Buddy Bags
Buddy Bags: A Welcoming Gesture for Young Children at Church Services
Episcopal churches strive to create welcoming and inclusive environments for all people. One way to do this is to provide Buddy Bags for children during Sunday morning services. Buddy Bags are bags filled with tactile, silent items and toys that children can use during the service in their pews. This can be a helpful way for children to stay engaged and entertained, and it can also be a calming and reassuring activity for them. Even if you don’t currently have children in your church, this can be a great easy project to have set up for a family who visits.
Buddy Bags can help children to learn more about the Episcopal faith. You can include items in the bags that are specific to your church.
Buddy Bags can help to build relationships between children and adults in the church. When adults interact with children as they use their buddy bags, it can help to create a sense of community and belonging.
Buddy Bags can help make Episcopal churches more accessible to families with children of all ages and abilities. By providing a safe and engaging space for children during the service, you can remove one of the barriers that may prevent families from attending church.
How to make your Buddy Bags.
Canvas bags work well for the actual bags. You can find these at any craft store and if you like get some fabric paint to decorate them any way you want.
For the contents, many of the items can be found at your local discount or dollar store.
Quiet games and puzzles
Sensory toys, such as stress balls, fidget spinners, and play dough
Activity sheets and coloring books
Small stuffed animals or other comfort items
Check out the Sunday Paper Junior from http://www.the-sunday-paper.com/id3.html for a subscription you get a weekly lectionary based coloring sheet. (Pre-school through Grade 4)
You can also create themed Buddy Bags for different holidays or seasons throughout the year. For example, you could create a Christmas buddy bag with a small nativity scene, a Christmas coloring book, and some Christmas candy. Or, you could create an Buddy Bag for Easter with a plastic egg filled with treats, a Bible story about Easter, and a small stuffed bunny.
Providing Buddy Bags is a great way to show families that they are welcome and valued members of your Episcopal church community. It is a small, inexpensive gesture that can make a big difference in the lives of children and their families
Don’t wait for a child to show up before making them. Have them ready for when they visit.