Welcoming Families this Christmas Season

The Christmas season is finally here! Christmas celebrations are an excellent opportunity for the church to connect with families of children with special needs. When planning your church's holiday activities, here are three things you can do to support foster and adoptive families and families with children with special needs. 

1. Create Activity Bags
Take the time to create an activity bag for families who attend your Christmas services. You can include noise-reducing headphones, fidget toys, coloring materials, and a schedule of what you're doing during that service. These things can help keep kids entertained during downtimes and relieve some of the parents' stress.

2. Include Special Needs Families in Your Traditions
It's important to ensure families of every shape and size are involved in your traditions. Invite a family with a special-needs child to be part of your welcoming team or on your usher team. When you invite families of children with special needs to be involved in your church's activities, those special needs families who visit during the holidays can envision how they could also have a place in your church family. 

3. Share What You're Doing
Families have started looking for places to worship during the holidays, but they could miss out on worshiping with you if you don't let them know about your church's accommodations. Post on social media, include it on flyers, and your church website so anyone can find what your church is doing to support all families this Christmas. 
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The Christmas season is always big for churches, but don't miss the opportunity to follow up with these families after the new year. Make a follow-up plan and your next steps for ministering to families of children with special needs.