I have accepted the responsibility of Nursery Director in our church for this year (it's a year-at-a-time basis). I'm really excited about it, and I have lots of ideas and goals for the year. I've already made a purchase--this great toy organizer! I found it on craigslist and picked it up last night. It retails for $59.99 at Target. I paid a mere $15. It certainly beats the yucky, worn toy box, which hid all manner of cruddy toys at the bottom. The kids couldn't even see what they were grabbing for!
SO! I pose the question to all you mommies out there...
What impresses you about church nurseries? What aspects of the nursery do you feel to be most important? Any pet peeves? I'm all ears!
5 comments:
I always notice safety & precautionary measures. I guess it depends on the area you're in - but their are perves anywhere nowdays - and one nursery we were visiting didn't even as me my name. Most of the churches we've been members of take measures for safety - I know some were for insurance purposes - such as background checks for nursery workers, detailed paperwork for each child and family, and rules about the details of who works in the nursery together - never a man alone, never a husband and wife alone, etc. I guess sometimes it would seem ridiculous and over the top, but, sadly it's the reality of the world we live in. It seems to be mostly a given now too, but I think a tag system, where the parents have a tag and the child has a tag pinned on the back of his shirt is as good idea too. And I always appreciate when the nursery coordinator advertises a sick-child policy, reminding parents that it's NOT ok to send a child who has green drainage, a fever, etc. in the last 24 hours to the nursery. I think taking steps like these is impressive and communicates to parents that the people caring for their children are on top of things - espeically visitors.
Good luck with your new role of ministry! I know it's a big job and I hope it all goes well. I know you will bless people through it - it really means a lot to parents to have a competant nursery that puts your mind at ease.
I'm with KT on the nametag system. At our church only a parent with a matching tag can retrieve a child. Not a brother, sister or even grandparent. It has to be the parent.
I appreciate a consistently clean nursery. Our church washes the used toys every week and it shows!
Oh, and good snacks are a must. No stale cheerios please. :)
God's grace to you as you dive into this new ministry!
Our church does the same as Alicia's - gives you a tag and you MUST have it to pick up your child. Another thing I like is that you are given a pager when you drop your child off. That way if your child or the nursery worker needs you, you can easily be contacted rather than have people running all over the building trying to find you. This is especially helpful since our church is huge.
Our church has form taped to teach diaper bag for each visit. Before leaving, the parents mark on it when to feed the child (& what to feed) & if snack is ok. The workers have to mark on it the time when they changed a diaper (wet or messy), gave a bottle, & gave food/cereal. It really helps the parents know what happened when, so they can plan for after the services.
Workers are also given smocks to wear over their church clothes when in the baby nursery. (We have 3-4 nurseries: newborns, crawling babies, 1 yr., & 2 yrs.)
All good ideas mentioned above. A clean nursery is very important to me. We have a substitute list to call, so if you can't be in nursery you know who exactly you can call, most of these people are not on the regular list. Oh and one thing our nursery did was to make a nice quiet place to nurse; that was huge help to me! It was actually a different area from the nursery with a door that locked!
Post a Comment