Summer Ministry Ideas

In April, I co-hosted a KidMin Leadership Gathering with Joy Canupp from Simply Joy and Vanessa Myers from Family Faith Builders. It was a 1-day gathering of local children’s ministry leaders for training, connection, encouragement, and growth. (And it was amazing. The next KidMin Leadership Gathering will be happening in South Carolina in fall 2023!) 

One of the activities from the day was a series of “Idea Dots” – large dot posters around the room where everyone could share their ideas on a specific topic or category. One of the Idea Dots was summer ministry ideas, and there were some creative options!

So as we head into the summer season, here are some of the summer ministry ideas from local kidmin leaders, shared at the Georgia KidMin Leadership Gathering:

• Send kids “happy mail” and postcards (these designs might help!)
• Bucket list buckets like these or these
• Family Lake Night – Dinner and activities at a nearby lake
• Water Day – Rent a water slide or slip-n-slide and play water games (This Summer Splash Event gives you all the details for hosting an event like this!)
• National Ice Cream Day is always the 3rd Sunday in July
  • Hire an ice cream truck for after service
  • Use this Sundae Sunday lesson to take a break from your regular curriculum and have a fun morning that helps kids learn about the gospel while enjoying ice cream!
• Park Meetups or Park Playdates (This resource will help you plan your park play days!)
  • Popsicles at the Park – Kids gather to play in the water fountain and eat popsicles, then parents fellowship
• Fun events like community movie night, skate night, meet at local water fountain parks, bowling, putt-putt, pool parties, etc.
• Change up your Sunday mornings – Take kids outside for small groups and use a devotional instead of your normal curriculum to change things up for June and July.
• Give volunteers time off – Try to give your regular elementary volunteers the summer “off” by subbing in parent volunteers and using a Sign Up Genius to ask parents to take 1-2 Sundays throughout the summer. (DKM Subscribers can access and modify this Summer Serve Printable to help recruit a summer team, or anyone can purchase a copy of the template here!)
• Nerf Battle for Fathers and Kids (or a Nerf Wars Parents’ Night Out)
• Organized Mass Chaos Day
• Adventure Camps
• Food Truck Night
• Service Project Day for elderly or those in need within the church family – Kids and families can do yardwork/cleaning, prepare meals, shopping, visiting shut-ins, etc.
• Cultural Connections – Take Sundays to learn about other cultures, prepare meals from other cultures, research missionaries and pray for them and the cultures they serve
• “Welcome to the neighborhood” gift basket from your church that includes gift cards or purchased items from local shops, information about the community and the church, a self-addressed prayer card that families can fill out and send to the church, etc.
• Wednesday nights are themed nights during the summer (water night, patriotic, movie night, carnival, etc.)

What ideas would you add to this list?