While there are a host of innovative, ways to engage kids in worship, like dedicating a part of your sanctuary as a prayground, creating worship bags, developing worship toolkits, setting up a play church, and assembling worship play kits, there are several simple, sustainable ways your church can show that children are welcome and included in the life of the congregation. Each of these ideas doesn’t take a lot to get started or to keep going, and can reasonably be maintained by a church without a staff member running the children’s ministry.
1. Kids in Worship Pew Card
Welcoming children as they are is a counter-cultural practice! Your church can clearly communicate its vision for children and their place in your community through a pew card. Pew cards cast vision for your church’s values around children in worship, provide helpful ideas for how people in the church might interact with and engage children, and gently teach the theology of children as full participants in the body of Christ. You can visit our store for a downloadable card that you can use this week!
2. Worship Notepad
Make worship an adventure for kids! This downloadable PDF notepad features 50 unique pages, each with a different fun prompt, picture, or activity to keep them engaged and learning. From drawing and coloring to simple questions and prayer starters, every page is a new way to connect with the service. Print as many copies as you would like. Contact a local printer to have them printed up as little notepads.
3. Kids Bulletin
Some churches produce a bulletin specifically designed for children. These can help children follow along with the worship service, learn the parts of the worship service, and participate in the church’s worship. The children’s bulletins often feature pictures, explanations, and prompts that can help children participate in the church’s worship. Below we have examples from three different churches in three different traditions. Invite some older children to help you make a worship bulletin that reflects your church’s worship service and style!
Kids Bulletin by Kirsten H.
Kids Bulletin by Lindsey G.
Images added to church bulletin by Kelli D.
4. Service Follow-Along Book
Churches whose liturgies follow a predictable pattern can create a follow-along book that describes the elements of their liturgy in child-friendly language. These booklets are a wonderful act of hospitality towards children and to people who are new to the tradition. Below are two examples of worship follow-along books in an Anglican and a Presbyterian church. What would a worship follow-along book look like at your church?
Worship follow-along book created by Robin Turner, Catechist at All Saints Dallas
Page from a worship follow-along book created by Lindsey Goetz.
These small adjustments can help communicate big truths about how your church sees kids, and believe it or not, they will help shape your church into a place where children are welcome. When leaders repeatedly share the message that children are welcome and valued just as they are, we are all invited to join in experiencing and extending that welcome as well.