Sure, summer is a time to relax, but it’s also a time for fun. A special event could have a lot of benefits for you and your club. It could: 

  • Show club members you really enjoy them
  • Help you get to know them better on an informal basis
  • Welcome younger children who will be in your club in the fall
  • Increase club unity and enthusiasm
  • Help you get to know members’ parents and friends 
  • Help you reach out to your church or community.

So tear out this list, and see what sounds like fun to you. Regardless of your location, budget, or energy level, you’re sure to find something. Mix and match ideas, and add snacks, songs, or devotional thoughts as you see fit. Many events lend themselves to inviting parents, Pals, friends, other club age-groups, church members, or the whole community.

  • Backpacking – For 4th graders and older.
  • Backyard Games – Invite kids to a park or your home for an afternoon of old-fashioned fun such as Kick the Can, Hide and Seek, Spud, and Hot-n-Cold.
  • Biking – Bike on a trail or to a place of interest. Stop for a picnic. For a short ride, bike to an ice cream shop. 
  • Board-Game Party
  • Boating
  • Breakfast Hike – Go on an early morning hike, and top it off with a cookout breakfast.
  • Camping – For younger members, try a night at the church or in someone’s yard. With older children, one or two nights at a public or private campground could be fun. Use tents, or rent a cabin.
  • Canoeing – This could be anything from paddling around a pond to an overnight trip.
  • Car Wash
  • Carnival
  • Club Mural – Choose a theme, such as “favorite summer things.” Draw a scene in one section of a long piece of shelf paper, and mail it to a club member. He or she draws another scene and mails it to someone else, and so on. Display the finished mural at church.
  • Club Olympics 
  • Day at the Beach
  • Destination Unknown – Plan an outing to a museum, park, zoo, or other place of interest, but tell only the parents the destination, not the club members.
  • Farm Tour
  • Fishing
  • Fruit Picking – If you pick berries, finish the outing by eating them on ice cream.
  • Historical Site Outing
  • Horseback Riding
  • Ice Cream Social 
  • Kite Flying – For extra challenge, make the kites as well as fly them.
  • Mud Games – Hose down an area of ground to create a mud pit. Gear games to the age-group.
  • Museum Outing
  • Nature Night – Plan a party with a nature theme.
  • Neighborhood Cleanup – The neighborhood will look nicer, you and your club members will have a chance to get together, club members will have a chance to serve others, and neighbors will learn about Pioneer Clubs and your church.
  • Newsletter – Have kids put together a club newsletter before summer. Include members’ summer plans and ideas for summer fun. Mail in midsummer.
  • Nursing Home Visit
  • Open-Air Movie – Project a movie onto the outside of a light-colored building. Viewers sit on blankets or lawn chairs. A concession stand adds to the spirit of things.
  • Pancake Wash – While some members was cars, others invite the owners into the church for pancakes. As a fundraiser, people will come just to see what a Pancake Wash is. 
  • Picnic – Hold an all-day picnic, with hiking, games, and a cookout. Don’t forget the s’mores.
  • Pine Car Derby/Sailboat Races – Order kits from the Pioneer Clubs’ online store. Have kids, parents, or Pals build the cars or boats. Be creative with prize categories so everyone wins something.
  • Pizza-and-Sundaes Party – Have pizza for dinner and make-your-own sundaes for dessert.
  • Pizza-and-Videos Party
  • Rocket Launch
  • Roller Skating
  • Scavenger Hunt
  • Secret Pen Pals – Draw names before summer. Kids send “secret notes” to their pen pals throughout the summer, not revealing their identity until the beginning of the new club year.
  • Softball Game and Cookout
  • Splash Party and Barbecue – Have a day of water fun. Play with water balloons and squirt guns, and make a water slide out of a long piece of plastic. Invite parents to come later for a barbecue.
  • Summer Garden – Have kids and leaders bring home-grown produce to an end-of-summer party or club year kickoff. Give horticultural awards: longest, biggest, most colorful, and so on.
  • Summer-Vacation-I-Always-Wanted Party – Have kids name where they would go on vacation if they could go anywhere at all. Plan a party in which all of the places are represented in some way – decorations, sets, games, food, and so on.
  • Swimming
  • Talent Show
  • Volleyball Tournament – For variety, try playing with balloons. Or have players pair up to catch and throw water balloons with a towel held between them.
  • Water Slide – Make your own fun with a long piece of heavy plastic and a garden hose. Or take members to a water park, or rent an inflatable water slide.
  • Wet Fun Day – Stock up on water balloons and ingredients to make bubbles, and plan a day of games.
  • Work Day – Work at the church or someone’s home.
  • Zoo Outing