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June is one of the best months for church activities. The weather is warmer, school is out (or almost out), and people are ready to get outside, connect with friends, and make some memories. Whether you're planning an activity for Relief Society, Young Women, Young Men, Primary, or even a ward activity, June is a great time to focus on fun that also helps strengthen faith.

Note: Many kids love the summer activity nights because they can actually go without stressing about homework or a school event they need to attend the same night. Some weeks you might have less people but it could also be a week when someone can come that can’t as much during the school year. And some weeks, you might have the best attendance yet. Don’t write them off just because they are during the summer.

Don’t keep the fun to yourself, share it with a friend

The ideas below are designed to help participants grow spiritually, socially, physically, and intellectually while enjoying the season. Some are simple enough to pull together with minimal planning, while others can be expanded into larger events. Hopefully you'll find something that fits your group and helps create meaningful experiences this summer.

1. Campfire "Share Your Light" Night

Growth Areas: Spiritual, Social

Enjoy a night of roasting marshmallows and creating unique s’mores (get our recipe ideas). Invite everyone to share their testimony, a favorite scripture, or a recent moment where they recognized the hand of God in their life. End by assembling some s’more gift bags for neighbors (we’ve got tags for that too) and ministering families. Simple, yummy, and works for a variety of ages.

2. Be a Light Glow Games

Growth Areas: Physical, Social, Spiritual

Get out your flashlights and glow sticks for some fun night games (we’ve got a whole list). We’ve even included some discussion questions so when it’s time to come back inside, you can tie it back to the gospel and being a light for Christ. You may need to enjoy these games a little later than normal so it’s best to enjoy once school is out.

3. Summer Scripture Picnic

Growth Areas: Spiritual, Social

Invite everyone to meet at a park with blankets, simple snacks, and their scriptures. Fill a jar with scripture references that you want to focus on with your group. For example, you could do scripture mastery verses that match this year’s Come Follow Me focus. Take turns picking a verse, reading it out loud, and discussing what it means to you or how it’s helped you. Eat some snacks and enjoy each other’s company. Tie it all together by talking about how we can snack on treats and the scriptures like you did tonight or truly feast. If you have time, invite others to demonstrate how they truly feast on the scriptures so everyone can learn something new.

4. Water for the World Olympics

Growth Areas: Physical, Social

Millions of people spend hours each day carrying water. What if our games helped us appreciate that and serve others? Play several fun water games then talk about how you can help people have greater access to something we often take for granted far too much, water.

Bucket Brigade Relay- Teams move water from one bucket to another using cups, sponges, or ladles- whatever you have on hand. You can even add the challenge of letting teams race for the tool first. Whichever team fills their bucket to the line first, wins. We like the added challenge of only being able to pass the water behind your back too.
Leaky Cup Challenge- Teams transport water in cups with holes to a larger container. Each person takes a turn racing to fill up them cup then racing to dump it into the container before all the water is gone. First team to fill their container to the line wins.
Village Well Obstacle Course- Carry water without spilling through the obstacle course. Use what you have on hand to create it. Here are some ideas: Walk backward from cone to cone, step through hula hoops or tires, weave through cones, crawl under a rope, balance on a board, go up and down a small ladder, etc. The first team to get all their members through wins (each member must actually have some water in their cup at the end to count though).
Human Pipeline- Players are blindfolded (although you can choose one person to be the eyes). Water must be passed from person-to-person. No one may actually move from their place, only cups can be moved through the line. The goal is to fill the bucket to a certain line. You’ll need a judge at the end of each line to call it.
The Drought- Your goal is to spill as little as possible. Each team sits down in a straight line facing forward. The person takes their full cup of water and dumps it out behind them without looking. Their arms must go above their heads, not behind their backs. The person behind has to do their best to catch it in their cup. No talking, no looking backward. The group with the most water at the end will win.
Community Well- Teams earn cups of water by completing mini-challenges except you are competing against each other. You are competing against the clock all together. If teams manage to fill the bucket before the time is up, everyone wins (great time to hand out snacks). Use things like our FSY word searches, 1890s Trivia (they have to get 70% or above to get a cup of water), Name 5, What am I?, folding repentance puzzles, scripture chases, My Friend guessing game, etc.

After the games, how do you want to carry this forward? Is there a water related service project in your area? Could you all work odd jobs to raise money to sponsor a well? Maybe you could assemble hygiene kits after the games.

5. America Escape Room

Growth Areas: Intellectual

Independence Day is at the beginning of July in the US so if you want to do an activity around the holiday, June is actually a great month for it. This American Escape Room printable makes it easy too. We recommend splitting into several smaller groups so more people can actually participate. You could even divide your groups by those that want to race to be the first and those that really just want to enjoy the puzzles along the way.

Not in the US? Try this Walk with Me escape room instead. These are especially great on those days you want to stay inside with the air conditioning.

6. General Conference Coloring

Growth Areas: Spiritual

Print our free Faith Affirmation General Conference coloring pages and invite everyone to color while sharing some favorite stories or quotes from General Conference. Use markers, crayons, or get out the water colors. Our General Conference coloring pages include a way to apply the message to our lives. Take a minute to make the connection back to the talk and share all your finished creations with each other.

Looking for something bigger? Grab the sidewalk chalk and challenge individuals or teams to create a drawing that represents a favorite General Conference talk, scripture, or gospel principle. Once everyone is finished, take a walk around the "gallery" and let each person explain the message behind their creation. It's a simple way to combine creativity while helping conference messages stick.

7. Outdoor Scripture Scavenger Hunt

Growth Areas: Physical, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social

Get everyone moving with an Outdoor Scripture Scavenger Hunt around the church grounds. Hide clues at different locations and have participants work individually, in pairs, or in teams to solve each challenge before moving to the next station. Each clue should require them to search the scriptures, discuss a gospel principle, or complete a simple task (Make it harder by sending each group in a different direction at the beginning so no one can follow each other but they all end up at the same location at the end).

For example, the first clue might say, "Find a scripture about light and write down one way you can be a light this week." Once they find a scripture such as Matthew 5:16, they receive directions to the next location. At another station they may need to find a scripture about service and identify someone they could help this week. A faith station could challenge them to share a time they exercised faith. Other themes could include prayer, kindness, gratitude, the Holy Ghost, or Jesus Christ.

To add some excitement, include a few physical challenges between stations such as hopping to the next clue, walking backward with a partner, balancing a beanbag on their head, or completing a quick relay. The hunt can end with a treat, a group discussion, or a short testimony meeting where participants share their favorite scripture they discovered along the way.

8. Campfire stories of Freedom

Growth Areas: Intellectual, Spiritual

Gather around a fake fire inside or fire pit outside. Invite members to share stories of faith and freedom from their military ancestors or those who have immigrated. You could even assign someone to retell some of the war stories in the scriptures in modern language and see if people catch on. Share your gratitude for the sacrifices made by previous generations and those who still do so today. Finish with root beer floats or a fun campfire treat.

9. Summer Bucket List with Jesus

Growth Areas: Spiritual, Social, Intellectual

It’s arts and crafts time! Everyone creates their own summer bucket list- fun things and things that will help us grow closer to Jesus. Brainstorm together first writing ideas on the board. You may also want to invite someone to share all the inside tips on getting the most out of your city (Pssttt…. if you haven’t visited your city’s or state’s website yet, you may be missing out on some great savings). Then create your bucket lists. Poster board, butcher paper, or extra large construction paper is fun to use for these but regular computer paper will work too. Challenge your group to include at least one of the following:

Act of service
Scripture goal
Family goal
Physical activity
Ministering act (see our Ministering page for ideas)

Then decorate your lists with stickers, gems, whatever is left in the craft closet.

10. 250 Acts of Kindness Challenge

Growth Areas: Social, Spiritual

What if your group could help celebrate America's 250th birthday by spreading 250 acts of kindness throughout your community? This activity starts off your 250 acts of kindness but you’ll need to carry it on at home and update your board as you go. Bring a tracker and some ideas to get people started. Then you can set up stations to start your kind acts right away. Here are a few ideas:

Card Station- write thank you notes to parents, teachers, leaders, widows, bishopric, missionaries, seminary teachers, grandparents, those who are sick, etc.
Clean the Church Station- give everyone a task and get the church building cleaned that night including the things that are often forgotten. Or go outside and pick up trash up and down the street.
Hygiene Kit Station- Build kids or check out JustServe.org to see the needs in your community.
Ward Service Swap- Write down requests and sign up to help another with your own set of skills.
Banner Making Station- Make small decorative banners to donate to an old folks home. They can hang them in bedrooms to bring some cheer.

There’s a whole website encouraging people to participate in 250 acts of kindness. You can find a tracker there as well as more ideas.

And if you aren’t in the USA, it’s still a great idea.

As you plan your June calendar, consider choosing activities that encourage growth in all areas of life (spiritual, social, physical, and intellectual). A little creativity can turn an ordinary summer evening into an opportunity to strengthen testimonies, build friendships, and create lasting memories. Here's to a June filled with sunshine, connection, and plenty of gospel-centered fun.

Gospel Fun