5 Ways to Change Things Up This Summer in Your KidMin

Summer often means more sporadic attendance – for both families and volunteers. It’s a great season to change things up and keep things exciting for the kids, but sometimes it means relying on volunteers who don’t typically serve in your ministry. So what can you do to change things up to accommodate fluctuating numbers and give a more laid-back feel for you and your team?

Here are 5 ideas:

1. Take things outside (or at least change up your seating). If your weather, size, and space allows, invite kids to grab a chair or set up some picnic blankets and teach the lesson outside! They’ll love the change of scenery and it’s a much more casual environment that sometimes more easily allows for the next two ideas. If you can’t go outside, consider changing the seating to sit in a circle, on the floor instead of in chairs, etc. – something to change things up with your environment beyond decorations.
2. Use a devotion instead of your regular curriculum. Take a break from your typical Sunday lesson format and use a kid’s devotion for the lesson time. Allow it to be a discussion tool (more on that next) and help kids understand what a devotion even is. Use it as a way to model how they can use a devotion at home by teaching from it in a large group setting. This often makes the lessons super personal and just gives kids (and volunteers) a break from the typical Sunday morning routine of the year.
3. Focus on relationship-building and interactive discussions. Using a devotion naturally sets you up for this, and changing the way you sit (in a circle vs in rows) can help facilitate more discussions and less lecturing (which is better for today’s kids anyway). Summer is a more casual time of year, and it can be an opportunity to focus on building relationships, especially when attendance is sporadic.
4. Lean into family discipleship. Consider how you can focus more on equipping parents to disciple kids at home and while on vacation. Maybe you create “church in a box” or “summer bucket list” resources or provide special summertime devotions. Think through what families may already have planned for the summer and consider ways to help them see how to incorporate faith and discipleship conversations into those already-planned activities! Update your parent resource shelves to include special ideas for the summer.
5. Continue your VBS theme/content. You put A LOT of work into making VBS an amazing week, so why not stretch that out over the summer or at least for one of the summer months? Consider repeating some of the lessons from your VBS or using elements you maybe didn’t use that week. Leave up the decorations and dive deeper into your VBS content. Kids will love stretching out the week!

Which one of these could you try this summer in your KidMin? What other ways do you make the summer special or different on Sunday mornings?

Find all of our Summer Resources for your KidMin here.