Church Quiet Bag – How to Keep Kids Reverent During Sacrament Meeting

Hey y’all, Tiffany here with some ideas on how to keep your toddlers and kids quiet during church.

With a COVID vaccination finally available, our family is beginning to feel comfortable heading back to church. Since I have Crohn’s disease, we have been grateful for our sacrament meetings being broadcast over Zoom so we can stay safe. Now that Phillip and I are vaccinated, we’re ready to head back.

Of course, our kids haven’t been to church in over a year. In fact, our youngest was born during the pandemic, so he hasn’t ever been to church at all!

He did such a great job his first time, though.

One thing we’ve seen asked over and over in Facebook groups for moms is, “How do I keep my kids quiet and reverent at church during sacrament meeting?”

We came up with a list of our favorite ways to keep kids focused on the Savior (that don’t involve food!) during church so you can listen to sacrament meeting talks!

Ideas to Keep Toddlers and Kids Quiet During Church

These are just a few of the ways we keep our kids quiet during church, especially when they’re toddlers. Do you have any of your own ideas? Please share them in the comments!

Puzzle Books

We found these adorable scripture puzzle books at the BYU Bookstore when we were there a couple of years ago for a family reunion in Utah.

The kids love solving them during church! You can also get similar ones on Amazon.

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

One activity that is perfect for the youngest of kids to stay quiet at church is popsicle stick puzzles!

We got this idea from Bits of Everything, and she explains how you can make these yourself easy!

Printable Quiet Books

When our oldest was a baby, I came across these adorable printable quiet books. While the prophets and apostles one hasn’t been updated in a long time, all of the rest are great!

The creator originally said to print them as 4×6 photos and put them in cheap photo albums. I tried this, but the baby kept dumping it upside down and they all just fell out. Instead, I decided to use my awesome laminator and then bind each book together with book rings.

We still have these, and it’s been almost 8 years!

Update: It appears the original creator no longer has many of them on her website. Many of you were so disappointed, so I made my own for you! You’ll love my 8 Free Printable Quiet Books for Church!

Church Alphabet Book

Just like the quiet books above, you might like this idea for an adorable church alphabet book.

These aren’t for available to download or purchase, but you can easily use the free website Canva to design your own!

Friend Magazine

This one may seem a little obvious, but our kids loving reading the Friend Magazine on Sundays. Each magazine has a section for younger kids on the back.

This would also be good for older children who are learning a foreign language. They could read it side-by-side with their native language.

Come Follow Me Activity Books

In addition to our free Come Follow Me devotionals and Sunday activities, we also really love these Come, Follow Me Activity Books. We order one for each of the older children, and they love having them.

You can print them for free, but we like ordering the workbook and keeping it in our church tote.

Each kid has their own little baggie with the crayons and colored pencils. This keeps them from fighting over sharing. (Trust me, that can be a problem!)

Bible Story Lacing Cards

A lot of the ideas for keeping kids and toddlers quiet at church during sacrament meeting are for older children, but these Bible story lacing cards are perfect for any age!

Depending on the size of their hands, we like to use colorful shoelaces instead because the plastic over the ends makes threading easier.

You could also easily make your own! Just print out scripture artwork from the Church’s website and use glue (or double-sided tape) to mount it onto cardboard.

Reusable Bible Story Sticker Pad

Our family loves the Melissa & Doug reusable sticker pads. They’re perfect for travel or the doctor’s office. For sacrament meeting, we like the Bible Stories sticker pad.

LDS File Folder Games

A friend of ours gave us some file folders (like lap books) that her children had outgrown. Our oldest loved using them as a younger kid to stay quiet when at church, and our current toddler will enjoy them, too.

We laminated ours, and then we used velcro to hold them in place. You can get the book to make your own here.

Dry Erase Coloring Books

You can print this Book of Mormon coloring book out from the Church’s website. I laminate the pages, hole punch them, and put them in a 3 ring binder. Then the kids color them with dry erase markers.

There’s also a Pearl of Great Price coloring book that you can print as well! And if you’re running out of laminating sheets, these ones are my favorites.