Are your Synod Assemblies family friendly? They can be!
Pastors Sarah and Jessica from the Southwest Texas Synod led the charge for a PrayGround at their 2019 Synod Assembly.
On Saturday, when the day was full with plenaries and workshops each of the tables was set with two colorful baskets. One basket had quiet toys and activities like colored pencils, paper, playing cards, toy cars, fidget cubes, koosh balls, etc.
The other basket had individual serving size snack packages of things like goldfish, teddy grahams, granola bars, cheerios, etc. and juice boxes. (We also put some hand sanitizer on each table.)
We moved the large cushions on the floor off to the side and put out a colorful cushioned play mat that wound up being used for everything from older kids tumbling to baby floor play space. We also had coloring pages, books, and craft activities that tied into the theme of assembly and the focus Bible story out on the children's table.
The other basket had individual serving size snack packages of things like goldfish, teddy grahams, granola bars, cheerios, etc. and juice boxes. (We also put some hand sanitizer on each table.)
We moved the large cushions on the floor off to the side and put out a colorful cushioned play mat that wound up being used for everything from older kids tumbling to baby floor play space. We also had coloring pages, books, and craft activities that tied into the theme of assembly and the focus Bible story out on the children's table.
Who uses it? The space morphed during each of the different sessions. Sometimes it was parents with really little babies. Sometimes it was elementary aged kids. Toward the end of assembly it was even some teenagers who pulled out the cushions and made their own space to hang out during some down time.
What is in it? Big things that were available the entire time were the two rocking chairs, table and seats for kids, playdough basket, craft basket (containing a bunch of random craft items), bookshelf with children's Bibles and other faith-based story books, coloring supplies/scissors/glue/tape, colored paper, felt board and a variety of felt shapes/activities, foam floor puzzle, rocking horse, wooden toddler activity center toy.
How did it go? It was a lot of fun!
How do I contact them for more questions? Sarah Nye at snye001@luthersem.edu Jessica Cain at pastorjessicacain@gmail.com
We had several tables near the "PrayGround" area reserved for groups with children. On that Friday night we had dollar tree toy guitars on the tables and some battery operated candles.