How to Throw a Killer Kids’ Ministry Open House, Part 2

In my last post I talked about five ways you can throw a killer Kids’ Ministry Open House. In this post I want to give you five more ways to make your next Kids’ Ministry Open House awesome. Here they are:

Let families check out your facilities
You don’t have to have your own building to do this (we don’t). You’d be surprised how many parents don’t know where most things you take for granted are. Let them check out the space their kids are in on the weekend now and get a sneak peek of where they’ll be going as they grow.

Clearly mark where everything is going to be
Make sure you have good signage so nobody has to wonder where things are. At our Open House we also passed out campus maps to help families navigate where different activities were. We don’t have a huge campus (relatively speaking) but it’s easy for people to get lost most everywhere. Good signage is also a great idea for the weekend, too.

Give everyone a name tag
I always feel dorky wearing a name tag, but it’s part of the gig in CM. Having name tags is great for your staff and volunteers so parents don’t feel weird about not remembering someone’s name. There also great for you and your team in case YOU blank on someone’s name, too. (I’m sure that’s just something that only happens to me…)

Have info and sign-ups for all your programs
Open House is a great time to let families sign up for midweek, praise team, and even to volunteer. If you have a conference or retreat coming up have sign-ups and info available for parents (If you’re taking registrations be sure to have change ready; that’s something I forgot). Also be sure to make your calendar for the school year out for parents to take home.

Get feedback from key families and leaders
After the dust has settled on the night make some time to get feedback from key leaders and families whose opinion you trust. Get their take on what they liked about the night, what they thought went wrong, and what they thought was missing. They’ll help you get a more objective take on how effective the night was.

What tips would you add to this list?