Children are an important part of the Langley Hill community. They are welcome at our 10:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship on First Day (Sunday). We suggest that parents talk with their children in advance to help them understand as best they can the special nature of these gatherings so that they can be as comfortable as possible during Meeting and minimize disruptions to others who are present. But we also understanding of how difficult it is for young children to be quiet and still during meeting.

We hope that parents will take advantage of the options suggested below for their children. Parents are asked to avoid leaving their children unattended.

Child care is offered for children as young as infants through age 3 from 10:00 a.m. through 12 noon in the nursery, which is the first room on the right at the bottom of the stairs in the basement of the Meeting House.  Some parents prefer to keep children (especially infants) with them in the Meeting.
 
 

Older Children:

At about 10:30 a.m., most children ages 4 through 12 leave the Meeting as a group to go downstairs to an assembly, where they participate in activities like singing, story-telling and cooperative games. Around 11:00, this group generally has a snack, and then breaks up into three group classes: one of 3 and 4 year olds, one of kindergartners through second graders, and one of third through sixth graders. The curriculum for these classes changes every quarter. Recent curricula have included Heroes; Quaker Values; the New Testament; and Friends and Nature.

 
 

Teenagers:

Teenagers (seventh grade through high school) generally remain in Meeting for Worship until it concludes around 11 a.m. (10:30 on Second First Days, when Meeting for Business is held). They then go upstairs to their own meeting room, where they have their own First Day School class. On Second First Days, they hold their own Junior Monthly Meeting for Business beginning at 10:30 a.m.

The teenagers play a larger role in planning their own subjects for First Day School, and engage in a number of service activities such as American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) relief programs, putting together personal care kits for local homeless shelters, collecting school supplies for our sister church in El Salvador, and taking children from local homeless shelters to museums. Every three years the teen Friends spend a semester studying other religions, with visits to worship services at local mosques, synagogues, churches, etc.
 
 

Special Events:

Games Nights are held throughout the year, usually on Saturday evenings. Members of the Langley Hill community bring in their own favorite games to share. Games Night provides an opportunity for all generations of the community to gather together for informal fun, pizza and a variety of games ranging from Chutes and Ladders to Twister, chess and bridge.

Easter Egg Hunt is held after Meeting for Worship on Easter. The teen Friends hide the eggs, which the children decorated themselves the previous First Day.

First Day School Picnic is held after Meeting for Worship in mid-June, marking the end of the First Day School year. Meeting for Worship is held outside that day if the weather is nice.

Halloween Gathering is held on the Saturday prior to Halloween. Children and adults alike come in costume, for an old-fashioned evening of bobbing for apples, eating doughnuts suspended on a string (with your hands behind your back) and other assorted pleasures.

The Langley Hill Christmas Program is held on the First Day Evening before Christmas. In addition to Christmas carol sing-alongs, children from the First Day School usually sing a special song as part of the program.
 
 

Summer Children’s Activities:

From mid-June through early September, Summer Children’s Activities are held instead of First Day School. They are conducted each week by volunteers, and generally involve outside play or hikes at local parks and nature preserves.

Members of the Religious Education Committee of Langley Hill Friends Meeting would be pleased to talk with parents about First Day School classes and other activities available for children.

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Other sites of interest:

 Youth groups of Baltimore Yearly Meeting

 Baltimore Yearly Meeting Camping Programs

 Friends Schools in the BYM area