The Best Way to Reach Families this Easter

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at and attended the Bible Creative Online Conference. One of the speakers, Dale Hudson of Building Children’s Ministry, talked about one of the best ways to reach the families at our church: give them opportunities for shared, memorable experiences that point to a greater purpose.

So this Easter, how can we give our families a chance to create a shared, memorable experience that points to a greater purpose? These ideas might help!

Help them throw a family Easter party – Everyone loves celebrations! And while you may not be able to host your regular Easter events in-person, you can provide ideas and supplies for your families to celebrate Easter at home! Just like an in-person event, think through a special theme, games, family devotion, snacks, and fun for your families! This is a great opportunity to help your families host their own at-home glow-in-the-dark egg hunt or even a rock-and-roll-themed at-home family event! What can you do to help families take the Easter celebration home and make it a special event to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection?

Help them create together – Give your families the opportunity to tap into their creative side! Maybe you can create an Easter Art Pack with an egg-dying kit or other Easter crafts that invite families to create something together and remind them why we celebrate Easter. One of our favorite ways to do this is with an Easter Family Worship & Art Guide that helps families make space together for meaningful worship and devotional time by combining the reading of the Easter story with specific art processes and conversation prompts. See the original Easter Family Worship & Art Guide here, and check out the newest version, He is Risen, here. What tools and prompts can you provide for your families that help them create something together?

Help them learn together – Something special happens when kids and parents dig into God’s Word and grow deeper in their faith together. This could be something as simple as a Resurrection Egg Devotional Kit for families or a take-home box of Easter devotions. Our church is considering creating a Holy Week devotional for families, something like this Easter Family Devotional. We’ll be asking people in our congregation to write and video record a short devotional, then we’ll pull them all together to share with the entire church to read through during Holy Week. And you can equip families to keep the learning going even beyond Easter Sunday with this Easter Week Walk Family Devotional based on the road to Emmaus story in Luke 24. How can you equip parents to disciple (and learn along with) their children this Easter?

Help them have fun together – Fun experiences make for memorable moments, so brainstorm ways you can help your families laugh, play, and enjoy time together this Easter. Send them on an Easteriffic Faith Adventure, or encourage them to hunt for the empty egg (just like the empty tomb) and complete fun actions along the way as part of their at-home Easter egg hunt. Or share a Holy Week Preschool Printable Pack like this one to help the littlest members of your church practice some developmental skills while having fun and learning about the Easter story. You could even encourage them to egg their neighbors’ houses and invite the whole community in on the fun! How will you encourage your families to have fun together this Easter?

So what about you? How will you help your families celebrate Easter with intention and purpose?