7 Ways to Keep Your Kids' Faith Engaged This Summer

Caroline Godin explores faith-engaging activities to keep the kids busy (and spiritually safe) over summer break.

It’s almost summer vacation in New England — it already is for some states and homeschooling families. Summer plans are underway. Camps and trips are on the family calendar, and parents will be packing or driving all over soon.

In all the adventuring, we hope to remember the most important part of our kids’ upbringing: their faith. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle, so here are a few ways you can keep your kids' faith engaged during your busy summer.

Faith in the World

The secular world isn’t prioritizing faith at amusement parks or summer camps. It’s our job as parents to keep faith formation going over the summer so they realize God is as important as eating, breathing, and sleeping — more important, actually — and we don’t stop those things at summertime.

While we might prioritize religious education, Mass, and prayer, the world is prioritizing commercialism, pop culture, and ideals not aligned with Christian ideology. We can counter that by making plans and following a lifestyle that firms up our children’s upbringing of faith.

7 Faith-Engaging Summer Activities

These will work for some families differently and most can be modified to suit your specific needs and abilities. Find what works best for your family. Let’s get to it.

Attend VBS or Other Catholic or Christian Camps

My community has an Ecumenical Vacation Bible School every summer and we’ve been involved for several years. We go in for fellowship and especially to hear the message of Christ in a fun, loving way. As my oldest grew up, we talked about the lessons and how they pertain to our beliefs. They had fun, learned about God, and most importantly got to experience a faith-filled camp with friends. See what’s offered for faith-based camps in your area.

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Celebrate Holy Days and Saints

There’s Holy days and saints’ feast days throughout the summer. You can observe them by going to Mass, reading and talking about it with your children, praying to the saint, or even doing a small craft related to the day. You can even create a list of saints you feel are especially relevant to your family and celebrate one each week. Here’s a list of feast days and holy days from the Catholic calendar.

May 31st – The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June 2nd – Solemnity of Corpus Christi
June 7th – Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 8th – The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June 13th – St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
June 24th – Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
June 29th – Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
July 1st – Saint Junípero Serra, Priest
July 3rd – Saint Thomas, Apostle
July 11th – Saint Benedict, Abbot
July 15th – Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
July 16th – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
July 22nd – Saint Mary Magdalene
July 24th – Saint Sharbel (Charbel) Makhluf, Priest
July 25th – Saint James, Apostle
July 26th – Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
July 29th – Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
July 31st – Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
August 6th – The Transfiguration of the Lord
August 8th – Saint Dominic, Priest
August 10th – Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
August 14th – Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
August 15th – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 17th – Our Lady of Knock
August 22nd – The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 24th – Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
August 27th – Saint Monica
August 28th – Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

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Visit a Shrine

Keep vacations holy by forming them around your faith. What’s near you? There might be a shrine or a historic church nearby you didn’t realize. There might be something special near where you’re traveling. Plan ahead and search out what’s there. It’s not only educational but it firms up the fact that our faith is not a passing phase of childhood. It’s eternal, important, and continues to grow all through our lives. If your kids watch you learning and deepening your faith, they’ll hold on to that example and hopefully imitate it.

Seek Service Work

Corporal Works of Mercy are everywhere. We donate food, clothes, and money for those in need. Find a place your kids can physically help as well. Most food pantries are willing to let children sort food, or charitable clothing places may let them sort clothes. If your kids are older, see if they can volunteer at a soup kitchen or with a group like Habitat for Humanity.

Exposure to service attests that all human life has value. Find something your family can do together and teach the love of Christ through service.

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Pray together

Some routines should be all year round, like praying before meals or at bedtime. Now that they’re not in school, maybe you can up the pray routine by adding a family Rosary or a Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Pray before leaving for vacation or in thanksgiving after you return. There’s plenty of family prayers you can find. See what works for your family.

Monitor Content

Kids like to chill in summer. If they’re chilling with a screen, take measures to ensure the content is in line with your values. More screentime means more exposure, even for teens that might be allowed more freedom online. Keeping kids busy helps reduce screentime. You could plan more family movies, so you know exactly what they’re watching.

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Go to Mass

This is all year! Keep Mass in your schedule, weekly or daily, even when you’re going away. Some timeshares are weekday to weekday, which means you get to go to another church. Look ahead and plan where and when you’ll do this. Talk about it with your family so they know what to expect. Plan vacation around Mass, not the other way around.

Spiritually Safe Summer

No matter what summer plans you have — even if it’s just chilling out — make sure it’s spiritually safe for your family. The world is messy and filled with wrong messages and influences. Activities may slow down, but your faith-building does not. God bless and happy summering!

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7 Ways to Keep Your Kids' Faith Engaged This Summer

Faith in the World