While less of a family "kit," our congregation joined together with a self-created Lenten devotional booklet using images along with Scripture and actions to engage in making a difference in the world by loving others the way Jesus taught and lived, 

The booklet, commercially created as a photo book from www.mypublisher.com/minibook, was titled "Love Everywhere" and included Scripture about love as well as photographs of hearts seen in nature. Our hope is that through its use, families and other congregation members were challenged to find love everywhere in the Lenten season.

With Lent approaching and a focus of the season being on prayer, we sought ways to assist families in their communal prayer lives while engaging them in their homes at the times that would work best with their own schedules. Using ideas gleaned from http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.co.uk/, we created prayer packets.

Assembled as several ideas of ways to pray together with all of the necessary supplies packaged in large plastic zipper bags, families were encouraged to take a packet, use it, and then return it to take another packet that included different prayer practices. Once one was returned, it was checked for supplies,  replenished, if needed, and placed out for another family to use. These packets will be able to be used year after year in our congregation.
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Springing from this web posting, families were presented with a kit to make their own Advent Prayer Box. We made adjustments to the prayers and to the illustrations but provided the box, the printouts, directions, and small decorative items (gift bows, ribbon, etc.).

​Because families have been provided with Advent activities for the last several years, our goal was not to overwhelm them, but, instead, to provide a supplement to practices that may already be occurring in the home (Advent wreaths, Advent trees, etc.). Ideas for ways to use the prayers included on the prayer box were a part of the kit.

Although Thanksgiving is not an official part of the church liturgical year, the holiday can certainly be holy as we pause to give thanks to God. Since this practice is often overshadowed by large meals and football games, families were provided a simple cloth table runner for use on their Thanksgiving tables. Also included in the kit was a fabric marker and a model for a short Thanksgiving service to take place during the mealtime. During the service there was a time devoted to having the family members or meal participants add words of gratitude to the table runner using the marker.

​Families are encouraged to use this table runner year after year, looking back at the things for which they were grateful in previous years.

Using an idea found at https://gracefilledchaos.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/take-out-church/ we offered Take Out Church boxes to families of the church for use during the summer months when worship attendance may not be as regular. 

The idea is to provide supplies for families to use in times of worship together outside of the church building. Packaged in a pizza box, the kit fits easily under the seat of a car or tucked in a beach bag. Our congregation used several of the ideas from the original post but also used some of our own activities. 

Focusing on the wind of the Holy Spirit that arrived on the day of Pentecost, kites kits were provided for each child of the church. These kits contained a nylon kite with a colorful tail, a set of crayons, and instructions for families. Families were encouraged to look up the biblical account, talk about the symbols and significance of the day, and color the kites using those symbols. While Pentecost on this day fell on Memorial Day Weekend, the weather in our town lent itself to flame-filled kites in the air.