Many group struggle with how to involve Parents/Guardians and Grandparents in their Kids Club. Some of the struggle is grown out of an understanding that Kids Club is aimed at gathering in more people into the congregation ('bums on seats'). Whilst this is not incorrect, it is perhaps not as broad an aim as Kids Clubs originally had.

To my understanding Kids Clubs exist mainly as a resource that the congregation is providing for the local community - it is outreach, it is mission, it is education. The children that attend your Kids Club will often think of the church as their's, but may not ever attend on a Sunday. This is not necessarily a bad thing, after all who said that God was only available on Sundays! Perhaps we need to broaden our horizons of 'what is church'.

Kids Club is for sharing God's Love with the local community and providing an often needed resource of child care. If that is the very least that you achieve with the children in your care, then you are doing a great job.

However, all of this is not to say that you shouldn't gain the involvement of parents/guardians and grandparents in Kids Club time, some ideas are listed below:

Arrange at the end of Kids Club one night to have a BBQ (food is a great motivator!) incorporate this with:

• A Singing Bonanza: have each different age group of children learn a song to share with the gathered audience, and include some good sing along songs to be interspersed with the performance, or
• An Art Show: have the children paint pictures on a theme (images of God, thank you God for….) and auction these off to the parents and members of the congregation, you might find a Michelangelo in the group!, or
• A Pageant: At Christmas time organise a concert or play that the children are all included in and invite the parents/guardians and grandparents along. Don't forget to invite the congregation and maybe even some of the teachers from the school

Personal invites go a long way to making people feel valued, don't just send something home with the children, actually take time to talk with the parents and tell them how important this occasion is to the children and the group.

Invite a parent/guardian or grandparent to be a 'Faith Friend' for an afternoon. They are invited to attend Kids Club and be involved in the whole afternoon, made to feel special with their own badge and perhaps given some tasks that will make them feel part of the community.

Some parents may want more tools for faith at home, so that they may nurture their children in faith at home, even when life gets busy and they miss church. Provide some tools to assist parents with this: send home prayers for grace, or prayers for bedtime. Look at the Faith @ Home portion of this website for more information

When the parent/guardians or grandparents are milling around waiting for Kids Club to finish so that they can take their children either:

• Invite them to be involved in the final/finishing (whatever ritual it is that you end the night on)
• Have coffee/tea and a few leaders available to mingle and chat with them. Get to know each other and share, this is a great stepping stone for further involvement.

However, I do caution you not to expect too much of the parents/guardians and grandparents as in this day and age people are rushed off their feet with a million tasks to do. Church is often seen as a less important part of the week than taking the children to sport or having family time. Respect this and see it as a difference not a division. Society is different to how it used to be, try to understand it and work with the child's carers to provide the best possible environment for the children involved.