How did you get involved with your local church? Maybe you grew up going there or a friend invited you. Or maybe you got involved because you found them online or through a church event. Churches tend to focus their outreach toward adults, but have you ever thought about how you can creatively reach out to kids? People really appreciate it when you love on their kids, so it’s a great way to reach whole families. Let’s talk about four ways you and your church can reach out to the kids in your community.
First, encourage kids who are already involved in church and Bible programs to invite their friends. Make invitations with all the information about Sunday school or after-school Bible club. Have the kids think about friends they would like to invite and provide copies of the invitations to them. You can even make a craft out of it and have the kids make their own personal invitations for their friends. It’s helpful to provide a small card with information like address, day, and time, that can be attached to these homemade invitations. 
Now, please don’t reward kids for bringing friends. Their friends don’t want to arrive and see the friend who invited them more excited about getting their reward as if they were just used. Help kids get excited about bringing friends for the right reason. Give them kuddos later in private and ask if their friend had any feedback regarding their experience.
A second method for creative outreach is face or hand painting! A friend who works with Child Evangelism Fellowship of Kansas schedules booths at the state and local fairs to do free hand or face painting for kids. You can find inexpensive brushes and face paint online or at a local party supply store. Kids love face painting! And parents love a free activity for their kids at a fair. You can provide information for the families about your church, and specifically about your programs for children. Face painting can be a great evangelism tool, too. Choose designs that use the colors of the The Wordless Book to tell the gospel story as you paint. If you are working in a team, one person can paint while the other shares the Gospel. If you have the resources, add some other games and crafts at your booth for kids to do as they wait their turn. This is a great time for people from your church to build relationships with the families that stop by. 
Did you like watching the Olympics as a kid? Stephanie, a CEF missionary in Tasmania recognized that kids often get excited about the Olympics or other big sporting events.  Stephanie used everyone’s excitement about the Olympics to reach out to new kids in her community. For the two weeks the kids were out of school in July, Stephanie set up a table at a local park handing out snacks, water, and gospel Olympic wristbands that she and the kids made. It was such a success that her Good News Club kids wanted to help too! You can see pictures and read more about this outreach in our IMPACT Magazine by going to CEFonline.com/impact. I’ll give that to you again if you want to have a pen ready.
My final idea for outreach is to participate in a local parade or festival! I remember being so excited for my hometown’s annual parades. Take advantage of the community coming together to raise awareness of your ministry and invite new kids to come! You can get creative and design a float or you can march or ride in a fun car while throwing candy with invitation cards attached. Local festivals are another place you can use the hand or face painting. This is your opportunity to reach new kids for Christ and love on your community. Be sure to have some kids tracts from cefpress.com. 
For more ideas on outreach and for stories of encouragement like Stephanie’s, check out CEF’s IMPACT Magazine at cefonline.com/impact. The IMPACT magazine is a free publication of CEF that tells the stories of ministry going on to children and their families all around the world. Subscribe today!

Creative Outreach 1 
Churches tend to focus their outreach on adults, but have you ever thought about how you can creatively reach out to kids on behalf of your church? One method you can use is to teach the kids already involved in your ministry to invite their friends and neighbors. You can make a special craft time out of it by having kids make their own invitations. Be sure to include a card or other insert with important information like address, day, and time.  After kids make their invitations, encourage them to pray for the friends they are going to give them to. For more ideas on creative outreach, check out our free, IMPACT Magazine at cefonline.com/impact.

Creative Outreach 2
Does your church reach out to kids? People appreciate it when you love on their kids, so it’s a great way to reach whole families. One creative outreach method is free face or hand painting at a local fair or festival. Kids love face painting! And parents love a free activity for their kids. You can hand out invitations for Sunday school, kids church, or your Bible club to all the kids who come by. You could also organize games and crafts at your booth for kids to do as they wait their turn. This creates a great opportunity to build relationships with local families. For more ideas on creative outreach, check out our free, IMPACT Magazine at cefonline.com/impact.

Creative Outreach 3
If you have ever been to a fair or festival, I bet you have seen kids waiting in line to get their faces painted. Did you know face painting is a great opportunity to share the Gospel? You can choose designs that use the colors of The Wordless Book and share the Gospel story as you paint. Add other games and crafts at your booth for kids to do as they wait their turn. This is a great opportunity for your friends and church to build relationships with families in your community. Your local CEF chapter may already be doing this and you can help them and invite families to church. CEF can also train your team. Find your nearest CEF chapter at chapters.cefonline.com.

Creative Outreach 4
What exciting events are happening in your community? Have you thought about using them to invite kids to church or Bible club? My CEF missionary friend, Stephanie, from Tasmania, did just that when her community was excited to watch the Olympics. Stephanie set up a table at a local park handing out snacks, water, and gospel Olympic wristbands which she and the children made. It was such a success that even her Good News Club students wanted to help. Have you thought of ways to use the events around you to spread share the Gospel? You can read more about Stephanie’s outreach in our free, IMPACT Magazine at cefonline.com/impact.

Creative Outreach 5
Were you excited to go parades as a kid? Have you thought about using this excitement to reach children for Jesus? Parades and local festivals are a time when the community comes together. And they can be a great time to raise awareness for your ministry and invite new kids to come! You can design a float, march with a banner, or ride in a fun car while throwing candy with invitation cards attached. You can set up a booth and offer free face painting, organize a game and prize booth, or show an object lesson to share the gospel. For more ideas on reaching out to children in your community, find your local CEF chapter and talk to them. Go to chapters.cefonline.com