Engaging kids in summer can be difficult! Summer is a time of change. The weather changes, unless you live in southern California. Schedules change as pools open, schools close, and vacations are planned. Volunteers and families are less consistent in their weekend church attendance as travel, sports, and summer fun fill in their calendar.
But instead of mourning the lower attendance numbers and challenges in recruiting summer volunteers, what if we changed our focus to engage families in different ways during the summer months?
Families want to connect with other families and have shared fun experiences with their own kids.
This summer, while considering all families, what if we focused on supporting and providing opportunities for families of kids with disabilities or special needs? Families with kids who have a child who as special need, disability, or is neurodivergent, face unique challenges every day.
These are the families least likely to attend church. For example, autistic children are twice as likely as neurotypical children to NOT attend regular religious services for a variety of reasons. This is according to research done by National Survey on Children’s Health.
Summer is a great way to build relationships with those families. It’s a great time to provide opportunities that are safe and welcoming and also tons of fun for their kids.
Here are a few easy ideas for supporting and engaging ALL families this summer:
Engaging Every Kid (And Their Family) this Summer
1. Keep It Simple
Plan simple events for the whole family.
A foster/adoptive mom shared, “I wonder if we undervalue connection and think everything needs to be over the top or no one will show.”
Families want to connect with other families and have shared fun experiences with their own kids. We don’t need to bring in expensive entertainers or have fancy lighting. Loud music and intense special effects can be a barrier to some families, especially those with sensory issues, rather than an attraction.
Instead, try a cookout and ice cream social in the evening with some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and music at a local park. This simple gathering gives parents an opportunity to connect.
Having a quiet area in the corner with fidgets, playdough, and activities for kids who are sensory seeking or sensory avoiding shows parents that you’re thinking of their kiddo.
Hang up a sheet on the side of the church building, rent a popcorn machine, and have a family movie night. Simple events are often the most effective in providing opportunities for connection.
2. Utilizing Sundays to Engage with Kids in Summer
Add some fun after Sunday services. Rather than ask families to come back another time, gather while they are already together.
One leader shared that her church rented food trucks the church subsidized to make the cost more affordable. Families loved being outside and mingling while getting their crew fed, with no cleanup required.
For kids with unique needs, consider giving their families early access to food trucks so they can avoid the lines. Or better yet, take their orders and have their food ready right after church. If some families have kids who are runners, provide enclosed areas for them to gather so the kids are safe.
Summer is a great opportunity to mix things up and try new things.
Others added some fun after service with pizza and a variety of water activities including slip-and-slide or water balloons.
A separate area for younger kids who need to be more closely supervised or kids needing a more chill experience with fewer kids around was created to meet their needs. When all the water balloons had been used, they turned on sprinklers and filled up baby pools to continue the fun and community building.
3. Outdoor Family Worship Nights
“I love a good family worship night,” shared a parent of kids with a variety of unique needs.
During COVID in order to meet together our church moved services to a large outdoor area. Families brought chairs, blankets, and snacks for the kids. Pro-tip: Snacks make everything better.
Families were greeted with bubbles and high fives (air high gives due to COVID) and families found a spot on the grass that worked for them.
Some preferred a spot right under the stage, while other picked a place far from the crowds. It was such a hit that we continued Summer Worship Nights long after the COVID restrictions were lifted.
Parents especially loved mixing in some of the kids’ favorite worship songs, and this showed the service was for kids too.
4. Offer Family-Friendly Activities in Summer
One children’s pastor shared that, “If we have a stand-alone kids’ activity, it is not well attended” but families love activities they can do together.
One summer activity was “Sundae tour” which was a family bike ride in the church parking lot ending with ice cream sundaes. Their VBS is also family style, with kids and parents participating together.
Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide
Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide
Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide
5. Summer Parent Support Groups
The summer can be especially difficult and isolating for families parenting kids with unique needs or those who have come from trauma. Having the opportunity to gather with other parents with similar challenges is described as a “lifeline” for many parents. And you have the opportunity to engage kids this summer in that way!
When I talk to adoptive and foster parents or parents of kids with special needs/disabilities, they frequently share one of the best things their church has done for them is to provide childcare while they meet and support one other.
These meetings are helpful well beyond summer and are a great way to support parents in your community. Over half of the parents who attended our groups did not initially attend our church but came to learn from the experts—other parents on a similar journey.
Having the opportunity to gather with other parents with similar challenges is described as a “lifeline” for many parents.
6. Partner with Other Organizations
Every community has hidden gems, or fun places for kids. Find organizations that are sensory friendly or provide extra support for families with kids with unique needs.
Our local zoo offers an “all access” pass. Families who have kids with needs who are unable to wait in long lines check in upon arrival and get a pass that enables them to enjoy the zoo, then show up at the scheduled time and step right on to the ride.
There are also museums and trampoline parks in our area that provide areas for sensory breaks. Many of these places offer discounts to families with kids with disabilities/special needs or foster and adoptive families.
Make a list of discounted or free activities for families to do this summer. Families will feel known and loved when you create a resource list for them, so they can have some options for days when the kids utter the inevitable “I’m bored” this summer.
On the list include links and details of cost/discounts, hours, rules around outside food, etc.
Summer is a great opportunity to mix things up and try new things. While schedules are busy, many parents long for adult conversation and fun activities for their kids. One adoptive mom shared, “I think most people just want connection, to find their people. And that’s easiest with a simple setting.“
So don’t over complicate it. Gather a team of families to help you create the event. Then enjoy some laid back simple summer fun that is welcoming for every family.
More Summer Fun for Engaging Kids
- Summer of Change: How to Change Up Summer Programming in Your Ministry
- Creative Summer Programming in Children’s Ministry
- What Happens When We Reimagine Summer Connections with Families at the Forefront?
- VBS Alternatives: Take Back Summer for Kids’ Ministry!
- Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide
- Wise Up Summer Series from Wonder Ink
