Praygrounds and Making Worship Intergenerational

Editor’s note: This year we will have a prayground available at MOAC25. The prayground will be located in the front, left section of the plenary space. You can see the location on the map in your Conference Workbook.

By Rev. Arden Ratcliff-Mann, Associate Pastor at Liberty UMC

When we hear “intergenerational ministry,” we often imagine new events or programs we can create to allow our young people and our older congregants to get to know each other better. But one of the easiest things we can do in our churches to cultivate intergenerational ministry is to make sure our worship services are truly intergenerational.

One easy way to help your worship service be a place where disciples of all ages feel welcomed into the church community is to install a prayground in your worship space.

What is a prayground?

Praygrounds are dedicated spaces in the sanctuary where young kids can engage in worship in age-appropriate ways. Praygrounds usually have room for kids to get up and move around, tables where they can color or read, and sensory toys to help keep their hands engaged.

Why install a prayground?

Research continues to show that when kids are never included in communal worship, but instead always expected to go to the nursery or children’s church, they are much less likely to continue attending church as adults.

By creating an area where kids can be themselves in the worship space, your congregation is sending the message that kids are seen and valued as important members in the body of Christ. This can also relieve a burden on the parents, who often feel pressure to keep their kids silent and still in worship and feel judged if their kids need to move around or make a little noise.

Even if you have a nursery or children’s church, some families who are new to the church won’t immediately feel comfortable sending their children into the care of strangers. When a prayground is available in the worship space, these families will know that your worship service is a welcoming space for disciples of all ages.

What should a prayground include?

It’s helpful to put down a rug to help visually delineate the boundaries of the prayground space. The rug also provides a clean, soft space for kids to sit. Child-size tables and chairs can make it easier for kids to sit and color or read. (Have you ever tried sitting in a chair or pew where your feet couldn’t touch the ground? It’s not super comfortable!)

We recommend including a small bookshelf or basket with children’s Bibles and other books. Baskets of small fidget toys are also helpful for young kids — things like pop-its, fidget spinners, sensory boards and liquid motion bubblers. Foam blocks are another good option since they don’t make a lot of noise if they get knocked down.

LCD writing tablets, magnadoodle boards and Etch-A-Sketches are also popular toys to include. If you have some babies who might be using your prayground, you will want to consider adding a baby bouncer or activity mat to your space.

Where should we put our prayground?

The best place to install a prayground is inside your sanctuary, preferably at the front of the worship space. You might think that the back of the sanctuary would be a better spot because if kids or babies get noisy their parents can easily take them outside. But kids pay better attention to worship when they’re near the front. Even if their heads are down and their hands are busy, they are much more likely to look up and take in a worship song or the choir anthem if the prayground is close to the front of the worship space.

You might not think there’s any space to add a prayground – especially in traditional sanctuaries. Yet, if reaching young families with kids is a priority for your congregation, we encourage you to consider removing a couple pews from the front of the sanctuary to make room for a prayground.

What if we don’t have room for a prayground?

If space is a limitation, consider reserving a few pews near the front of the sanctuary for families with kids. Stock the backs of those pews with children’s Bibles, coloring books and small bags of sensory toys.

It’s never a bad idea to offer children’s worship bags (sometimes called “busy bags”), even if you do have a prayground. Children’s worship bags can include small board books, crayons, coloring books or word puzzles, and sensory toys to keep kids’ hands busy. If you really want to engage children in worship, consider making kids their own order of worship and include items in their worship bags that will help them participate in the service. For example, include bells kids can ring during a particularly joyful song, and plastic coins they can put in the offering plate.

What are some other ways we can encourage intergenerational worship?

Invite kids and youth to serve in worship. Our young people are just as much members of the body of Christ as adults, yet far too often we think of serving in worship as something that only adults can do. Consider inviting kids to light candles, read Scripture, offer prayers and help serve Communion in worship. Invite youth to serve in the praise band or choir, to help run sound or video, or to offer the children’s message for younger kids. Kids of all ages are excellent people to invite to serve on your hospitality team!

It’s also critical to encourage kids’ participation in worship from the pulpit. Pastors, make sure to celebrate the kids who are in worship. Comment from the pulpit on how grateful you are to have a teen running sound today. When a baby cries, mention how good it is to hear from our tiniest disciples. If a young kid likes to jump or dance to the worship music, affirm from the stage how nice it is to see the Spirit at work in them. When making references in your sermons to situations someone might face at work or in marriage, also include one to something a kid might face at school or on the soccer field.

If you are proactive about establishing a culture where kids are wanted and embraced in all their loud, messy glory, your congregation will follow your lead.