Running a tighter nursery ship than most..

I have a firm belief that if you structure a nursery program so that generally things flow the same week after week... that consistancy will give comfort to young children.  It is quite simple...even as an adult I feel..if I know what is coming next I am not afraid.  Often I tell parents of newbies (those 18 months old nearly toddlers) that for the first 18 months of their precious lives they haven't been able to leave your side, and ALL of a sudden you want to drop them off at the door with someone they don't know, in a strange room with a bunch of kids...really? Does that not scare you? That scares most small children! Thankfully most adjust quickly some don't.However, having a schedule, format, or structure in place does help them. 

Personal example: a sweetie little girl, new to the ward and our nursery, 2.5 years old came to the nursery. She did not want to be there, her parents told me "she has always had problems coming." 
My solution, I bent down and spoke to the child. "My friends and I would really like for you to come and play for a bit, if you would come and play I promise to take you to your parents if you like. Can you try that?"  Very relucantly she did.  I stayed by her side and tried to get her to play with other children. Honestly, she didn't play with anyone. After play time in our schedule we have Opening Circle followed by snack...so I asked her "Free play is over, we are going to sing a couple songs, say prayer and have a snack would you like to stay for that?" She said no.  I took her to her parents.
Her parents were very confused... "why did you bring her to us was she crying too much?"   No, she wasn't crying, but I made a promise. I do my best to keep my promises.  I explained that to them and said next week we will try again and for longer.  Within a month, this little girl was seen running to nursery instead of from it.  For her the key was baby steps and being asked if she wanted to stay for the next activity. She stayed for free play, then free play and snack, then free play, snack, and music, and so on.  She learned what we did, she knew what would happen next. Most importantly she knew she could be taken to her parents if she asked.  She began to trust.

Does this work for every child? No. My only suggestion is work with the parents and the other leader (if you have one) and figure out what works best for the child. 

Here is my schedule that I have used.
10:10-10:30 Free Play
Each week I set out free play toys, little people, cars and a twirly track, giant building blocks.  Generally these types of toys are only bought our during free play.
10:30-10:35 Welcome/Opening Circle
Here we sing a couple simple songs (Popcorn popping Once there was a snowman) we always end with Roll your Hands and have them keep their arms folded for prayer/blessing on the snack.
10:35-10:55 Snack and Clean Up
We have snack at the table, we use hand sanitizer, and serve snack with sippy cups of water.  During snack time one of us will call out "roll"  We will ask "Is Joe here? (pretend to look around trying to find him) Does anyone know where Joe is?"  Most children will point to them if they are new, we just wave to Joe and say "Hello Joe! It is so good to see you today." One other thing... we do teach/ask/help each child (even the 18 month olds) to throw away there snack bowl (coffee filter) and put their sippy cup in the tray before the go to free music time.
10:55-11:10 Music & Movement
There will always be those who eat their snack fast or just aren't interested... so we put out either ribbon rings or egg shakers out and dancing/movement music for them to do while others finish snack. Once everyone is finished with snack, we do either singing songs (the action/moving songs or songs like 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam, ect.) or Moving To Music on the Primary 1 Manual CD (it's the orange lesson book that used to be used as the nursery manual..I believe they use for sunbeams.)
11:10-11:30 Lesson & Nursery Scriptures
We have the lesson and usually an activity to go with it.  Right now I have so many juniors I don't do the Nursery Scriptures.  Once I have a greater number of seniors I will try marking them. Nursery Scriptures were made by pulling one scripture from each lesson, making a "book" and having them use a sticker to "mark" it.  Sometimes the lesson is short and a coloring in page or an activity that I think teaches the concept better. 
11:30-11:45 Fine Motor Activity
This is generally more play time but I chose toys/activities that promote fine motor skills such as shaving cream smoosh and scribble, playdough or blocks (like the toddler legos ones.) 
11:45-11:55 Books & Babies
Settling down, we bring out the babydolls and stuffed animals along with the books.  We invite the children to find a baby, pick a book and tell the baby about the pictures in the book. We sit down with them and read the book and just interact with them. 
11:55-noon Closing Circle and Bubbles (honestly we usually open the pick up door later than that.)
We gather together, remind the children about the lesson (example "remember today we talked about sharing and how Jesus showed us how to share so let's SHARE!) We have closing prayer and then it is bubble time!

One thing... I am asked why the schedule and why so harsh? It isn't harsh, are there times when we have free play for longer, music longer or honestly just skip the lesson? YES! "The schedule is to be used a guide but the children behavior (tried, super active, ect.) generally decide how things go.  If they are extra bouncy then we play longer...if they are enjoying the lesson activity we let them go a bit longer."

 I think that is a good start!  If you have any questions leave a comment or email me!

Michelle