Summer is almost here! Are you headed to camp this year? Download our free Packing List printable to prep for camp. Share this download with kids in your ministry so they can get excited about camp, too!
Fun Friday: Summer Camp Packing List
CentriKid Invites You on the Road Back to Camp
Camp is a great time to connect relationally with kids in your ministry in a distraction-free environment. There are no cell phones, no video games, no homework assignments, no sports team practices. CentriKid is an overnight camp for 2nd–6th graders to experience the time of their lives and learn more about the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Camps are staffed by college and seminary students who are eager to lead Bible Study, Recreation, Activity Tracks, and Worship sessions. Kids are grouped together by grade for Bible Study, by their choices for Track Times, and you all meet as a church group at the end of each day.
The environment of camp is a safe place to do new things.. This could be a new activity they are learning at track time or spiritual milestones or spiritual questions a child is wrestling with. CentriKid is where it is safe to be a kid!
What does “safe to be a kid” really mean?
A child’s spiritual life can be greatly impacted by their home environment, church involvement, and unique experiences like camp. CentriKid is committed to providing a place for kids to get away—even for a little while—to hear loud and clear that God loves them and has a plan for their lives. Safety in our programming, within relationships, and on campus are top priorities. We believe powerful things can happen when campers feel safe to be a kid!
At CentriKid, we promise to be:
Biblical
We firmly believe that God’s Word transforms hearts. Our primary focus is ensuring that kids walk away from their time at camp with greater comprehension of who God is and what that means for their lives. Every year, every element of camp is centered around a central biblical theme throughout each day for the purpose of age-appropriate comprehension.
Relational
Trusting relationships are the foundation for vulnerability and growth. This is true for kids of all ages. Camp gives your leaders and kids a place to interact and bond for more than just an hour or two—meals, free time, and worship are all opportunities for spiritual conversations! Kids leave with lifelong friendships with believers their age. Every part of the CentriKid schedule is designed with a focus on relationship building.
Phenomenally Fun
Kids learn best through play. CentriKid provides an age-appropriate place for kids to be themselves, have fun, and encounter the love of Jesus. There are lots of fun summer options for kids, but CentriKid ensures that God’s Word is the focus of every part of our camp, including the fun stuff.
The 2021 Theme is “The Discovery”
This summer at CentriKid Camps, campers will discover what it means to be imitators of Christ. Jesus is the ultimate example that we should follow as Christians, and we will be taking a look at scripture (1 John 2:6) that helps us know Jesus and walk as Jesus walked.
What about COVID-19 safety?
The CentriKid team continues to monitor COVID-19 and has created a plan to help keep campers healthy and safe. Download the “2021 CentriKid COVID-19 Guide” and catch all our updates, at centrikid.com/covid-19-updates.
Find out more about CentriKid and see all the camp dates for this summer at www.centrikid.com/by-location Contact us with any questions as your group gears up for the road back to camp this summer!
Jeremy is a husband and father. At work, Jeremy leads the CentriKid Camps team at Lifeway, and at home he loves to grill burgers, read, and coach his daughter’s basketball team.
Help Your Kids Navigate Summer Camp Like a Pro
There are so many benefits for a child who attends overnight camp. They will enjoy new activities led by the camp staff, visit a fun new place, and break up the routine of normal life. The adventures at summer camp bring life-long memories and help children gain confidence and independence. We want kids to hit the ground running so they can thrive in the camp experience, so here are three skills that parents can build now to help their kids navigate summer camp like a pro.
Train kids to start-up their day. Kids at summer camp need to make good use of their time and know how to get going with their day. Mom doesn’t have to put the daily clothes in a plastic bag. Maybe she could guide the selections while packing for camp, but elementary kids can start their day at camp with picking out clothes, brushing teeth, and getting shoes on. They might need a wake-up call from the adults at camp, but practice during the school year with a start-up routine so kids can pick out clothes and get dressed for the day at camp.
Equip kids to eat responsibly at camp. The food at camp is almost always a punchline, but food issues are no laughing matter. For first time campers, going through the line and making selections at a self-service dining hall can be a challenge. For campers with special dietary allergies, they need to be self-aware about safe foods or problematic ones. For all campers, the temptation to eat a whole box of cheese snacks at bedtime will be real … but that’s never a good idea! Before camp, your kids need to practice making choices for fixing their plate and cleaning up their table area, too.
Give kids practice with handling money. Most parents send their kids to camp with some spending money, but for some kids it is the first time they have ever handle money that is theirs to make decisions about. Prepare kids for the restaurant stop on the way to camp, the camp store, and considering the missions offering. I’ve seen kids hand a fast food worker their $20 bill for lunch and walk off, and I’ve also heard about kids who spend all their money on the offering and camp store and have nothing left to buy lunch on the way home.
Parents can role-play scenarios related to each of these at home to set them up for success at summer camp and for normal life. When kids come to camp taking care of these things, the church leaders and camp staff can focus their time and energy on making the amazing camp adventures into life-long memories!
For more on getting kids ready for summer camp, check out these tips for helping kids who are hesitant to stay away from home, and tips for preparing parents to send kids to camp.
Celebrate CentriKid 2019 Ministry Results!
We are grateful for another summer to share the gospel of Jesus at CentriKid Camps. Through incredible times of Worship, small group Bible Study, hands-on track times, recreation with a purpose, and more, we saw thousands of lives changed by God through our theme, “All Access.”
We are excited to officially announce our 2019 CentriKid Camps Ministry Results!
Lydia McMillan works on the CentriKid Camps team. She manages social media, produces videos, works with actors, and leads production elements. She is married to Joshua and they have three kiddos who keep them very busy.
Camp 2020 – Registration is Open!
Registration is open for all Lifeway Camps for 2020! Many churches plan their calendars in advance, so look ahead and make sure you get your camp spots reserved now for next summer.
CentriKid Camps and Student Life For Kids dates are online and open for registration, and many of them will fill up quickly. The earlier you sign up, the more options are available to choose from.
For CentriKid Camps, visit centrikid.com
For Student Life For Kids, visit studentlifeforkids.com
No matter the camp you choose, reserve your spot today, deposit free! Deposits are not due until 2020. This way, you can register for camp and confirm your calendar dates, but wait for next year’s budget to take care of the deposits.
Contact us with any questions you have along the way. For more planning tips, if you’ve never been to camp, listen to this podcast Planning for Summer: Why Camp Is Important or read 3 Things You Could Be Missing if you Skip Summer Camp.
Jeremy Echols leads the camps area for Lifeway Kids. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy enjoys reading, watching sports, and all of his daughter’s after-school activities.
Make Camp a Highlight of Your Summer
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Jeremy Echols joins Bill Emeott to discuss why camp can be a summer highlight of any kids ministry. Check out more at kidsministry101.com!
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps and Student Life for Kids teams. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
3 Things You Could Be Missing if you Skip Summer Camp
Loading up a bus full of sugar-and-soda-filled kids to go away from home to summer camp for a few nights is no small commitment. But if you’ve been to summer camp, you know that the late nights and hot days are worth it. Today’s post explains why by considering three things you could be missing if you skip summer camp.
Mentorship Moments
When it comes to building discipling relationships with the kids in your church, there’s no replacement for quality time. Summer camp is a unique experience because it takes place over several days. Summer camp can be a chance for your all-star volunteers to build mentoring relationships with kids that will last. It’s impossible to duplicate the effect of spending time together as a group.
Spiritual Moments
Lots of people think of summer camp as a milestone experience. It’s no surprise that this is the case because summer camp is a chance to retreat from our normal routines for the purpose of spiritual growth. Many times summer camp is the place where God causes kids to have “lightbulb” moments about the concepts you’ve been teaching them all year. These spiritual moments can become markers in our faith that we look back to for the rest of our lives.
Shared Memories
Where else will you have the chance for kids to cheer you on while you win the belly-flop contest while wearing a rainbow wig? How many times have you seen a more timid kid become the hero for your group when they decide to play a game on stage? What traditions does your group have that you can’t wait to return to every year? Summer camp builds relationships that go home with you, and that only increases your platform for discipleship.
Summer camp definitely isn’t just another thing to check off of a “must do” list. It can be the most transformative discipleship tool in your ministry. So if you think camp isn’t for you, think twice, because there’s a lot you could be missing.
To find out more about Lifeway Kids Summer Camps, check out centrikid.com or studentlifeforkids.com
Logan Meek leads the Student Life for Kids team. Logan joined the Student Life For Kids team in 2014 after spending two years as a Sixth Grade teacher with Teach For America. He believes in the importance of strong kids ministry to help kids build strong spiritual foundations..
How about a summer resolution?
Now that the ideals, attempts, failures, and frustrations of New Year resolutions are behind us, how are you realistically planning to grow and learn this year?
Consider studying NOW in your personal time around where your kids will be studying this summer. You can lead THEM to spiritual growth if YOU are already pursuing it in your personal walk with the Lord. Summer kids camp is always a milestone event for spiritual growth, so get a head-start!
Lifeway Kids provides camp experiences for church groups that place you in a key role for discipling your kids. Our summer camp staffers will lead the programming and set the stage to make the message of Christ clear in the lives of kids, but you are the one going home with kids after camp and your influence is so important.
At CentriKid 2019, our theme is “All Access” God wants Himself to be known. He has given you an “all-access pass” by revealing His name, the way to Him through Jesus, and His power as an expression of His love for you. God has revealed that He is the only true God, He’s not hidden, and He wants a relationship with you. The key verse is John 17:3—start memorizing that now! If you take your kids to CentriKid Camps this summer, a resource to consider is “Remember God” by Annie F. Downs where she reminds us that God is who He says He is.
At Student Life for Kids 2019, we have designed our theme to help your kids understand that without Jesus we are broken. When we believe in Jesus, God transforms us, and God uses us to help transform the world. We filter everything your kids experience through our theme, from dramas and games to sermons and Bible studies. The key verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17, so commit that to memory! If you are taking kids to Student Life For Kids this summer, a resource to consider is a book our camp team is reading right now! “Spiritual Leadership” by J. Oswald Sanders will challenge you to grow as a leader and also spur you along your faith journey.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the Lifeway Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
Recruiting Adults for Camp
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Lydia McMillan and Logan Meek share about the benefits of bringing adults with you to camp. You’ll also get some tips to recruit adults to go with your group.
Lydia McMillan works on the CentriKid Camps team. She manages social media, produces videos, works with actors, and leads production elements. She is married to Joshua and they have two kiddos who keep them very busy.
Logan Meek leads the Student Life for Kids team. Logan joined the Student Life For Kids team in 2014 after spending two years as a Sixth Grade teacher with Teach For America. He believes in the importance of strong kids ministry to help kids build strong spiritual foundations.
Large Group Games and the Gospel
Tis the season for Christmas get-togethers and New Year parties. If you have a couple of kids or A LOT OF KIDS all in one place, then we have a game for you! Organized Mass Chaos! (or as we call it at CentriKid Camps, OMC!)
CentriKid is known as the HOME OF OMC! It is our large-group recreation game that takes place on the last full day of camp. If you have never experienced OMC before here are the basics you need to know:
- OMC stands for Organized Mass Chaos.
- Split your kids into different groups. At CentriKid we split our groups up by color teams corresponding with the grade the kids have completed.
- The object of the game is for your team to collectively complete the most individual tasks.
- Each kid is given a task card and whenever they complete it they put it in their team’s bucket only to retrieve another task to complete.
- The game lasts anywhere from 10-20 minutes based on supplies and the location, and weather. (I would cut the game short if it is really hot or really cold.)
Even in the middle of all this fun, we are intentional about sharing the gospel with kids at camp.
Since you know that kids learn in different ways, it is important to take the time to unpack the games that you play in your Kids Ministry. This will help those hands-on learners grasp in a more solid way the connection between everyday life and their relationship with Jesus.
Here is a way you may connect OMC with God’s word:
We have a lot in common with OMC. We all played OMC together, but we are also special and uniquely created. Every player at OMC is dressed differently and had different tasks to do during the game, but God knows each of us individually. Psalm 139:13-14 says “For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.”
God has created us and formed us into the people we are. He has given us our eye color, our personalities, our dreams, and made us different from anyone else on earth. God put in so much more effort into making you special and He loves you so much more. We are God’s creation and He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. **Now you have a great run-way into sharing the gospel with your kids after playing a game of OMC!
Are you interested in playing OMC with your kids? Check out the Official OMC Game Messy Edition and Yellow Edition to purchase OMC for your ministry!
Once you have the digital version of the OMC game cards, you can access the special bonus editions with additional tasks for all the different seasons and holidays. With these combined versions, you will be good to go create your own Organized Mass Chaos!
View and download all the free special editions at CentriKid.com/OMC!
Lydia McMillan works on the CentriKid Camps team. She manages social media, produces videos, works with actors, and leads production elements. She is married to Joshua and they have two kiddos who keep them very busy.
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