Holiday Clubs Bring Fun, Food, and Faith to Children and Families
It’s been exciting to hear about the holiday clubs for children and families happening across our diocese over the past few weeks. These events have been filled with fun activities, plenty of food, and, most importantly, opportunities to learn more about the good news of Jesus!
‘Make Your Mark’ at St Stephen’s Sneinton
St Stephen’s hosted a free 3-day holiday food club focused on teaching children about Jesus’ love, providing meals for families, and offering fun activities for the local community and holiday club attendees. To celebrate the end of the holiday club, around 200 people enjoyed a special funday with donkey rides, inflatables, face painting, garden games, an ice cream van, and more.
Children learned about Jesus’ disciples, his miracles and the meaning of ‘Messiah’, engaging in creative discussions, prayers and reflective activities. On the final day, they were given the freedom to choose whether to join Jesus’ team, and they each came to the front and took a small cross to symbolise their choice for Jesus!
One of the children, Shiloh, shared, “I learned about when Jesus said, ‘Who do you say I am?’ and that he is the Messiah! ”
Volunteer Ronaldo also shared, “This week has been an absolute blessing. I didn’t know what to expect as it was my first time helping at Sneinton, but everything went well, and I had a lot of fun with the kids.”
‘Deep Sea Divers’ at St Peter’s Toton
St Peter’s ‘Deep Sea Divers’ Holiday Zone was also a great success. Each morning, children aged 5-11 were welcomed with songs, quizzes and intriguing deep-sea facts. They could choose from various activities, including crafts, technology challenges, food projects, board games, and sports, often held in the park. The day ended with lively action songs, followed by the fun of nominating leaders to be dunked in gunk!
Meanwhile, the under-5s and their parents gathered at Toton Methodist Church, where they enjoyed a mix of play activities, crafts, songs and a daily Bible story.
The week wrapped up with a Family Fun Night, attracting over 100 people who enjoyed games, an inflatable obstacle course and a BBQ.
Holiday club events like this are a wonderful way to lay a strong foundation for children while bringing families and communities together. It’s amazing to hear stories of children choosing Jesus, and we hope this experience has a lasting impact on all who attended. Please join us in praying for everyone involved and for the continued curiosity for these children about Jesus.