Wednesday nights used to be about boys and girls clubs. But times have changed. Boys and girls clubs aren’t as popular among kids today. A few churches may still have effective kid’s clubs, but most need to think out of the box and change their Wednesday night programs. Not all churches are alike. What works in one community might not work in another. So you need to decide what works best for you. Here’s a few options for Wednesday night.

Clubs: If you do decide clubs work well for you, why not do them with a twist. AWANA and Pioneers For Christ  are clubs that combine boys and girls are very effective.

Rotating Program: If you want to have more of a teaching program, Wednesday nights are a great time to have a rotating program. Have a snack leader, a craft leader, a Bible story lesson leader, and a game leader. Have the children rotate between these stations. Each age group is taught the same lessons at each station. Faithweaver Friends by Group Publishing has their curriculum set up like this, but any curriculum could be used this way.

Discipleship/Ministry Groups: If the children who come on Wednesday night are the core children in your children’s ministry, consider using this time for a discipleship group. You can teach the children how to minister and give them opportunities to do so. You could use this time to teach drama, witnessing tools, prayers, etc.

Family Ministry: Use Wednesday nights for a time of family ministry. Families can sit together and eat together. After a devotion is presented to everyone, families discuss how to apply it to their lives.

Missions/Outreach: You may want to use Wednesday night as a time to involve children in missions and outreach. Teach children about missions. Give them opportunities reach out to missionaries and children in other lands. Plan times to visit nursing homes, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters. There are a lot of ways you can use this. Here’s some ideas for a complete missions program. There are some great teaching resources too like PrayKids, Kids of Courage, and Teaching Kids Missions.

Upward Sports Ministries: For years, children’s pastors have complained about children being drawn away from the church by sports programs. Parents have complained that children have to choose between going to church and being involved in sports. Upward Sports Ministries answers that dilema with a program that involves children in sports at church while teaching them the Word of God. It’s the best of both worlds.