Each week, the hobby groups got a Bible passage and prayer related to the project, and leaders got to talk about their faith in relation to the hobby. At the end of the four weeks, we showed off our finished projects and enjoyed a celebration. AMEN!
Sally Kruse
2. Family Follies
Our children’s ministry has had great success sponsoring a Family Follies show during the summer as a way to keep families connected. We choose an evening in the summer when families can come together to perform or just watch the show. The show is basically a variety show, full of music, comedy skits, crowd breakers, and audience participation bits.
We publicize the event early in the summer and ask families to sign up with their “acts.” (We provide ideas and skits for families who want to participate but don’t have an idea.) Then we give families access to our ministry facility to practice, make props, and plan their part of the show for two weeks prior to the event. We always have a huge turnout with lots of families in the show and lots who just love to come watch. It’s a blast—and a great way to build relationships between families through laughter!
Melissa Guillebeau
3. Summer Reading Club
One of our most popular programs for families over the summer has been our Summer Reading Program. We open our church library and encourage families to choose one book every two weeks to read together. (If your church library isn’t well-stocked, simply have families check out a book at the local library.) At our bimonthly meetings, families share what they read and learned and whether they’d give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. The other families ask questions about the book, and our program leaders inject questions related to faith. During the second half of each meeting, we play games and share snacks related to our book topics. This reading club has consistently drawn families back to our church throughout the summer—and it gives them a great reason to spend time together outside of church, too.
Deb Vos
RELATED: The 5 Love Languages of Volunteers (and How to Use Them!)
4. VBS Reunion
We get extra mileage out of our VBS program each year by hosting a late-summer VBS Reunion. We intentionally plan our initial VBS early in the summer so kids and families are excited to return for a post-VBS party and see all the friends they made again. For the reunion, we invite kids, parents, ministry teachers, and all our VBS volunteers for an evening of fun. We ask them to wear their VBS T-shirts. We reuse the VBS decorations to create a festive feel, play VBS music and videos, sing songs, play the games, use any leftover craft supplies, and enjoy snacks. Kids get to reconnect with their VBS friends, parents get to experience the fun their kids had, and we get the opportunity to strengthen families’ ties to our ministry.
Stephanie Martin
This article on summer family fun ideas was originally published on ChildrensMinistry.com, © Group Publishing, a division of David C Cook.
