Photo:
Erika Giraud / Unsplash
First Things First: What’s a Prayground?
Prayground defined: A prayground is a designated area within a worship space where young children can engage in age-appropriate, worship-centered activities during the service. Equipped with materials such as children’s Bibles, worship aids, and props for “playing church,” a prayground invites children to participate through movement, play, and tactile learning while remaining part of the gathered congregation
Some Thoughts About Them Now
Praygrounds have gained wide popularity in the past 5-7 years or so. I wrote a post about them around 2017/2018 featuring different examples around the country. I’ve since taken that post down in favor of the report you’ll find later in this post.
Since I originally wrote about them, I’ve done a lot of observing of prayground spaces around the country, learned a lot more about intergenerational ministry, and engaged various congregations through consulting on their prayground spaces.
Now, more than ever, churches are looking to engage children and families and are turning to praygrounds as a solution.
After observing dozens of churches, talking to hundreds of children, youth, and family leaders around the country, and engaging other experts in faith formation and intergenerational ministry, I can say this with certainty: praygrounds can be a mixed bag. If done well, they can be a thoughtful way to engage children and young people in worship or a step along the way to becoming a truly intergenerational church where all ages worship together and learn from one another.
When they are executed poorly, they can cause more problems than they solve. (In this week’s Premium Treasure Box I gave subscribers my 8 minute “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” on praygrounds, so if you’re a subscriber, you’ll want to catch that.)
A Report
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to work with the United Church of Christ’s LOVE OF CHILDREN program to create a report with best practices and guidelines. Immense gratitude to the United Church of Christ for commissioning this report and for their commitment to guiding their congregations towards prayground spaces that achieve the goal of drawing all people deeper into the worship of God.
The report contains:
- Best Practices for Praygrounds
- A sample process for creating a prayground in your congregation
- A sample covenant for your prayground
- Links and resources to use with your prayground
You are free to review the report below courtesy of the United Church of Christ: For the Love of Children. Please do not alter or republish the report without written permission. Contact information is included in the document.