Activities
After reading through the content, we have activity resources for you to use.
One of the great parts of Young Life camping is what we get to do together while we are at camp. Each “all camp activity” is planned and placed intentionally during the time to help move kids closer to the gospel progression. We do activities that help us follow our leader so that we’re more attentive to following what is being said by our leaders about Jesus. We do activities that unite us with kids we know and kids we don’t know so that we grow in our understanding of the body of Christ and the family that we are being invited in to. Of course, we do activities that break down walls, helping us to laugh, sing, play and experience the freedom that Christ offers. We engage our friends in things that they have always heard that they can’t do so that it helps erase the idea that they can’t have a relationship with Jesus. We do things that enable leaders to celebrate their friends. When we say “you can” get messy or try something new, we’re paving the way to saying “you can” with Jesus! And so much more!
As you consider the activities that are best for your local camp experience, start by thinking about where your friends are and what type of activities they need the most. Bring in laughter, teamwork, things that stretch them and things that let you celebrate them.
Overcoming the “you can’t” mentality may take some creative thinking on your part. If there are options like archery, zip lines, bounce houses, horseback riding or tethered hot air balloon rides, consider what it will look like for every kid. If you aren’t sure how it would be possible for some of your friends, reach out to a Guest Services Manager at one of our Young Life camps. They love to problem solve and to think creatively in ways that enable our friends to experience everything! They would gladly help you!
If you are doing activities that require transportation, keep your friends in the same vehicles with the same leaders for the entire camp experience. If you can line this up with their small groups/cabin time groups, even better! This will help them continue to grow closer as a cabin and will enable leaders to go deeper with the same kids over time. Plus, a win for keeping track of everyone!
In the section, you’ll find a variety of activities that have been used at local area day camps around the United States. Some involve going somewhere and others take place at the day camp location. By no means are you limited to these, we just wanted to give you some to work off of!
Most importantly, have fun! Lead your leaders to have fun! Lead your friends to have fun! Laugh, play and enjoy the God of the Universe who delights in being with us!
Meals
Meals at camp are always a great part of camp and we believe that they can serve the same purpose at your local camping experience! You can take any approach to meals, so consider what serves your friends best and what serves your team best.
A few things to consider when planning a meal…
Seating- Table conversations often hold some of our favorite memories with our friends. We know that many of our friends come from homes where they may only live with one of their parents or where meals happen at differing times based upon everyone’s needs. Our hope at camp is that meals would reflect the family of Christ that we are inviting our friends in to. We hope that our friends will engage in conversations, be asked questions, listen to their friends and enjoy food together.
Your venue may determine how everyone is seated for a meal, but if possible, consider tables that allow your friends to sit around them. Round tables foster the greatest amount of conversations but if rectangle tables are all you have, leaders and friends can still engage in conversations. Set up your leaders to make the most of this rich time!
Music- Work with your music team to curate a playlist for each meal. Just like we are intentional with the songs that we sing in club, we want to be intentional with the songs that we are hearing throughout the day. Consider your volume level so that the music is heard but isn’t overpowering conversations.
Program- Work with your program team to decide whether or not you’ll have programmatic elements during your meal. They may have meal characters that would be great to be present during this time or you may decide to just have club characters. Together, think about your friends and what would be best.
Food- Food is fun and food at camp should be fun too! You certainly don’t have to serve a big cookie while “Bring ‘em out” is playing, but you can make your meal exciting for your friends. You can choose to order food from restaurants, have small groups from churches prepare & serve meals, have your friends bring their own packed lunches or the venue that you’re at may provide food. Just be sure that you consider the food allergies of your friends and how to include everyone despite those allergies.