Preschoolers are the most enthusiastic people on the planet and learn best through active play. There’s some great research about the stages of brain development and faith formation. You can read more about that here.

If helping families teach their kids about faith is super important for your church, it’s good to start when kids are young. One great way to do this is by building relationships with preschool families early on.

We recently threw a dinosaur-themed party for families with preschoolers. We got help from a local art teacher who loves Jesus and loves kids, and we were invited by a family with preschoolers to ‘come on over.’

This was the plan: Sunday afternoon, 5-6pm, outdoors only. 

Invites included any and all families with a preschooler; the whole family.

Decorations
Jumbo dinosaurs placed around as hide & seek by the host family’s child(ren).

Dinosaur stops
* Dinosaur Dig – Kiddy Pool (DeDe) on the ground with potting soil digging tools & plastic dinosaurs and dinosaurs; sticks, leaves from the yard, trees
* Dinosaur Pool – Kiddy Pool on the ground with water to wash hands and dinosaurs
* Dinosaur soup (on small table) – Dinosaur oatmeal with hot water
* Paper plate dinosaur craft; dinosaur masks, dinosaur stick puppet w/Mrs. Glover (longest table)
* Dinosaur Snack mix with red cups, scoop – Dino bones – white yogurt pretzels; TRex claws – Bugles; Dino eggs – yogurt covered raisins or Dino poop – plain raisins

Schedule
5:05pm Welcome, Stated boundaries (fences), Introduced the host family, 
What does the Bible say about dinosaurs? Dinosaurs would have been created by God on the sixth day of creation. Genesis 1:24 says, “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
Introduce the host family; Mrs. Glover; Macland Community Church family
5:15-5:35pm Dinosaur stops 5:10-5:35
5:40pm Take home bags for each family
Dinosaur Hide & Seek (children collect all dinosaurs they see/find; then when all have been returned, they each choose one to keep) while I chat with the parents and grandparents about what’s in their take-home dinosaur kit.
Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp read aloud
Dance Party – Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp
Bluetooth speaker & songs from Spotify Dino Song list
Closing prayer & thank you

Take home dinosaur kit included a copy of Discipleship Begins at Home Blueprint from www.thenextgenerationministries.org, dinosaur bath bomb eggs for each child in the family (a preschooler and bath time, yay!), and a Squishy Jesus.

Some things we got to, some things we didn’t, because, well, they’re preschoolers. The preschool parents and grandparents now know one another and shared an hour making some new friends-in-the-Lord with others in the same stage of life. And I got some sweet pictures.

Matt Markins, President and CEO of AWANA, wrote “The single most catalytic factor to influence the formation of lasting faith in children is relationships – the currency of the Kingdom of Heaven. (The Faith of Our Children: 8 Timely Research Insights For Discipling The Next Generation, p. 28)

We offer Faith Milestones for littles with their bigs-who-love-him/her to make for a sticky faith memory with some accountability as a platform to teach the holy habits of growing a robust and resilient faith in Jesus. Faith Milestones are key elements of the discipleship pathway we’ve developed for families with children from infants through youth. Connecting in community is a holy habit to start early when parents/grandparents make new-friends-in-the-Lord easily.

“In a world where content is plentiful, and community is scarce, community is a new superpower.” Carey Nieuhoff, from 7 Critical Skills for Church Leadership: Building a Future-Ready Ministry

This event, along with a Preschool Family Truck event in the fall (preschoolers love trucks, too) is a Faith Milestone for our preschoolers with the goal of (1) beginning and/or strengthening connections among our Preschool Families offsite (‘cuz community is in our name), (2) talking about our good and great God with others, and (3) start building trust by introducing preschool families to the leaders who will be discipling their children in the years to come.

“Child discipleship is a process designed to form lasting faith by helping kids BELONG to God and His Kingdom, BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to BECOME like Jesus and walk in His ways through the power of the Holy Spirit.” The Faith of Our Children: 8 Timely Research Insights For Discipling The Next Generation, p. 14