Amy Fields, Youth and Children’s Worker, has tried Soulspace in two toddler groups during 2026. In both cases, she followed the outline shape (stillness, Bible verse, discussion, prayer) and used some of the content.
The group sits in a circle normally in church with children and soft toys in the middle, which avoids the children running around. She introduced ‘meditation’ by telling people one-to-one and as a group what they were going to do, and inviting them to join her.
Soulspace has been well received at the St Mark’s toddler group, which comprises slightly more affluent parents, a mixture of people who do and don’t go to church, and tends to be smaller and quieter than St Luke’s. There have been tears on a couple of occasions.
In the last session of the summer term, she changed her language from, ‘If you would like to come, we are now going to move into church for our meditation..’ to ‘Right, everyone, we are now moving into church for our meditation…’
This small change led to their highest numbers ever for Soulspace. The regulars moved into church, leaving behind some women who said, ‘We’ll come too and watch.’ Some then joined in!
At St Luke’s Soulspace has been less well received. This is a larger, more noisy and busy group, mainly child minders and grandparents who are from a working class background (often on benefits) and mostly don’t attend church.
On the first occasion, a number came but they found it a bit weird. So none came the next week, making excuses. Amy then asked some of them, ‘If you don’t like the meditation, what would you like?’
As a result, in the autumn she plans to introduce things differently. She expects to add some godly songs to the nursery rhymes they currently sing, plus perhaps the Lord’s Prayer. Her hope is that they will become more comfortable about talking to God through song. And she will then build from there.
Learning from her experience at St Mark’s, she is also considering using firmer language.
Amy would say to others leading toddler groups: ‘Soulspace is a fantastic addition to the group. The basic structure and content gives you a starting point, but it is easy to adapt. The discussion, when people can share some of their emotions, helps you to deepen relationships with the adults.’
