Play At The Church

Annette MacLean tells the story of the parent & toddler group in Dingwall, a small town in the Scottish Highlands.

P.A.T.CH (standing for Play At The Church) meets every Wednesday afternoon at Dingwall Baptist Church, opening its doors to approx 20 children, from newborns to four-year-olds. From the very first day, it’s been highly important to us that everyone is given a warm welcome and made to feel part of the group.

We’re very keen on variety. Our play sessions have a different ‘messy’ activity each week, ranging from water-play to making pizza. We try to include a story time or parachute play, and always end with song time. The children know the end of the session has come when we finish off each week by singing ‘Jesus’ love is very wonderful’. We are fortunate to have enough toys to rotate everything over a three-week period, which also helps in keeping things fresh for the children.

One of our most enjoyable events was a Spring party for all past and present members of our toddler group. We planned it for a Saturday morning to allow as many as possible to attend – we had invited 70 children along with their mums and dads! When the day arrived we had so much fun with a bouncy castle, face painting, an egg hunt and lots more. After two hours of enjoyment they left with their goody bags and an invitation to our Easter service. It was really appreciated and certainly enjoyed – worth all the hard work that went into the organising!

As well as creating an interesting and exciting environment for the children to interact at P.A.T.CH, we feel that it’s equally important to give attention to the administrative side of the group. Each child is registered properly, taking careful note of any allergies, special needs etc, while adults are given a welcome pack with basic information about our group. More detailed information such as the child protection statement, health and safety policy, disclosure certificates etc are kept in a parent information folder which parents can access at any time.

We also keep a file with leaflets and information that we feel may be of interest and use to our parents – these include Care for the Family’s ‘Essential Family Issues’, and free information from our local health board on topics such as breastfeeding, weaning and special needs.

A recent addition has been our notice board - not only does this help keep everyone in the group up to date with what’s going on, but it’s also a great place to display our newsletter, photographs and artwork. It also reminds the rest of the church what goes on in the building on a Wednesday afternoon!

We see active play and ‘paperwork’ as very valuable aspects of our group – but what is most important to us is that we provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere through which the local community can see the church demonstrating Christian love and service.

Click to read about Care for the Family's Playtime project, supporting those running parent and toddler groups.

Last Updated 21 October 2008