Church Picnic Activities

Church picnic activities are an ideal way for members of a congregation of all ages to get to know each other while having a lot of fun. Aside from a delicious meal and refreshments, plan to have music, craft booths, carnival games, competitions and sports events. Choose an outdoor location that provides swimming, hiking, paddleboats and fishing.

Have the children play "Bible Relay." After dividing the children into teams, mark a start and finish line and provide a Bible for each team. At the starting line, the first players hold their Bibles until the facilitator of the game yells "Go!" The children dash to the finish line and return, handing off their Bibles to the next player like in a relay race. The team that finishes first is declared the winner and receives a small prize. Children will enjoy playing "Bible Charades" where they choose the name of a biblical character out of a hat and act out the character and his role for the other children to guess.

The Bible scavenger hunt is an outdoor activity for all ages attending a church picnic. Print off scavenger hunt clues beforehand and hide the correct objects to the clues. Create teams with older and younger participants. Each team chooses its own captain. After explaining the rules, each team receives a bible and paper bags to carry found objects. Team read Bible verses clues filling in missing words to discover the object they will be searching for. For example, Matthew 21:19 tells how "the barren fig-tree had nothing but leaves." Omit the word "leaves" for them to fill in and search for. If they need to, they can read the verse in their Bible.

Games for children and adults are an important part of church picnic enjoyment. Playing games brings the church community together in fun ways. Older members could play horseshoes while very young children will amuse themselves on a bounce castle/house or playing carnival games. Play sports such as softball, volleyball or badminton or cool off on water slides. Organize competitive activities such as tug o' war, sack races, egg/spoon races, a putting contest and water balloon fights.

When advertising your church picnic, ask everyone to bring canned or boxed food items to the picnic. Place all the non-perishable items on one or two picnic tables. Ask a few adults to assist children at the picnic in assembling food donations in boxes to give to the needy or to donate to the local food bank. This activity combines fun while emphasizing the value of giving to the community at the same time. Suggest that senior church members bring their knitting/crochet materials to make mittens or booties and other small items for children of single mothers or low-income families.