16 Ways to Keep Kids Excited about Awana During the Summer

The last group of kids leaves the platform on awards night. Everyone had an awesome time over the last Awana year, and now they turn their sights to summer: church camp, VBS, visitors, family vacations and carefree days with no homework. With all this happening, sometimes Awana slips out of their view, and by the time the new Awana year begins, we need to recapture their interest.

So how do we keep them excited throughout the summer and ready for the new Awana year? By reminding them of the exciting times they had last year and giving them some Awana fun between awards night and the first night of the new club year.

Here are 16 ideas to keep Awana in kids’ minds:

1. Display pictures from the previous year on the bulletin boards around the church.
2. Create flyers specific to your club to hand out at church or community activities through the summer.
3. Make a five-minute promotional video of the previous year with photos and fun music. Show it during the summer at VBS, Sunday school or maybe during a church service.
4. Send postcards to the families.
5. Call the parents just to touch base and ask how the summer is going.
6. Connect with the parents on Facebook and share the goals, events and themes their kids can look forward to. The best way to do this is set up a club Facebook page and continually add info and interesting facts throughout the summer.
7. Hold an Awana family night with games and food.
8. Lend out the Awana game equipment for use at VBS or the church picnic.
9. Include Awana games at VBS or the church picnic.
10. Start fundraising for the next round of Awana events. Get the kids thinking ahead.
11. Support Trek and Journey teens in hosting a community event, such as a drive-in movie night. Share the promotional video before the movie.
12. Host a mid-summer carnival night. Include stations where they answer T&T/ Bible questions, recall verses from their handbooks (game or straight recitation), and play games with pins and beanbags,
13. Have an Awana Promotion Sunday a few weeks before club starts. Present the video, have a couple share what they like about Awana, and announce some exciting events that are happening in the new year.
14. Figure out how many days it is between the last night of club and the first night of club in the fall. Let’s say it’s 100. Give each child a jar with 100 riddles, Bible question or fun quote of the day. Tell them to read one piece of paper each day of the summer – to see the progress toward the fall. (One small club did this with candy – kids were told to take one piece of candy from the jar each day.)
15. Attend ball games at the local park. If you live in a small town, most of the kids involved in summer sports probably play in one location. Gather a group of leaders and show up at the ballpark to cheer on the kids.
16. Go out of your way to say “hi” when you see the kids at church. Ask what they’ve been doing.

*If you have an additional idea or two – share it with us in the comment section!