I love spring! Whenever it rolls around I get excited about ministry. Spring is God’s reminder of the new start I have with Him every day, a truth I love sharing with the children that my ministry touches. The coming of spring also renews my commitment to my local church and the children in my area. To help me rebuild the ministry from the after the holiday blahs I roll out fun, promotions. These silly ideas pique the interests of new kids and refire the children who already attend regularly. I have found it is easier for kids to invite other kids if they can share information about exciting upcoming events.
Before I share my ideas with you I want to encourage you to pre promote. Announcing your pizza festival just a few days before the event will limit its effectiveness. Create a calendar or road map of smaller events that will lead you to the big one. A big event like an Easter Egg Hunt or spring Praise Concert would be good ideas. Don’t feel limited because your church is small or you have just a few or no volunteers. Much is more when God is involved!
Try these spring promotions to build your children’s church and create excitement in your ministry.
Polka Dot Parade
For this silly day, I spend half a day cutting out construction paper circles and sticking them all over the room. My staff and I dress in polka dotted clothing, even the kids participate. We polka dot our faces with face paint, teaching and playing in our polka dots. I don’t have a particular message or lesson for this promotion. I keep things light and simple.
Flower Child
We do a hippie style service with flower child worship music and silly costumes. At this promotion I use the term “flower child” and talk about growing in God. I teach kids that we are God’s children, growing in grace. I have also used plastic flowers to hold fake plants with kids pictures taped in the center. One year we potted seeds and small flowers as an activity to go along with this.
Jellybeans for Jesus
For this promotion you’ll need a large pickle jar full of jellybeans. The bad news is you’ll have to count the beans as you add them. As a tip, I’d say write it down during your counting so if you get off track you’ll at least be close. Hide the final number somewhere away from kids and volunteers eyes. Place the jellybean jar somewhere kids can see it without it getting sticky. I did this.( Jellybeans don’t belong in the sun—who knew?) Allow kids to guess how many beans there are in the jar. The person closest to the exact number wins the whole jar of beans. Kids can make one official guess on paper each week. After a couple of weeks announce the winner and make a big deal about winning the jar. Lessons I teach during these weeks focus on how God loves individually and knows all the personal details of our life. I tell kids He is so interested in us that he counts the hairs on head as He brushes them with His big hand.
Simple, inexpensive promotions are a fun way to make your kids church exciting for kids and teachers. Keep them coming with wacky games and relevant lessons that really effect their lives.
Spring Promotions to Grow Your Children’s Church
