Nurseries are for Growing

Over the last several months Sister Longo and I have visited most of the wards to share with the nursery leaders some training. We enjoyed being with the children and also learned a great deal, from the wonderful leaders. I would like to share with you some of the things that we learned in these visits, specifically on creating a safe and loving environment in nursery.

Many of the nurseries had soft music playing during open play time. This invites the Spirit and gives the children a sense of familiarity as many of them know the songs, from home or from previous weeks. I noticed at times that when the music was to loud the children were easily agitated but when it was softly in the background it had a very nice calming effect.

All of the nurseries had a strong feeling of love from the leaders to the children, this was evident by their warm welcomes, with hugs and kind words and the children’s names used. One of the most memorable was a sister serving in the Independence 1st ward nursery, who refers to the children as her babies, and she greets and sends home every child with a hugs a kiss and making certain they know how much she loves them.

It was also very sweet to watch as some children would get upset, often it only took as simple hug or soft reassuring words from there loving teacher to calm them.

There are many other things that we saw that warmed our hearts as we visited. These I share with you because they are plain and precious and with that can be used very effectively in many other settings including other classes within primary.

Thank you for all of you hard work.
Anna Plemons