Resources for working with Under 5's

A variety of resources for use in your Mission and Ministry with children under five.

Please find below a list of resources and links which may be useful in your ministry with children under the age of five and their families. If you have come across other resources that have worked for you, please do let us know by emailing growing.younger@elydiocese.org. We would love to take a look and add them to our list if we can.

As with all the resources we list, many of these are not produced by or endorsed by the Diocese of Ely. Please ensure that the resource is right for both your tradition and context before using. Whilst we try to monitor and update links to external sites, if you come across a broken link please tell us. Email the Growing Younger team if you have any questions or need further help or support.

Don't forget to join our Under Fives Forum to share resources, ideas, encouragement and support on a variety of topics to help in your ministry with babies, toddlers and their families.

If you have a baptism ministry with young families, take a look at our baptism toolkit for use with children under 12.

Planning a programme (including crafts and sensory play)

• Find resources – 1277
• Free resources for Under 5's from the Diocese of Blackburn
• An overview guide to the year using the Big Bible Storybook from the Diocese of York [update link to Early Years | Diocese of York]
• Sowing Seeds (formerly known as Diddy Disciples)
• Little Seeds – using secular books to bring a Christian message to toddler groups from the Diocese of Worcester 
• Saving Creation - toddler group curriculum from Early Years - Diocese of Leeds
• Playtime resources on a number of Bible stories from Care for the Family
• Bible Buds - Have a look at a free sample here: bible-buds-look-inside.pdf
• Six week story series packs for Toddler Groups - Let their light shine!
• Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

Books

• Dot to Tot: Connecting Toddler and Adults to Biblical Truths by Rev. Matt Taylor and Sue Merryfield
  • Publish: CWR (2016)
  • ISBN: 978-1782594888
• God’s Story for Under 5s: 36 Bible-based sessions for midweek and Sunday groups by Becky May.
  • Publisher: Barnabas for Children (2016)
  • ISBN: 978-0857463814

Story-telling

• Bible story telling to 2-3 year olds hints and tips from Let their light shine!
• Sharing Bible stories in toddler groups from Care for the Family

Books

• The Play-Along Bible: Imagining God’s Story through Motion and Play by Bob Hartman
  • Publisher: Lion Children’s Books (2019)
  • ISBN: 978-0745978307

• Bible Adventures with Teddy and Dolly by Rev. Liz England.
• Lambsongs Bible story booklets (PDF – free to download)

Various Psalms, adapted for very young children by Sally Lloyd-Jones:

• Known (Psalm 139)
  • Publisher: Zondervan
  • ISBN: 9780310771173
• Found (Psalm 23)
  • Publisher: Zondervan
  • ISBN: 9780310757504

Prayer and Early Childhood Spirituality

• A Net That Works - Prayer activities for under-fives from Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education
• Discovering God Together in Everyday Life from Play and Pray
• Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children in the Early Years from Better Care Network
• Babies and toddlers from Parenting for Faith
• Sowing Seeds (formerly known as Diddy Disciples)
• Spiritual Child Network
• Stop and Go: under 5s - 15 prayer activities to stop and pause with 15 prayer activities to go and be active for Under 5s (PDF).
• Playful Worship for Under 5s from Wonder-full Worship (WoW)

Supporting parents and carers

• Starting Rite is a 5-session course for parents with a new baby, designed to nurture the spiritual development of babies and strength the parent-child bond. 
  • You will need a copy of the course book:
    • Starting Rite Spiritual nurture for babies and their parents by Jenny Paddison
    • Publisher: Church House Publishing
    • ISBN: 9780715147269
  • The Diocese has a number of Starting Rite kits in different locations which you can borrow if you wish to run a course. Email the Growing Younger team to find out more.
• Parenting for Faith run courses and training for parents, grandparents and church leaders.

Books

• Babies and Toddlers: Nurturing your child's spiritual life - the book from Parenting for Faith
  • Publisher: BRF (Bible reading Fellowship) (2021)
  • ISBN: 9781800390003
• Refresh: Introducing adults to faith through toddler groups by Caroline Montgomery
  • Publisher: BRF (Bible reading Fellowship) (2023)
  • ISBN: 9781800392168