"Kid’s Club" Idea Comes To Sunday School

One of the hottest trends in marketing to children today is the "kid’s club." Such clubs have been popping up at fast food restaurants, on TV and in many other places. Burger King, for example, reports their "kid’s club" has over 4 million members and has generated skyrocketing sales of kid’s meals.

These "kid’s clubs" are marketing and promotional tools designed to help make kids feel more a part of something (ownership) and to increase identity, loyalty and participation through real or perceived benefits. (Members in the Burger King club get a membership card, T-shirt, transfer, calendar and food savings.)

With a little imagination and effort, many of the "kid’s club" ideas can be added to a children’s Sunday school class to make it more interesting and exciting. Here are some things you could do:

Have class membership cards. These can easily be made with a computer. They increase ownership by showing that the child is a member of the class.

Give your class a catchy name. Calling your class something like "the church name R.A.T.S." (the Right And Truthful Servants), might not sound like much of a name to an adult, but this is the type of name kids will find "really cool."

Create a slogan and logo for your class. This makes for added visual identity.

Obtain identical Sunday school or other Christian message T-shirts for your members to wear. Encourage them to wear the shirts to school and to class activities and outings.

Offer "club benefits" such as small prizes or rewards to class members who have special achievement. A system of points could be established where members would get points for doing things like attendance, memorization, bringing a visitor, etc. A selection of prizes (books, T-shirts, pens, etc.) could be offered for a variety of point values.

Sponsor monthly or quarterly "club activities," such as a pizza party, softball game, outings, etc. Encourage members to bring their friends to these special activities and to your Sunday school class.

(This article appeared in the "Spring, 1996" issue of "The Herald.")