See also Welcoming Our Littlest Members

Book Resources

• Caldwell, Elizabeth F. Making a Home for Faith — Nurturing the Spiritual Life of Your Children. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2000.
   
• Erickson, Martha Farrell, and Karen Kurz-Reimer. Infants, Toddlers, and Families — A Framework for Support and Intervention. New York: Guilford Press, 1999.
   
• Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J. Let the Children Come — Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons, 2003.
   
• Thompson, Marjorie J. Family – the Forming Center (A Vision of the Role of Family in Spiritual Formation). Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 1997.

Congregational Resources

• SPLASH — Birth to Three Faith Formation. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2004); www.augsburgfortress.org/learning/splash
  A wonderful monthly mailing that families can receive each month with detailed developmental information and ideas for nurturing faith in the home.
   
• Group’s Hands-on Bible Curriculum for Toddlers and Two’s. 2005-2006 (Loveland: Group Publishing); www.handsonbible.com
  We use this curriculum with a teacher leading the lesson and parents partnering with their 18-months to 3-year-olds. We have modified this lesson to a thirty-minute class to attend to the stamina and attention abilities of this age.
   
• Passing on Faith Conferences (formerly known as Child in Our Hand). Through these conferences, The Youth and Family Institute provides a wonderful entree into the model of empowering parents as first priests as well as a vision for congregations to welcome the child in our midst. See www.youthandfamilyinstitute.org/conferences/cioh.asp or call (952) 698-3730 for information about dates, locations, and registration for conferences.
   
• Faith Imprints. Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina, MN. Publication pending. For more information on this faith formation ministry with families of children, prenatal to three, contact Faith Imprints at Normandale Lutheran Church, Ph.: (952) 929-1697; Web site, www. normluth.org for a ministry spotlight.
   
• Rainbow Bags by Lois Brokering. (Bloomington: Brokering Press, 1990). A book of patterns and ideas for what she called “Rainbow Bags,” a variety of bags including a Baptism Bag, Communion Bag, and characters from major Bible stories, including Creation, Noah, and the Nativity. Ideal for quiet worship activities that draw children into pretend play with religious themes. To order: send $10 plus $1 shipping to Herb Brokering, 11641 Palmer Road, Minneapolis, MN 55437 [phone: (952) 888-5281]. Please clearly state your name and mailing address. Checks can be written to “Herbert Brokering.”