More Children’s Ministry Event Ideas
4. F.R.O.G.s (and Family) for Lunch
I visit a local public school and eat lunch with a bunch of “my” kids from church. At the beginning of the year, I gave the kids frog pencil toppers and told them whenever school gets tough to remember they can “Fully Rely On God.” I bought a big bag of small plastic frogs on Amazon to take with me when I have lunch with the kids. When I visit, I give kids each a frog to remind them to fully rely on God.
As I sit with the kids, their friends want frogs, too. So I give my kids frogs to hand out. As they do, I explain who I am and why I’m there. “My” kids invite their friends to come to church with them. I emphasize that I’ll be there and the kids’ friends will be there. I follow up the invitation by letting kids know their entire families are welcome.
This experience is awesome. We probably invite more kids to church in that lunchtime than in most of our outreaches. And it’s all because of some plastic frogs and some really great kids. Our Frogs for Lunch serves two purposes: We get to invite kids to church who don’t usually attend. And it motivates our attending families to keep coming back, whether because of the personal connection they feel or because they bring friends along.
This has shown me how much a small thing can mean. And I get texts from parents thanking me for visiting their kids at school, which is also pretty cool. (Be sure you get an okay from parents and the school office to visit your group of kids from church.)
Christina Embree
Wilmore, Kentucky
5. Open House at God’s House
We partner with local schools to offer free child care at our church on open house nights. This way, parents and older kids can interact with their teachers and listen to presentations. We background check everyone and let the schools know we do. This service gets so many people through our doors. We publicize it to families who regularly attend as well as those who attend our outreach events.
To ensure kids have a great experience, we provide activities and lots of fun. Families throughout the community now rely on our church for this fun evening every year.
Penny Dunn
Ruston, Louisiana
This article about children’s ministry event ideas for outreach originally appeared here.
