How do you welcome new families to your church?

 

A new family walks into your church on Sunday morning for the first time.  What do you do?  Who approaches them?  Where are they sent?  How are they greeted?  I asked churches 2 questions...

1.  If you hand out a welcome bag to your first time families, what is in them?

2.  Besides giving them a welcome bag, what else do you do?  Do you follow up in any way?  

Here are the answers I received...

Of course everyone needs to include a newsletter and a card with the times of the service along with all contact info.  If it is a family with young kids or youth, then you need to give them info on what is offered for children/youth as well as upcoming events.  One nice thing one of my churches did was to include something special from that area - we were in PA near Lititz where they make Wilbur chocolate.  So they included a few of those :)  Maybe your area is known for something that you could include?  

But apart from mugs and water bottles or color changing cups, what cool swag items do you have in your welcome bag?  

Personalized sunglass visor clips.  I'd never heard of these or seen them...so you may need to include this pic with them so others know what they are for :) But they do look very handy!  And with your church name and website on the outside, they'd see it almost everyday! Here is one I found that you can personalize.

Personalized boxes of crayons for the kiddos - I know it's tempting to put candy in the bags, but as a parent, I ask that you don't.  I have a daughter that has a severe food allergy and a niece that has an extremely strict diet, and having candy pushed at our kids everywhere is very tiresome and stressful.  There are so many other cool things you can give them!  If you buy boxes of crayons during the back-to-school sales, you can get the smaller Crayola ones for as cheap as 25 cents each!  Create your own personalized sticker using labels and stick them on the box!  Easy peasy and very useful :) 

You could do the same thing with small play doh containers, mini notepads, sticky pads, etc.

It looks like this teacher printed off labels to tape around the entire box.  Also a fun idea!

Customized Calendars and magnets - There are many varieties of this.  For calendars, you can do a one page deal with a photo of the church (and all its info) at the top, you could do a small flip desk calendar that has pics from throughout the year, or a small one you can carry around with you.  Personally, I think most people use their phones now for calendars, but you could combine the fridge magnet and calendar idea and do something like this:

It's a mini calendar magnet to put on your fridge.  Useful and also informative - put a pic of your church, their address, social media, email, phone number, etc.

And just a little marketing advice to go along with the magnets - the average person visits their fridge 22 times a day...that means they have 8,030 opportunities a year to see your info ;) lol

Personalized journal and pen - Personally, I would market this is a different way.  A lot of companies hand out little journals and pens, but we are a church.  Instead of calling it a journal, put the church's name, info, etc on the front and then call it a "Sermon journal" or "notes from the Sermon" or "Sermon take-aways", etc.  That would encourage them to use it during the service :) Along the same lines, you could include a customized candle with a sticker encouraging quiet reflection and the Scripture, "Jesus is the light of the World".

I had never thought of this idea and LOVE it :)  Super creative.  I am not a fan of wasteful spending or living.  I don't like the idea of handing out tons of info or crafts or whatever, that will end up in the trash later.  But this is ingenious!  Create your welcome card on "seed paper" so that when the family is done reading the card, instead of putting it in the trash, they plant it!  And they're cute!  You could also make this a bookmark instead of a card.

Books - Perhaps your church has a connection with an author or publishing company and can get discounted books?  Or maybe someone has donated some children's books or adult devotionals?  One church I worked at had 50 religious prek children's books donated by the author.  Something like that with a personalized sticker inside would be a great addition!

Croc swag :) - you can decorate your crocs with charms and one church had some custom made with their church name!  Very creative!

Customized Lip balm balls or chapstick - This would be especially appropriate to give out in colder, drier climates :)  Add your logo and there ya go!

Personalized hand sanitizer bottles - this is certainly a useful thing to provide nowadays!  Buy a lot of bottles in bulk, create your own sticker to put on them, and you have a wonderful promo! 

Customized chargers - this is more costly, but definitely a useful tool to handout.  It would also get a LOT of "views" :)  There are bricks, power banks, and cable sets.  Lots to choose from! 

        

For your tweens and teens, consider buying some religious vinyl stickers that can be placed on water bottles, devices, notebooks, etc.  You could even personalize these with your youth group or children's ministry logo.  I found a good deal on generic religious ones on amazon.  

Beanies! :) If these are popular where you live, they would also be a fun addition for your tweens and teens.  Put your youth logo on the front!

I looked into getting these when I was putting together a children's welcome bag, but it just wasn't in the budget.  But there are more options now than there were 5 years ago!  Fidgets are very popular and getting customized fidgets would be awesome - for any age!  I know your kids and youth would enjoy them, but as an adult with ADD, I LOVE having something to do with my hands when I'm listening to the service :)  Take a look at fidget pens, fidget bendeez, fidget pops, fidget cubes, and more!

Another great customizable object that would be attractive to tweens, tweens, or adults, are fun pens!  I don't mean your normal ball point pens :)  Think outside the box and do something memorable! (Click the pic to take you to the website where I found them)  Bendy pens, color changing pens, fun topper with stylus, floating sand timer, and squeezy top pens!

    

Other customizable ideas for kids/youth that were mentioned - frisbee, ball, church logo tattoo, cloth pencil pouches, and popsockets.  For preschoolers - Bubbles with a homemade sticker saying, "Thanks for popping in!" and a reusable snack bag.  If you live in a warm climate, consider sunglasses and a beach ball!

One last fun idea for your kids, tweens, and youth is a customized puzzle!  You could order small jigsaws or mind puzzles.  Here is one that is both!  

Of course, whatever you give out, has to go IN something.  You could give out customized bags, print stickers to go on paper gift bags or boxes, or go to the Dollar Tree and get their small cloth bags (3 for $1 last I checked).  

Apart from info and swag, do you include anything else in your bag?  

Many churches have started giving out "2nd visit" coupons, which is a fun idea.  Inside your goodie bag, is a coupon that explains that when they come back for a second visit, they can turn in their coupon for a "prize".  If you have a cafe, it could be for a hot chocolate or cookie.  Or, it could be one of the above trinkets.  

Another church mentioned giving out special "first time" bracelets to the new children.  If you have a larger church with lots of children, this would be very helpful for volunteers and teachers!

So now that your visitors are in the door and have their goodie bag...now what?

Some ideas that I received:

*One church said that for every visitor that fills out an information card in the pew, the church donates $5 to the local food shelter!  They announce it every Sunday when they welcome the visitors.  What a great idea!  

*Drop off cookies/bread sometime the week after, if they left their address.

*Send a personalized postcard to the kids/youth and thank them for visiting.  One church said that while the kids wait for their parents to pick them up on Sunday mornings from Sunday school, they color postcards that are then sent out to children who visit!  Neat idea!

*Send a follow up email or text (or phone call) the next week thanking them for attending and inviting them back.

*If you get a regular amount of visitors consistently, one church said they host a meal every month or so for all new visitors to get to know one another.

Do you have any more ideas to add?   If so, comment below so others can benefit from your creativity! Thanks!

In Christ,

Laurie j

God saved us from pro-lifers

Almost 16 years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after having an extremely difficult and stressful pregnancy.  I wrote a blogpost about the experience as I knew God's hands were all over it.  I wanted to share my beautiful experience with everyone.  I wrote the blogpost while reliving the miraculous moments leading up to it.  To fully understand my story, I invite you to go read it and then come back to this one.  

God was with me before, during, and after.  It was (and is) such a wonderful story that I love sharing again and again.  But I learned a few years after publishing it that the story would have had a different ending had we lived in a state with restrictive laws for women.  This year, my beautiful baby boy is turning 16.  And to think back and relive that story in this current time of suppression honestly breaks my heart, but it also scares me.  It hurts me to think that this God moment in my life wouldn't happen now in many states - including my own.  It is heartbreaking to think that women going through what I went through, may not survive and could lose their baby.  I want my story to be theirs.

And why?  Why could this scenario have a totally different outcome?  I'll do my best to explain.  In a nutshell, it's because "pro-lifers" believe that women and their doctors aren't capable of decisions that concern their own bodies.  

In many abortion banned states (for years), there has been an exception included in abortion laws that say women can have abortions if their lives are at stake.  Well, that's not exactly true.  It's not true, because these laws were not written by doctors and OBGYNs.  They were written by lawmakers.  It never dawned on me that my situation had anything to do with abortion.  These lawmakers include "ifs" and "buts" to the above statement.  Women can have life saving surgery while pregnant IF ...  

For example, in Texas, it reads, "unless the pregnant patient is facing “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy." In addition, "A physician who performs or induces an abortion under circumstances described by Subsection (a) shall make written notations in the pregnant woman’s medical record of: (1) the physician ’s belief that a medical emergency necessitated the abortion; and (2) the medical condition of the pregnant woman that prevented compliance with this subchapter."  In other words, name the issue.  Name the cause.  Prove it.  

In my case, the doctor couldn't do that.  She walked into my room while I was in pain and said, "We can't see what's wrong unless we cut you open."  We both knew surgery was the only option at that point.  We both knew I needed it, but she could not have "named" my condition that warranted surgery.  Basically, my surgery was an "exploratory surgery". There was a very strong possibility that my baby could've died during the surgery - and my OBGYN was very clear with me on that.  If the fetus died, if something happened to me and the doctor had to decide who to save, IF...(and on and on).  No doctor in their right mind would risk such a thing right now in these states (Texas just passed a trigger law stating life imprisonment for doctors performing abortions), as they would be facing a decade or more in prison, losing their license, or crazily enough, death (yes, some states are seeking the death penalty).  

Another "exception to the rule" is this one - like in Oklahoma:  A woman may have an abortion when pregnant IF the doctor shows the woman's life is at stake by suffering "irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".  Again, my doctor could not have done this.  We had no idea what exactly was wrong until she cut me open and fixed everything.  After she performed the surgery she came to see me.  It was just she and I in the room.  I had just woken up from sedation and she explained to me that the cyst had rotated itself around the ovary and tube two times.  Had it rotated one more time, she said, all my reproductive organs on the right side would've exploded - killing my baby instantly, and depending on how quickly I received surgery, me as well.  She said I had probably 1 maybe 2 weeks left before that happened.  I had 1-2 weeks left before my baby died, and most likely me. She didn't know this before the surgery.  She had to DO the surgery first to find out what was causing the pain.  There is no way she would take that chance now in my state because of our 12 week ban.  What would have happened?  She would have walked into that room while I was curled up in the fetal position moaning in pain and said, "We can't seen what is wrong on the ultrasound so we need to run a few more tests.  We need to see if your fetus' life or your life is in danger."  And that would've have been the end.  No discussion.  No asking of my opinion.  No offering of choices.  How do I know this would have happened?  Because it is what is happening now.  

In almost every abortion banned state, doctors must get unanimous permission from their hospital board.  They must submit their claim in writing to the board and everyone (or at least 2 in some states), have to agree that the woman's life is at stake.

(**see links below to read articles and listen to doctors talking about the terrible positions they're being put in)

Learning this didn't upset me at the time.  It didn't upset me because I knew God's hand was in this whole story.  I knew it was a story I would retell over and over to show people how God's peace overflows in our lives when we most need it.  God was with me and no matter if my baby survived or not, I was at peace.  What upset me was learning later that there are people in our country that think they have the right to play God in my life and my baby's life.  They think that their vote matters more than God's. These people could have changed my story of hope and peace into a story of trauma, or tragedy, or even worse - death.  Had they had their way, my baby would've died and more than likely, me.  But God saved me from them.  I was in a state where surgery was allowed with NO exceptions.  Where a doctor can make an informed decision withOUT the rules and regulations from the government.  Where politicians aren't in your hospital room with you and your doctors.  Ultimately, God saved me from pro-lifers.

I need you to understand how upsetting this is.  And I need you to see how wrong this is.  Every "pro life" person I meet argues with me on this point.  No, you're wrong, women can have surgeries if their life is at stake.  No, they can't.  Not anymore.  These pro lifers don't  understand the laws they are voting for.  They don't understand that the lawmakers they vote for always include a "but".   That's the scariest part.  So I wanted to share my story to educate them.  So they would know.  But please understand that this isn't just MY story.  It's yours.  It's your mother's, your sister's, your friend's, your daughter's.  It could happen to anyone you know...and it is.

I'm not a leftist.  I don't "vote blue" down the ballot.  And this isn't a left vs right issue.  I've voted for every party out there at some time or another based on the candidate.  I'm also a Christian.  But I will NEVER, ever again in my lifetime, vote for a candidate that doesn't support my right to choose and my right to live.  I don't care what party they are in, they will never get my vote.  NO ONE can tell me that I don't have the right to a surgery that I need.  And when people argue this point with me, it's a slap in the face.  It shows they don't care about me.  They don't care about my situation.  They don't care about my baby.  Yet they claim to love God...the same God that saved me and my baby from them.  Recently, someone that I know who is a Christian was arguing abortion with me.  After I told them my story, they said, "I knew something must have happened to you personally for you to have that strong of an opinion."  Yes it did.  But that's not why I have a strong opinion.  If this story had happened to you, and not me, I would still be outraged.  And if my personal story doesn't upset you just as much, it's hard for me to see you as my friend, much less a Christian. My story IS YOUR story.  We are all children of God.  That is what being Christ-like is all about.  If my life, and the lives of every other woman out there in this situation, means so little to you, how do you claim to live a Godly life?  

If you're thinking my situation is rare...well, I have two responses.  One, who cares?  I don't care if it only happens every ten years to one woman, that woman has the right to live along with her child.  Period.  Two, you'd be mistaken.  There are 70,000 women every YEAR in the US that require some kind of surgery when pregnant - from appendectomies, to ectopic pregnancies, to cancer, to broken bones, to fetal anomalies.  Every single one of those women who live in a red state, now has to understand that their surgery may not be allowed.  If the doctor can't name it or prove they'll die from it, there is no way the doctor would risk their life and livelihood to perform it.  

It pains me to think how beautiful my story was and how it was such a powerful God moment in my life.  It pains me because if it happened now, there would be a different ending.  I know many, many republican voters.  I used to be one.  Not ONE of them thinks abortion should be illegal.  Not one.  They know it's needed.  They understand there are exceptions.  So friends, why are you voting against what you believe?  Why have you been voting against what you believe?  You have put me and every other woman in a very dangerous, life-threatening position.  STOP.  STOP voting for politicians who are a threat to women's lives and their baby's.  STOP voting against what you believe.  Everyone is pro life and everyone wants to prevent unwanted pregnancies.  Banning abortion is NOT the answer and you know this.  So STOP.  STOP letting politics get in the way of your faith and what you know is right.  For the love of God, women, and babies everywhere, please start voting as a Christian and not a Republican.  The lives of my daughter, your daughters, our granddaughters, and great-granddaughters depend on it.

In Christ,

Laurie

**read these (centered) articles and watch these videos to see the terrible decisions doctors and families are having to make

18 survivors tell their stories

OBGYNs are having to make very difficult life and death decisions with one hand tied behind their backs.  They aren't standing for it and they're fleeing their abortion banned states.  Every abortion banned state now has as least half of its counties as "maternal healthcare deserts".  What does this mean?  It means not one OBGYN or birthing center in their county.

Sadly, the top 10 states with the highest maternal mortality rates are almost all abortion banned states.  This is not a coincidence.  These states ranked higher than countries like El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, Mexico, and Iraq.

Women in TN tell their story.

Now currently 22 women in TX suing their state because they almost died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_P5tX3WxkM

(very good explanation of what I referred to but this was posted in 2021 and things have gotten stricter/worse since then) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjB5Jakytyc

shortage of doctors article:

https://fortune.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-supreme-court-ruling-obgyn-doctor-shortage/

left leaning article but data doesn't lie: 

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/doctors-abortion-state-capitals-00052946

"Data show the country has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, in part due to a severe shortage of OB-GYNs. Half of U.S. counties have no OB-GYN, forcing patients to travel tens — or sometimes hundreds — of miles to receive care."

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other Sources:

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/HouseAdHocDobbsVsJackson/5399%20Ad%20Hoc%20Recommendations%20-%20Finalized.pdf

https://intermountainhealthcare.org/ckr-ext/Dcmnt?ncid=520782026#:~:text=Is%20surgery%20during%20pregnancy%20safe%3F&text=or%20preterm%20labor%20is%20less%20than%20at%20other%20times%20in%20your%20pregnancy.&text=year%2C%20approximately%2075%2C000%20women%20in,have%20surgery%20during%20their%20pregnancies.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/25/texas-trigger-law-abortion/

https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/SB00008H.pdf

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/health/health2/aem-documents/data-and-statistics/center-for-health-statistics/induces-termination-of-pregnancy/oklahoma-abortion-statutes.pdf

Religious Family Devotional of Thanksgiving

 

I've been wanting to write this for 5 years or more, but just didn't have the time when I was working in a church.  Here in Peru I have had more time, so I've worked the last 3 months on making this a reality :)  There are tons of advent and lenten devotionals out there, but I haven't seen many religious ones available that concentrate solely on being thankful.  So, that was my goal!  A family-friendly, religious month long devotional on giving thanks 💛 (you can find it on teachers pay teachers - linked above - or Etsy)

When I first thought of the idea, I wanted to make it so that there would be enough devos to get you from Nov 1 to Thanksgiving.  However, as I wrote it, I realized that ONE, some people/countries don't celebrate Thanksgiving and people buy my products from all over the world, and TWO, this could be a Devotional of thanksgiving instead of a Thanksgiving Devotional.  So, you can use this any time of the year.  I do think that if you live in a country that celebrates a form of Thanksgiving (from scouring the internet, I believe Japan, Canada, and Germany do!) that this would compliment it nicely.  In addition, here in the US, November is not only Thanksgiving, but the PCUSA usually labels November as "Stewardship" month - which also fits nicely with the theme of the devotional.  So, however and whenever you want to use the 28 day devotional is totally up to you and/or your church.  I do mention the holiday of "Thanksgiving" in a couple of the devotionals, but it is certainly not a requirement.

If you and/or your church want to use this as a lead-in to Thanksgiving, here are a couple of suggestions.  Thanksgiving can fall anywhere from the 22nd-28th of November in the US, so I included 28 devos.  If you want to conclude the devotional ON Thanksgiving, take a look at the themes and feel free to swap some out that may be more/less relevant to your families.  Some may resonate more than others.  The devotionals are geared towards ages prek-elementary.

So what does each devotional include?

Each devotional has 6 parts.  Theme, Scripture, short child-friendly devo, call to action, "leaf activity", and a prayer.

1.  As seen in the picture above, each devotional has a theme as it's heading.  Each day is something new that you can be thankful for.  Along with the ones above, you can also find technology, sports, music, books, water, God's creation, food, family, etc.  

2.  Also as you can see above, each devotional begins with a Scripture that goes along with the theme for the day.  Unless indicated, the Scripture comes from the NRSV.

3.  Next comes the actual devotional.  As you can see above, a few of the days have activities to go along with the devotional.  I also included a few games, video links, book suggestions, and I also included two of my other products - an ABC wordsearch to use with the theme "shelter" and a Car Bingo game that goes along with "Creation" - that you can use and play as a family.  

4.  After the devotional is a "call to action".  It's simply something the family can do together that day or sometime during the month.  It's not required, it's not something to stress families out, they are just ideas of ways they can respond to the devotional.  Some can be done sitting around the table, other times they can reach out to someone in the community, and other times they can go somewhere.  

    

5.  "Leaf" - this is an interactive and visual activity that will give each family a wonderful fall decoration to leave up and remind them of everything they are thankful for!  There are ideas included in the booklet (a few are above).  This is something each family can create at home...or, you can meet together at church for an intergenerational activity and create the trees together - as well as cutting out the leaves!  They can take their tree home and start their devotionals together!  I give them a suggestion/idea of what to write on their leaf for each day that goes along with the theme.

6.  Lastly, is the prayer.  Each devotional ends in a simple child-friendly prayer.  I did try and "mix it up" every now and then and make the prayer something different than just reading :) 

So there you go!  I hope you're as excited to use this with your families as I was to write it!  The devotional is $8 (link to etsy).  You will have to print out the 39+ pages yourself and put it together - which is why it's only $8.  If you provide the leaves as well as meet together to make the trees, then you would not need to include pages 36-37 or 40-42.  If you purchase this for your family, it is $8.  If you plan on getting it for your entire church or school, it is still $8.  If you are purchasing this for multiple churches, please buy one per church.  Also, if you purchase this for multiple families, I encourage you to make a donation of any size to Puriyninchik, which is an organization here in Peru that my husband and I helped with.  It is mentioned on day 27 - books and libraries.  Thank you :)

One last idea to throw out there - Assuming your church is on social media, it would be fun to incorporate your devotionals on Facebook or Instagram so that families can share what they are doing!  Create a hashtag for your church (thxdevo or something similar) so that you can see what each other is doing (and maybe share on your church's social media page!).  

God bless you and your church and all the work you put in for your children and families! 💚💛🧡

Church summer "Take out" box

 

This has been around for a couple of years, but I still think it's a neat idea :)  I did it one year at my last church.  Basically, it's a pizza box filled with fun activities that your kids can do over the summer.  It is especially meant for road trips!  When your church families are traveling (or when your own family is traveling), it's great to still give them a connection to their home church!  Let them know they are being thought of, even if they are hundreds of miles away.  Since most church services can now be found online, this can also be an enhancement to those services - if they are being watched while at the beach, on road trips, etc.  While parents are watching the online service, the children can be there with them, using these materials :)  Win-win for everyone!

Assuming you're on a budget and you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on these, here are some ideas to help you cut the cost, but still provide fun and meaningful materials!

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First off, the box.  You can buy them in bulk online, or you can ask around at different pizza places and ask for donations.  I got small ones for us thinking we wouldn't need anything large...but if you don't get ones big enough for 8 1/2 by 11 papers, you're going to be doing a lot of folding.  Since most restaurants have their names on the box, many will be more than happy to donate 10-15 for the cause.  You may need to hit 2-3 restaurants if you have a lot of families.  I gave out one per child, but you could also do one per family.

You also want to include any summer bulletins/newsletters, etc that you have for your specific church.  Include a piece of paper (or glue it to the inside of the lid) with the website and social media info so they can watch online.  

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Now for the Fun stuff - 

I went to oriental trading and bought 3 things that I knew my kids loved.  

Scratch offs!  My kids love these, and I loved the idea of giving them a postcard that they could create and write on while they were on a trip somewhere!  You could even write the church address on it and put the stamp on it to encourage them to send it while they're gone!  You could display them somewhere in your church :) 

Sticker scenes to do on long car rides...OR, you could get religious ones to do during their at-home worship services!  There are tons to choose from.  If you'd like to get a religious one that goes along with the lessons that I am including in my bundle, there is a good one for the story of Joseph.  

Lastly, you can get fidgets or little logic puzzles that would fit nicely in the box.  

Other items...

You could also put deflated beach balls in the box and write conversation starters on the ball so they could play a game together as a family :) 

Other things to include - glow sticks, crayons, colored pencils, and stickers to decorate their box :) 

I also found a finger labyrinth printable online that I included.  I've discovered that tracing them can be calming for kids.

Jokes are also fun!  Search "free printable jokes for kids" and include some of those :) 

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I have also created some fun things that you can include in your box!  There are 7 things total and you can get them all for $4 - and make enough copies for all your kids!  This is what I'm offering in the bundle (some are free and you can get them all separately or together).  

1.  5 Bible Story lessons to do at home. I actually have ten available for free in my store (5 OT and 5 NT), but that is too much to include in your pizza box.  So, I picked out 5 that are well suited for trips away from home or at home.   Those five are a "bonus" item in the bundle.

2.  Religious Car Trip Bingo - God's Creation. - (.50) this is a little printable you can print out on cardstock or laminate and include in the pizza box.  There are 48 things on there for them to find on a car trip and they are all God's creations! :) 

3.  Would you Rather questions!  ($2) This is a fun game you can play at the dinner table, in the car, wherever!   Play this with any age.  You can print them in color or black and white.  You can let them cut them up, or you can do it for them.  Rubber band them together and there ya go!

4.  Lego stem tasks ($1) - Any age can play this.  most families have either small or large legos at home and they could play this game.  However, if you want to make sure they have some, Target sometimes has the knock off brands in their dollar bins!  They actually work pretty well - I've used them!  Include them in their boxes.  This set has 21 cards.  If you don't want to give all 21 to each child, you can print out a few sets and give each child 5 cards.  

5.  ABC Wordsearches (.50 each) - This is just for readers.  These wordsearches are special :)  I give them the starting letter of the word (A-Z) and how many letters are in the word - and they have to figure out the words in the puzzle.  Click this link to see a free sample for Holy Week.  In this bundle, I'm including the Joseph wordsearch (because that story is in the Bible lessons) and a generic "Bible character" wordsearch.  

6.  Joseph dice game (.50) - Preschoolers - elementary can play this.  I have around 5 dice games, but I'm including Joseph since he's in the Bible lesson :)  They only need one die for this.  You can provide it or just let them get one at home.  (Dollar Tree has a pack of dice for $1).  

7.  Lastly, I created a religious summer bucket list that you can print out and give to your families.  This is free, but I've included it in the bundle as well so you don't have to download twice :)  This comes in a one page printout like you see above, or you can print it in black and white, cute up the ideas, and then draw them out of a hat one at a time :)  

Total cost of all the materials is $5 but the bundle is only $4 :)  

If you decide to make a box, let us know below what you put in it that is different from what I've suggested!  We would love to get more ideas!

Thanks and God bless you and your ministry and family :)  🧡

Black light glow parties!

 

Who doesn't love a good black light party??  Elementary groups, youth groups, even adults - every age loves glow parties!  

The problem is, you can get stuck on one idea that eventually gets a little stale.  You get in a rut, right?  So, I went on a search for lots of fun black light glow party ideas - and my facebook groups didn't disappoint!  People have really thought outside the box and gotten creative with this!  So, here are some ideas for games, activities, and even a few suggestions on supplies.  Maybe you'll find something new that you hadn't thought of before!  If you've done something awesome and it's not on this list - please comment below!  Your idea may just be what someone else is looking for :)

Before you get started - here are some fun ideas from other educators on things you can do or tell your group to do to get ready!  

    - wear white or neon clothes that glow...if you make youth group or children's ministry shirts, kill two birds with one stone and make sure it glows in black lights!

    - when they arrive make sure they are adorned with glow sticks!

    - when they arrive, if they are okay with it, you can do face paint/body art with glow body paint!

Black light pickleball

Black light gaga ball

The ever popular black light dodge ball

Black light nerf gun and darts competition - could also put up glow in the dark targets to have target practice.

Black light volleyball - with younger kids, light up balloons make this easier and fun!

Black light 9 square in the air

Simple but fun game idea for younger children - blow up tons of light up glow balloons and put them all over your room.  Divide the group up into two teams and put down glow tape in the middle of the room to partition it into two sections.  When you say "go", everyone on one side tries to put all the balloons on to the other side.  When you call "time", the team with the most balloons loses :) 

Airplane toss!  Have them make paper airplanes and put up glow in the dark targets.  Divide them into teams and see which team hits the most targets.

Paint over the Twister circles and play glow Twister!

Glow in the Dark Wiffle ball - paint the bat, put glow sticks inside the wiffle balls, tape off the bases with neon glow tape, and make sure everyone is wearing shirts that glow.

Black light 4 square (use black light/neon tape on the floor to mark off your court)

Ring Toss and mini golf!

Also, pictured above - Glow Jenga :)  Paint the blocks different colors!

Paint ping pong balls different glow colors and play this game:  toss into neon buckets, or into neon cups.  As a twist, make them earn the ping pong balls somehow.

Spray paint bean bags and a cornhole game to play glow cornhole!

Glow bowling!  There are different ways to light up the water...here are 3 suggestions:  use tonic water (says it glows on it's own!), put a glow stick in a bottle of water (someone else said you can break open the stick as well), or squeezing highlighter liquid into water bottles.

Glow hopscotch - you can use your spray painted bean bags from cornhole :) 

With the water bottles from bowling, you can empty them out so only 1/3 of the water is inside, and do a bottle flipping contest!

Neon Cup stacking contests.

Take the legs down on a table, prop it up on one side, and make a sort of Skeet ball game using glow buckets and glow wiffle balls (or glow balls from the dollar tree).

Make circles with glow sticks, hang them from the ceiling and have football toss contests.

Glow in the dark tic-tac-toe

Dance party - tape glow sticks on their arms and legs so it looks like stick figures dancing :) Add in Toby Mac's Light Shine bright and do a freeze dance!

Do a stem activity - spray paint legos and do some lego stem card activities or build a volcano and let them add in their own cups of baking soda (mix highlighter liquid with the vinegar).  

Many churches have sponsored black light egg hunts, but you can also do regular prize hunts at your event.  Fill up a small space (gaga pit would work well) with lots of glowing balloons and hide lots of little prizes under the balloons.  Let in a small group of kids at a time and give them 10-15 seconds to grab as many prizes as they can (keeping the balloons in the space ;). 

Neon Glow painting - there were a number of ideas with this.  One, was to put up BLACK paper along the walls and let them paint.  Another was to lay out WHITE paper on the floor and let them draw/paint.  Both would work and they would create different effects - the paper would glow if it's white, only the drawings would show if it's black.  Either could be used for a fun photo back drop or decoration for future parties!  According to other educators, there is glow paint available, glow chalk (you can also make your own), or someone else suggested painting with detergent!  If you're using white paper - you can just draw with highlighters!  These were also suggested from oriental trading.

Make glow playdoh.

Make glow bubbles (someone suggested just emptying the glow stick liquid into the bubbles - 1/2 stick for small bottle of bubbles)!

Ask them to bring a white tshirt or provide them - they can decorate their own shirts with glow paint to use for future events.

1.  To illustrate that there is more going on around than we can see, and that God is always with us even though we can’t see Him, we had the kids write their fears on a poster board. What they didn’t know is that during the week we had written truths about God with invisible black light pens on the same posters. So, when we hit the lights and turned on the black lights, their fears disappeared and the truth of God shined brightly!

2.  One educator did a version of the Wordless book (but this idea could be used with other lessons that involve different colors).  Every kid/participant was given a different color glow-stick. As I told the story, I asked those that had the corresponding color to wave it in the air as I related the color to the story. It was cool to see the room filled with blue, then red, then white, then green, then purple, then orange.

Neon Duct tape - on any and everything :) Including pool noodles!

Floor neon tape

LED lights with floor neon tape

neon paint and chalk

Did you know these little guys glow? 

Neon cups from Amazon or Party City

This is a vendor that was suggested for glow products.

Beach balls (evidently they glow?)

This light strip was recommended.

Well, that's all I have for now!  Any other suggestions, comment below so we can all see your ideas!  Thanks!

Did you know I create religious games for elementary and youth as well as religious Escape rooms!?  Check them out! :)  Small group, Large group, active, screen games, you name it!  All are $3 or under!

Thanks for all you do in your ministry!

In Christ,

Laurie J