All Age Goody Bags

I developed this idea last year and now some of my friends are using it too. It works well because it grabs people’s interest as soon as they come into church. It’s up to you whether you let people look straight away or make them wait!

At our All age Services, everyone is given a goody bag on their way in. These are cotton bags often used at weddings for wedding favours. (They’re available cheaply – try Amazon – mine are about 6 inches by 4 inches with a draw string at the eop) ). Inside I put things  for use during the service and I always put in some sweets. I’m even adding the words of a hymn next time – it’s a new one that isn’t in our hymnbook. (Copyright applied for!)

At our All Age Services we generally do the Confession, the Intercessions and the Sermon as activities, usually at three tables (The Sorry Sation, The Prayer Station and the Learning Station). The bags can contain some or all of the materials for these activities.

You need to make sure the bags are handed back in at the end of the service, and that someone goes through the bags to makes sure they’re emptied properly – it’s amazing how much damage a soggy sweet can do to a pile of bags.

On occasion I’ve had to give a health and safety notice about keeping the contents away from very young children, and sometimes I’ve had to have child and grown up versions if the activities demand this.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *