almost 13 year old girls) are more distracting then the 3 3/4 year old. This is yet another time for us to multitask.

Prayer and time will give you the tools necessary to enjoy your service as you cater to your sons whims to keep him mostly quiet. I've learned to listen to sermons, sing songs, say prayers etc. as I hold, cuddle, play with , kiss, look at, or whatever our little miss want to keep her quiet.

And don't be too surprised when he gets older and you think he's off in la la land or not paying attention at all, then after church he asks you questions about or tells you about parts of the service you didn't even think he was aware exsisted. We get this from our 10 year old son all the time.

Pray for the patience and endurance you need to get the most out of your service as you enjoy your son at this preciouse age. All too soon, he will be all grown up.

L.

at that age we took 3-4 crayons, a few pieces of paper, and a story book (typically religious in nature)

hth

K., mama to
Catherine, 4y
Samuel 14m

Hi - I hope you can find a church with a wonderful children's ministry where your son can worship and learn about God in a fun, exciting and age appropriate setting. He will love it and you and your husband will enjoy your worship time more as well!

my son never sits quietly in church - but then again nor do any children under the age of about 7.
its pretty boring for them.
he is better now than he was a 3, we almost stopped taking him and talked to the pastor about it, and he said if anyone has a problem wiht children making a noise in our church then they can leave - most pastors are used to dealing with this issue.
we dont have a childrens ministry at our church, the children sit through the service with everyone else.
we take coloring bboks and a "clean" snack and drink. and get him involved in the collection plate - and he loves communion
we dontgive him his snack until the sermon, which is the hardest part for him.
if you are standing and singing, and he wants you to hold him - then hold him, maybe thats his way of being involved, my son doesnt like to sing and clap, so he just listens "loudly"!

let him play on the floor while you sing, put him between you and hubby so he cant escape

Hi S.,

We did have the same problem w/ our 5 yr. old boy sitting or getting involved in church when he was a little younger. Since he's gotten older and we have him in a class @ church on Wed. nights, he has gotten much better. I really think it just comes w/ their age ang getting over "shyness." I do have a 20 month old daughter-and she is, of course, a different story-usually my husband or I have to step out w/ her because she likes to scream when it gets quiet in church and we don't have a nursery there to keep her. I do think in time she will also adjust. Good luck! R. H.

We have the same problem and 2 young ones also. (a 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr old.) If we are both in the service (we both volunteer for other things) we each hold one. If I am alone in the service, I bring a pencil (no crayons or markers to mark up chairs and the floor) and a color book for each. They sit on the floor by my feet and color. They have a special color book and cool pencil that they know they only get to have a church, so its really something that they get to use it.

Good luck and God bless!

God will reward you for the effort you are making in bringing your family to church, eventhough it is hard. He rewards the diligent!!!

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!!
www.formyrugrats.com
"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

kids need age appropriate ministry, meaning they aren't supposed to sit through church. they need to be in a sunday school type class where they can learn about God so you are freed up to learn about God on your level. i heard a pastor say "you wouldn't take a kid to a college math class and expect to learn enough to pass the tests. same thing with ministry. they need it on their level and you need it on yours." hope that helps.