As we get ready to say farewell to springy days and hello to the warm welcome of summer, everyone’s schedules are changing just as much as the weather. For your church nursery and preschoolers, this may mean that they aren’t seeing you on a regular basis or if they are—perhaps they are spending more time than usual!

Either way, finding fun summer faith activities can be a challenge with an irregular schedule. Here at Sparkhouse, we understand! Continuing faith formation among your little ones can be challenging as you balance the changing schedules at church and home, which is why we developed the Frolic Summer Book Club—designed to require minimal preparation time for you and offer a fun and simple solution to keep faith formation going all year long!

What is the Frolic Summer Book Club?

Starting June 1, the Frolic Summer Book Club features a bundle of books that you can share with your little ones from birth through age five. These books tell stories about favored characters as they embark on challenges like learning how to share, dealing with anger, and being patient. In addition, they each feature a faith development lesson to help build faith from birth.

Throughout the summer, we’ll be sharing fun activities that you can do in addition to reading the books—helping your little ones learn important faith and child development concepts!

June

Our June books for the Frolic Summer Book Club focus on helping little ones understand the different feelings and emotions that they may have—and how they can handle those that are difficult. Frolic Summer Book Club members will receive free activities that help little ones learn about their emotions!

This month’s books include:

God Made Feelings

God made us with all sorts of emotions. Joy, boredom, shyness, anger, happiness: what do these feel like? How can we handle them? God Made Feelings helps young children explore and express feelings, and offers calming and coping strategies for difficult emotions. Includes a parent guide to help parents.

Rufus and His Angry Tail

Rufus and Ava usually get along, but today Rufus’ tail is twitching and he can’t seem to stop this feeling of anger. As preschoolers journey along with Rufus they will learn how to recognize anger, name it, and manage it through a prayer to feel more calm and peaceful.

Uri and the Busy Day 

Uri has a fun day ahead and she doesn't want to miss a thing. But soon all the fun gets to be too much!  Parents will recognize the signs of an overstimulated toddler as they follow Uri through her busy day, and children will learn ways to calm down when the day gets too busy.

July

In July, we feature books that focus on helping your little ones understand helping others—and why patience is important! Our July Frolic Summer Book Club activities will include ideas for games that teach patience and an activity to share how they’ve helped others!

I Can Help

The Frolic friends are big helpers! Rufus, Ava, Jo, Uri, and Hal discover different ways they can show love and care for others by helping.

Jo and the Slow Soup (patience)

When Jo’s friends decide to work together to make a soup Jo’s patience is tested as he waits (and waits and waits) for the soup to cook. Preschoolers can learn alongside Jo as he says a prayer to help him wait and learns the importance of patience.

Rufus Loses His Cape (asking for help)

Rufus can't find his cape. His friends have all kinds of ideas for where to look, but Rufus won't listen. Young children will discover, along with Rufus, that when he learns to listen and ask for help, his friends can help him solve his problem.

August

Learning how to share and show others friendship can be challenging for preschoolers! This month, our Frolic Summer Book Club will read three books about this topic, and subscribers will enjoy a free printable activity about sharing and friendship!

Our featured books for this month include:

Thank You, God

The Frolic animals thank God for the gifts of sunshine, playtime, friends, and love. Children will learn to look at the world around them and find blessings to be grateful for.

Happy Birthday Ava

It's Ava's birthday and her friends keep coming up with things they want to do to celebrate her special day. But their suggestions are all things that they would like to do. When Ava gets frustrated, the friends realize they need to think about what Ava likes, too. The story teaches young children about thoughtfulness and friendship. 

Ava and the Skimpy Picnic

Preschoolers can watch what happens as Ava and her friends decide to only bring a little bit of what they have for a picnic. After saying a prayer together, they learn that sharing more will save the picnic and turn it into a feast!

How do I join?

Joining our Frolic Summer Book Club is easy! Visit our information page to learn more and register.