It’s hard to believe that the most wonderful (and busy!) time of the year is upon us. Once American Thanksgiving passes, the North American world is in full-on Christmas mode.
While I absolutely love this time of year, I also know that it can be absolutely chaotic for families.
As a children’s ministry leader, I want to see families make meaningful connections and traditions during this season, but I also want the events we do at church to be a part of those traditions!
We put so much work, time and effort into the events we do during the Christmas season – of course we want families to attend!
Over the past number of years in children’s ministry, I have implemented four simple strategies to make our Christmas events meaningful for families – and today, I want to share them with you.
- Limit the amount of events you do this season!
I know that there are so many great events out there – and during this Christmas season, it can be tempting to do them all! Family nights, Christmas productions, playdates, service projects, carol sings, worship services, breakfasts and brunches… on the list goes. One of the best decisions we have made when it comes to Christmas events is to choose just a couple of events and encourage families to attend those. When you choose just one or two things to focus your energy on in this season, families can know – wow! This is actually meaningful! We should go! We don’t have to choose what we will attend – this is what we will do together. - Make your events an opportunity for families to spend time together.
With the busyness of this season, families don’t get to spend as much time together as they might like to! Hosting family events that focus around families actually spending time with each other is a surefire way to get families to attend! When you advertise your events as an opportunity for families to spend quality time together (like this Cookies & Cocoa event), I guarantee families will want to come! People don’t need another “busy night” to add to their schedule, but when they receive a chance to sit back, enjoy and laugh with their family – that’s worth going to! - Keep your events simple and straightforward!
When I attend an event with my kids, I want it to be simple and straightforward. I don’t want to have to do a craft with a million instructions or switch stations every few minutes – it gets overwhelming and it isn’t fun. Keeping events simple and straightfoward for parents makes them more enjoyable, and makes them more prone to attend! I was really intentional to create a simple event in our Christmas to Remember Kit, because I wanted families to be able to relax and enjoy together. - Ensure your events are well-organized and thought out.
Simple doesn’t have to mean boring or disengaging. Simple events should still be well organized and thought out! Families will keep coming to your events when they are clearly thought through and put together. Here are a few tips to make sure the events you host this season are organized:- Create an event checklist and go through it 1, 2, 3 times! Each of our events at Equip Family comes with tips & tricks to help plan your event.
- Have everything in place beforehand. If you have craft supplies, have them placed on the tables for families when they arrive. Place them in bags if you can (bonus if they’re labelled!).
- Have a plan for serving food – enlist more volunteers than you think you’ll need for this part of the evening to ensure you have enough hands (and extra!) to keep the process running smoothly.
- Consider having assigned seating for families and name tags or place cards on the place they’ll sit! This ensures families know that you’ve been expecting them, gives them a sense of what to expect, and eliminates worries about where they’ll sit/what to do when they arrive.
- Have a couple extra activities on hand (screen games, minute to win it games, or Christmas puzzles!) in case you unexpectedly have extra time.
Implementing these simple, but impactful tips can make sure families make your events a part of their Christmas traditions.
To help you this week, we’re offering two event bundles – The greatest Story Ever Told – and A Christmas to Remember for $5 off!
