Babies and Toddlers Training Videos

On this page you’ll find a range of training sessions to support you in working with families with babies and toddlers. These seminars were all part of ticketed events, which we are happy to make freely available but would greatly appreciate it if you are able to make a donation to help us to keep creating and providing these resources.

Welcome and keynote on under 5s, faith and Covid – Emma Olorenshaw

Helping under fives meet and know God – Anna Hawken

Supporting families coming for Christenings or Dedications – Rachel Turner

Refreshing parents and carers through toddler groups – Caroline Montgomery

Equipping your toddler group or creche team with tools – Rachel Turner

Getting started using the babies and toddlers’ resources for you or your community – Ruth Morgans/Becky Sedgwick

Helping families with babies and toddlers feel connected and cared for in Sunday services – Anna Hawken

Opening session (2021) – Rachel Turner

She references the Talking Toddlers research from Hope Together.

Parenting for Faith with under fives and parents in church – Sarah Hogben

How can we make Sunday morning under fives’ groups (when we’re allowed them again!) more than just childcare? Sarah will share how we can help littles ones meet and know God and support and equip their parents and carers to feel confident to help them on that journey too.

Running bitesize sessions in pregnancy, baby or toddler groups – Anna Hawken

How can we equip parents and carers who come to pregnancy, baby or toddler groups to nurture faith in their littles ones, even if they’re new to faith or just exploring themselves? Anna will share our latest new free resource – five bitesize videos to use in these groups, along with a guide of how to create an online or in person session with them. 

Guided prayer in pregnancy and for new parents – Helena Whitwell

Helena will share from her experience as a doula, how to help people connect with God during pregnancy and prepare for birth and becoming parents with God by their side. She combines this with a passion for leading guided prayer and as part of this session, you’ll get to experience what that’s like and explore how you might use it in your context. She’ll also be sharing about ‘Apron moments’ (inspired by Susannah Wesley) which are a way of helping parents with little ones connect with God in the middle of their day.

Download handout

She mentions the Mummy Meditations Community on Facebook and you can connect with Helena on Facebook or Instagram.

Supporting families coming for infant baptism or dedication – Rachel Turner

It’s wonderful when parents and carers bring babies or toddlers for an infant baptism or dedication service. How can we make the most of this opportunity by making them feel welcome, loved and supported? Rachel will share the paradigm shift needed to get everyone on the same page and share our new, free videos and guide to support churches in this.

Resources that different people recommended in the chat were:

• Who Let the Dads Out 
• Rucksack blessing service / pets service / first day of school cheering on
• Starting Rite
• Making the most of your child’s baptism

Using the five Key Tools or the Parenting for Faith course with young families – Anna Hawken

Anna will share the five Key Tools – the teaching at the heart of all the Parenting for Faith resources and share how we can use them as a springboard for Christian parents and carers. She’ll also look at how to adapt the free, Parenting for Faith course to make it accessible for families of babies and toddlers and how to run it in person or online.

Refreshing parents and carers through toddler groups – Caroline Montgomery

Caroline launched and runs a group called Refresh, which is a cafe where the focus is on the adults having a refreshing morning – physically (with fresh coffee and croissants, cafe music), emotionally (time to sit and talk with our amazing team of volunteers, make friends, enjoy a sense of community and belonging) and spiritually (we have a short ‘thought for the day’ aimed at the adults to help them know more about God and how He loves them) whilst also having a safe space for their children to play. There are so many groups aimed at the children but very few that are aimed at nurturing the adults where they are in this season of their lives as parents of little ones. They’ve seen a huge amount of fruit from taking this approach and Caroline will help you to think through what refreshing parents and carers in your community might look like.

Final session (2021) – Rachel Turner