8 Dazzling Summer Ideas to Use in Children’s Ministry

Amaze kids and families with these eight dazzling summer ideas that’ll help them grow closer to God.

“Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer’s year,” Billy Graham once said. “It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.” We couldn’t agree more — summertime is the perfect time to celebrate God’s love and extend his rays of beautiful sunshine into your children’s ministry.

Bring the kids in your ministry along on these eight summer adventures!

Summer Idea #1: Good Samaritan Shadow Play

Get kids involved in retelling the story of the Good Samaritan with this unique storytelling adventure.

Age Level: 10 to 12

You’ll need:

• 2 large white bedsheets sewed together
• a clothesline
• clothespins
• a lamp

The Activity

Before class, hang the bedsheets from the clothesline. Place the lamp on the floor 10 feet behind the curtain.

Say: God wants us to love our neighbors. There’s man in the Bible who wanted to know who was a ‘neighbor.’ This man didn’t really want to love everybody. He was hoping that it’d be okay to show love to only friends and family. Let’s see what Jesus said.

Form two groups. Have one group go behind the curtain and the other group be the audience. Assign a role in Luke 10:30-37 to each child behind the curtain. Turn off the lights except the lamp. Have the kids pantomime their parts behind the sheet and in front of the lamp, while a strong reader reads the Scripture. Then have the groups switch roles.

Afterward, ask:

• How do you think the person who was beaten up felt?
• How do you think he felt when he saw the priest approaching him?
• What about when the priest left without helping him? How do you think he felt then?

Say: The Israelites didn’t like the Samaritans. If Israelites needed to cross Samaria to travel somewhere, they’d travel hundreds of miles out of their way just to avoid entering Samaria.

Ask:

• How do think the Israelite felt when the Samaritan stopped to help him?
• Why do you think Jesus said the Samaritan was a true neighbor in the story?

Say: The Samaritan showed love to a person who normally would have nothing to do with him. God helped the Samaritan love the Israelite. God helps us love others.

Ask:

• What kinds of people are hard for you to love?
• How can you show love to them?

Close in prayer, thanking God for loving us and asking him to help us love others.

Larry Shallenberger
Erie, Pennsylvania

Summer Idea #2: Wall Art

Here’s a creative idea that’ll help kids reflect on the biblical lessons you teach throughout the year.

Age Level: 6 to 12

You’ll need:

• butcher paper
• tape
• tempera paints
• a vacant classroom wall

The Activity

Select a wall in your classroom that kids can paint after each lesson. You may choose to cover the wall with butcher paper or let kids paint the wall itself after each class session. Place stored tempera paints nearby.

After each lesson, invite kids to spend five minutes finger painting things they remember about the lesson on one section of the wall. Write the Scripture or story title above the group of paintings. You can revisit the wall during any lesson or teaching time to remind kids of the lesson and event.

Once the wall is covered or the year is completed, simply repaint the wall or tear down the butcher paper.

Jack Flannery
Hamilton, Ohio

Summer Idea #3: Sunday Morning Sam’s Sampler

Have you ever purchased a bushel basket of those yummy little cream puffs featured in the Sam’s Club frozen food aisle? If you’re at all like me, your decision to buy started with the friendly Sam’s sampler.

“Have you tried our cream puffs?” the sampler asks, knowing it’ll only take one experience before you’re hooked.

Before the taste of the sweet cream leaves your tongue, you find yourself filling your basket, rationalizing all the different ways you’ll be able to use these delicacies. Sam’s samplers grab your attention, whet your appetite, and convince you to explore further.

Children’s Ministry Samplers

What if children’s ministries capitalized on this concept? Imagine someone standing behind a little cart in the foyer or hallway in your kids’ department, greeting and capturing kids’ attention with something that activates the senses. Someone who whets the appetite for learning and motivates kids to explore further?

“Would you like to try some roasted locusts and honey?” tempts the Sunday morning Sam’s sampler. “We’re studying John the Baptist this morning, and this is what he ate.”

Boys and girls sample the offer as others gather in disbelief. And the kids proceed to class with soaring expectations.

Sampler Ideas

By following a curriculum’s scope and sequence, all sorts of multisensory experiences can be featured at a Sunday morning sampler station. And you don’t have to always offer food — just offer something that activates the senses. Here are ideas to get started:

• Jesus turns water into wine. Provide a taste test of grape juice watered down in stages.
• Doctor Luke writes about Jesus. Take kids’ blood pressure and temperature.
• Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Have kids light and blow out candles.
• Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Serve fresh bread that’s baked at church for the aroma.
• Mary Magdalene brings spices to Jesus’ tomb. Grind cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, or coriander in a hand mill.
• Jesus tells a kingdom story about seeds. Serve a variety of seeds, such as sunflower and pumpkin.
• Soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ clothes. Have kids draw straws and roll dice.
• Jesus tells a kingdom story about yeast. Provide bread dough in various stages of rising.
• Jesus feeds his disciples breakfast. Serve fried fish fillets.

With the help of a Sunday morning sampler, your children’s ministry can build anticipation for learning in a fun and truly memorable way. Your kids will get in the habit of “trying” — and “buying” — too.

Victor Bennett
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Summer Idea #4: Walking Maze

Using simple red yarn and your imagination, take kids on an exciting journey through the desert with the Israelites.

Age Level: 6 to 12

You’ll need:

The Activity

Before class, set up various learning stations in different rooms or different sections of your room that represent what the Israelites may have experienced as they journeyed through the desert. Then place red yarn from the starting point of the journey to the ending point, creating a pathway for kids to follow. Wind the yarn around obstacles such as tables, overturned chairs, and partitions so the pathway meanders and is a little mysterious to kids.

Here’s how we designed the learning stations.

Daily Life

The yarn first took kids into a tent where an adult discussed daily life in the desert.

Daily Food

Kids were led into the “quail room” where they learned about desert birds and constructed simple paper gliders.

Mount Sinai

A third room held a tripod covered by a tablecloth to represent Mount Sinai. An adult talked about the yellow ribbon that kept children back from Mount Sinai as representative of God’s commandment not to touch the mountain or go near it.

Manna

A fourth room held a quart jar filled with oyster crackers covered in melted white almond bark to represent manna.

Rock of Horeb

The fifth room had a stack of chairs barring the kids at the entrance. This was the rock of Horeb where the children of Israel begged for water. Moses struck the rock with his rod. Behind these chairs were several pitchers of ice water and plenty of paper cups.

In each “room” we had an adult leader, an activity or craft, and discussion questions. The red yarn led kids back to our central classroom where we celebrated what we’d learned and praised God.

Rose Goble
Winamac, Indiana

Summer Idea #5: Splish, Splish, Splash!

Kids love to play this wet variation of Duck, Duck, Goose! in the hot summer months.

Age Level: 4 to 9

You’ll need:

• large plastic cup
• plastic bucket
• water

The Activity

Have kids wear clothing that can get wet, and plan to do this activity outdoors.

Fill a large bucket with water. Have kids sit in a circle and appoint one child to be “It.” It fills the cup with water from the bucket and then walks around the outside of the circle saying, “Splish, splish, splish” as he or she taps each child on the head. Then It chooses a child, says “Splash!” and pours the water on that child’s head.

A chase ensues as the child chosen tries to catch It. Whichever child reaches the empty spot in the circle first sits, and the other child becomes It.

Nancy Ferguson
Richmond, Virginia

Summer Idea #6: All A-Board!

Here are two great bulletin board ideas you can use this summer to spice up your children’s ministry.

All We Need Is You!

To get potential volunteers’ attention, place a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of shorts, a lei, and a pair of flip-flops on the bulletin board with a sign that says “All We Need Is You!” Alternatively, you could place several pairs of flip-flops on the board with the words “We could use you to fill these for our summer children’s ministry.”

Hear’s What We’re Learning

Place three large artificial flowers across the board. In the center of the flowers, staple a small felt “packet” that holds a small recording device (available at craft stores). Record the memory verse, lesson, Bible point, or other information your programs are focused on.

Label each flower for your children’s programs, such as Sunday school, children’s church, and the midweek program. Place a “press here” sticker on the felt packet where the recording device is. Anyone who sees the display can press the button and hear what’s new in each program. Record new information each week so the board stays current and keeps people coming back to find out what’s happening in your children’s ministry.

Margaret Maddox
Florence, Kentucky

Summer Idea #7: Smelly Feet and All

Give preteens a chance to experience servanthood firsthand with this activity.

Age Level: 10 to 12

You’ll need:

• 2 aluminum casserole pans filled with water
• 2 towels
• masking tape
• 2 bars of soap
• 2 chairs
• an activity area

The Activity

Place two chairs spaced 10 feet apart at the far end of the activity area. Place an aluminum pan filled with water, soap, and a towel on the floor in front of each chair. On the opposite side of the activity area, mark a starting line on the floor using masking tape. Form two teams and have the teams line up behind the starting mark facing the chairs.

Read aloud John 13:1, 3-5.

Say: We’re going to do what Jesus did. Tell kids they’ll wash one another’s feet, but they’ll all get to experience what it’s like to have their feet washed. Remind them to wash with care — as Jesus would.

On “go,” the first preteen of each team runs to the chair, sits, and takes off his or her socks and shoes. The second preteens in line run to the aluminum pan and wash and dry the first people’s feet. When done, the first person moves aside, puts his or her socks and shoes back on, and runs to the back of the line. The preteen who just did the feet-washing now sits in the chair, while the next person in line washes his or her feet. The kids who were first in line wash the feet of the last kids in line.

Once everyone has had a chance to experience both, ask:

• How did it feel to wash someone else’s feet?
• How did it feel to have your feet washed?

Say: Jesus washed his disciples’ feet to show his love for them. And long ago, people had very dirty feet — they walked everywhere in sandals.

Read aloud John 13:13-15. Say: God wants us to love one another — smelly feet and all!

Nayoung Kim
Bergenfield, New Jersey

Summer Idea #8: Remembering

Chart the course of your Sunday school year using a timeline.

Age Level: 6 to 12

You’ll need:

• butcher paper
• markers
• masking tape
• sticky notes

The Activity

Put up a large piece of butcher paper at the beginning of the year, and mark off a few defining events such as the first day, holidays, and spring break. At the end of each month, give each child two sticky notes and ask them to write two ways they’ve grown closer to Jesus that month. One at a time, each child can place his or her notes on the timeline and explain their significance. At the end of the exercise, thank God for the kids and the way he’s worked in their lives to help them grow.

Misty Anne Winzenried
Seattle, Washington

Looking for more ideas for summer? Check out these posts! For even more fun activities, check out Sciency-Fun WOWS!: 54 Surprising Bible Object Lessons ages 3-7 and ages 8-12!

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