Kids under 4

[HBrown]

In past years we have had a large Pre-K/K group of kids aged 2-6. This group is becoming too large and there is a big difference developmentally between 2's and 3s and 4-6 yr olds. I am thinking I am going to still include our youngest members but split them into 2 groups: a Nursery group (2's and 3's) and Pre-K/K (Age 4-6.) What do you all think? My main concern is that the moms will need to be with more than one child as they rotate. Would you advocate assigning a volunteer to rotate with each of the older kids?
Thank you for your suggestions!

[winnipeg]

Good question - this is what we do.
I have always split the two groups 4-6 together, and 3 and under together.
Many of my parents are the teachers so my nursery is run without much parent involvement (the parents of those who are in that age).

To be in the older group the only requirement is that they be potty trained. There is a ratio of one teacher/helper to 8 kids.
In nursery the ratio is one teacher/helper per 3 children under the age of 2 and one teacher/helper per 6 under the age over the age of 2.
My group was 20 children 4-6 years and 4 children in the nursery.

This year I am preparing for 25 to 30 preschool children (only God knows how many there will actually be when the day arrives). 2 teachers and 2 helpers

In the nursery we may have 6 children so I plan on 2 teacher/helpers.
I hope that information is helpful.

[TrinityJen]

I am not sure what you are asking. A parent with each group or each kid?

Last year we had 87 kids 50 were 5 or under. We had a nursery (2&3s - only for volunteers) 10 kids with 4 adults, then we had a stationary group of the youngest 4s 8-10 kids w/ 2 adults, then we had 2 rotating groups of 4 & 5 y/os (preschool & going into K). For the rotating groups (each had 15 kids) I had 2/3 adults per group and 1 teen. For my remaining groups [(1st & 2nd), (3rd), (4th & 5th)], I had 1 adult and 1 teen.

I was lucky to have allot of help. Some people seemed 'board' but to me it meant there weren't any problems. Especially since we only expected 50! :eek:
This year I already know I have lost some help :( Moving, babies, new jobs. This year we are planning for 100!

[HBrown]

Thanks winnipeg and TrinityJen for your suggestions. One more clarification, Are you suggesting we keep the 4-6 yr olds in the VBS rotation and keep the 2's & 3's in a stationary setting with VBS related bible story, craft etc. We are a small church and have less than 50 kids in the program but about half are 6 and under. We also do the musical program at the end of the week during the church service and would like to incorporate the little kids too (2's and 3's.) Any suggestions?
Thank You again for your ideas, they are very helpful as this is my first time helping coordinate VBS.

[winnipeg]

Just to clarify...
My nursery group stays in one room; however they have wandered in and out of the opening and closing assemblies without disrupption. They also go outside weather permitting.
My 4-6 year olds have their own "rotation". I use 2 classrooms they go back and forth. One helper stays behind to prep the next activity then rejoins the group next door. An alternate helper then preps the next activity as they move back to the first room. The biggest consideration for me is one room is carpeted (the room with story and games) and the other room is flooring (food and crafts).
Is that any clearer?

[TrinityJen]

My 2&3 y/o's are stationary. They have 1 main classroom w/ toys etc. But they join an older group for music and snacks. They also go outside or to an empty classroom for other activities.

My 4-6 y/o - one group was stationary, the youngest kids, they also joined another class for music and snack. Crafts came to them and they had their own games. This was a last minute class when I realized how much our attendance was growing.

The other 2 groups were rotating (for the 2nd year), mostly due to the size 20 kids can't be in a classroom. We have 5 classroom and 5 rotating classes.

Again I have great help. At least 12 of the preschoolers attend our church, meaning most of the helpers are parents to a preschooler (including me, the craft lady and several guides). Plus we have 2 preschool teachers (1 is the Bible story teacher).

Not sure about including them in the program. 2&3 y/os can be reluctant to stand in front of the crowd. We teach them 1 or 2 of the songs and allow them to stand w/ the other groups if they want. At my church they all want their own microphone.

[Teresa Peters]

I don't know if this will help but, last year we included our 4-6 year olds in the rotation. We had multi age groups and paired each younger child with an older buddy. The 10-12 year olds loved being junior leaders.
I don't think there is a right or wrong way of dividing the kids. It is just what will work for your numbers, space and staff.

[TNTricia]

We only do 3, 4 & 5 year olds. It's actually a great range. The 5 yr olds feels special helping out our 3 year olds.

I have yet to run across any problems with that group together. I had one 3 year old who just wasn't ready for it but he just really didn't want to be away from mommy. He enjoyed the activities we did but really couldn't handle transition time.

The group stands up and sings 2 songs in the service the sunday after the program. They think it's pretty cool. We had a few stragglers but really they just followed what the bigger kids were doing. And if one strayed the church members thought it was cute.

Having a small group our rotations are mostly all in the same room but I had no problem taking them for potty break and into the sanctuary for the treasure hunt.

We have them catch a bubble in their mouth and form a choo choo train or we did sneak, how quiet can you be to keep them focused on where they were going.

When we did the whole age span for pumpkin patch we had no problems either with keeping them all together.

So I'd say it really depends on how long each activity is. If it's short they can participate if it's long then you may need to usher them out 1/2 way or just skip that one.

All in all it went great here I think because they love being with the older kids and the older kids loved being important enough to help out.

HTH