We’re getting packed up and ready to go here at CentriKid! We’ve been preparing for this for a whole year now, and we’re so excited that it’s finally time to go to camp. As we make final preparations for CentriKid in the office, I’ve realized just how important it is to be ready. We’re focused on wrapping up every tiny detail, so that we’re 100% ready on the day camp starts.
Being ready is something that we in ministry all focus on pretty heavily. We’re always getting ready for a church service, an event, or an activity. The majority of our careers are focused on getting ready for the next thing, but we must also make sure that we are ready in terms of our spiritual lives.
1 Peter 3:15 instructs us to “…always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…” We are called to be ready to share our faith with anyone at any time. God is going to give us opportunities to share His love with others, and it is extremely important that we are ready to do so when these opportunities arise.
One fact that gives me an incredible amount of peace is that all I have to do is get prepared and be ready and then God will take care of everything else. He doesn’t call us to be ready and then do everything ourselves, but, instead, calls us to be ready and wait for Him to act. We must always realize that it is He who is in control. Our job is to be ready and rely on Him to meet all of our needs. We can all rest assured that He will not let us down.
Camp is almost here! The office team and your directors have been working hard to make sure that your kids have an awesome life-changing time at camp! Group leaders, we know that you too have been working hard to prepare for camp. This morning in our staff meeting, our entire Church Resource Division spent time in prayer for our camps! As camp gets closer and things get busy, know that you are being prayed for. We want you to join us in praying over all that the Lord is going to do this summer!
Here are some specific ways you can pray for CentriKid:
Dr. Jerry Falwell said once that, “Nothing of eternal significance is ever accomplished apart from prayer.”
We hope that you will join us in praying for CentriKid. We will see you soon!
In 2013, recreation at CentriKid Camps will be bigger and better than ever! One of the new games you’ll see at camp this summer is called Bandana Blitz! You can play this super fun game inside or outside, and you can scale the game to accommodate even the largest group. Here’s how to play:
Equipment needed: 1 bandana for each player (assorted colors), boundary markers, 2 clipboards and pens.
Play: Split your group into 2 teams (or 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.), and give each player a bandana (each group should have a different color of bandana. Player should tuck the bandana into the neck of their shirts so that it hangs against their backs. Station leaders at either end of the play area.
During the game, players run within the boundary area and try to capture players from opposing teams by removing their bandana. When a player captures someone, he or she must walk the captive to a leader. Players are worth their age in points. The leader records the points, and both players return to the game.
[Example: John captures Isaac. Isaac is 9 years old, so John has scored 9 points for his team].
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins! After the game, you can easily connect this game to truth from Scripture by emphasizing the idea that we are captives to sin until Christ sets us free.
We hope you’ll find this game helpful in your ministry, and we are looking forward to playing Bandana Blitz with you at camp!
Don’t miss out on all the fun. It’s not too late to sign up for CentriKid Camps for 2013!
Here’s a safety tip for parents who are worried about their child sleeping on the top bunk at camp. Some kids have bunk beds at home so its no problem, but there are others who have never been on a top bunk before. If you are concerned about your child rolling off the top bunk, we’ve got a nifty solution that can help.
When making the bed, use a fitted sheet with a pool noodle along the edge of the bed. See the picture below for an example. When the sheet is in place, the pool noodle is held snugly, creating a bumper for your kiddo in the night. There are no guarantees, but hopefully it can help give the parent and the child a bit of comfort about being on the top bunk.
Does anyone else feel like it was just Christmas?
Breaking news – it is already May! Flowers are beginning to bloom and it gets warmer each day! Parents, your kids will be out of school soon! This means lazy days by the pool are in your very near future. This also means camp is just around the corner.
Here are some things you can do to prepare your kids for camp as the summer approaches:
1. Pray for them. One of the most important things you can do for your kids is to pray for them. As you pray for them, pray with them too!
2. Familiarize your kids with the theme and verses for camp. Each year at CentriKid, we have a theme and a key verse of scripture. This year’s theme is Out of this World: Where God is Always with Us; the key verse is found in Revelation 21:3. Most camps have a theme that goes along with the bible study material for the week. Getting your kids familiar with this before hand will help them to begin learning before they even get to camp!
3. Calm their fears. Your kids may be a little nervous about being away from home for an entire week. Do your best to ease their nerves before they leave. This will help set them up to have a great week of camp. As parents, it is perfectly normal for you to also be nervous about your kids being away for home. Try not to show them that you are nervous too!
5. Get them excited! After calming their fears, get them excited! When I was a kid, the night before camp always felt kind of like the night before Christmas. Share in their excitement about coming to camp. Go out to eat as a family the night before camp or do something special to get them even more excited! This will be something they remember for years to come.
6. Use a packing list to make sure your kids have everything they need! At CentriKid we provide a generic packing list to use when preparing for camp. A packing list is a great tool to help you prepare your kids for camp!
Are you a parent of a first time camper? Check the link below!
http://centrikid.com/2012/05/03/3-things-to-tell-parents-of-first-time-campers/#.UW6n6KsjpUt
What are some tips or ideas you have to prepare your kids for camp? Comment and let us know!
Whether you’re a children’s leader traveling with other people’s kids or a parent sending your own kids someplace, this summer you’ll likely encounter one of the most crippling illnesses a child can face: homesickness.
Homesickness is normal, especially for young kids, and can stop a child from enjoying their experience to the fullest. A homesick child tends to miss out on the joys of getting away. As a parent or children’s leader, there are some basic things you can do to help combat homesickness:
As a children’s leader:
As a parent:
No matter your role, the most important thing to remember when dealing with a homesick child is to not make it worse. Homesickness normally doesn’t last long and can be an opportunity for positive growth. Don’t make the situation sound more grave, but rather always try to remind them of all the fun they are missing out on by not enjoying their time away.
Camper care packages are a great way to ensure that your camper has everything they need from the store for a great week of camp! In order to help ensure that we get everyone the care packages they need this summer, we are now offering a chance to preorder them! We can guarantee that upon your arrival to camp, we will have the number of care packages requested via this form before June 5th. Any additional care packages that you choose to purchase after June 5 or upon arriving to camp will be on a first come, first serve basis pending availability.
Please remember that preordering care packages is a commitment to pay for all of them upon arriving to camp. You will pay for your care package and pick them up at Check-In, either via cash, check, or credit. Unfortunately, care packages can not be directly billed to your LifeWay account.
Once you have preordered via the form, marking care packages on your participant list will be only for your own reference. If you miss the June 5 deadline, you can contact your camp director and order them by marking them on your participant list, understanding that they are on a first come, first serve basis, pending availability.
Check out the contents of this year’s camper care package, a $35 value for only $30! You won’t want to miss this!
Care packages include a backpack, OMC shirt in your team color, water bottle, missions bracelet, and staff poster (not pictured).
Kids lose things – it’s a simple fact of life. At camp, I’m always amazed at how many things end up in the “Lost and Found.” Typically, we see a handful of Bibles, a few mismatched dirty socks, a few more Bibles, a wet towel or two, three or four water bottles, a pair or so of sunglasses, and a couple of Bibles.
Before coming to camp, encourage your kids to write their names on everything – especially their Bibles. While you are at camp, be sure to check the lost and found regularly. If you or your kids misplace a high-ticket item such as cash, wallets, phones, check with the Camp Director or Assistant Director.
On the last day of camp, the Camp Director will highlight all of the items that have not been claimed in a “Lost and Found Show.” Make sure that you have at least one adult present at the final Adult Gathering in order to claim these items. We want you to come home with the things that you brought.
The good news: If you get home and realize that you left something at camp, hope is not lost! We keep all the items that have not been claimed through the end of the summer. Feel free to get in touch with the Camp Director or Assistant Director, tell them which week you attended, and we’ll be happy to mail your items to you. Even at the end of the summer, we store lost and found items in our warehouse at LifeWay for about two months, so feel free to get in touch with us.
The bad news: If you get home and are looking for your other mismatched dirty sock or your mildewed wet towel, we probably threw them away.
We hope to see you at camp this summer. It’s not too late to sign up for CentriKid 2013!
One of the things that kids love so much about CentriKid is the element of choice. They get to choose how they set up their room, what food they will eat from the cafeteria, and whether or not they will take a shower. Mom or Dad might help pack the suitcase, but the kids get to choose what they will actually wear. The best things that kids get to choose, though, are their track times.
At CentriKid Camps, we offer 19 very unique track times. We have a customized software program that assigns kids into track times based on their choices, and the Camp Director and Assistant Director are always happy to make changes to accommodate special circumstances. We want kids to be as happy as possible.
One question that we are often asked is regarding the skill level of our sports track times. We have to tailor our track time plans to a very broad spectrum of kids, so in general, our sports tracks are on a beginner to intermediate level. If you have a kid in your group that was recently named MVP of his baseball team, he might be a little bored with the baseball track. This might be a great opportunity to encourage these kids to try something new. Then again, these types of kids are often “enthusiasts” or “fanatics,” so they may say “baseball or nothing,” and that’s the beauty of it – it all comes down to choice!
Time and time again when I ask kids what their favorite part of the camp day is, they consistently tell me “track times.” This is because they are doing things that they love and in which they are interested…and the best part? CentriKid track time leaders will ALWAYS take time to make a meaningful connection to God’s word that relates to the spiritual theme for the day. Click here for more details about how we connect activities to Scripture.
We’re excited about camp this summer and all the tracks in which kids will participate, and we hope you are too!
Don’t forget to have kids fill out their track time choices prior to arrival.
Have you heard the news? In 2013, we’ve changed the schedule and now kids can participate in three track times instead of just two!
Want to be a part of all the fun? It’s not too late to sign up for CentriKid in 2013!
When working in Kids Ministry, we get the pleasure of hanging out with and ministering to kids in some of the most fun settings. We get to take them to camp, play games with them, and teach interactive lessons that are active and exciting. It’s easy to focus on all of the fun kids are having and not take time to remember that kids go through hard times just like adults do and are often hurting in the midst of all of the fun activities.
At CentriKid Camps, we make it a point to seek out those kids who we know are hurting. We ask Group Leaders to fill out special attention cards to notify us of any mobility, dietary, or emotional needs. We don’t just use these special attention cards to notify our staffers of who in their groups will require a little extra attention. Instead, we take these cards on the first night of the week and assign a staffer, who can relate to the camper’s needs, to pour into them throughout the whole week. We then take time to pray over each need.
It’s been so awesome to see how God has taken circumstances that have happened in our staffers’ lives, such as divorce, moving to a new town, and parents passing away to impact campers who are dealing with the exact same circumstance. As you do ministry each day, always remember that your story matters. Don’t be ashamed to tell about the circumstances in your life that God has brought you through because you never know who is dealing with the exact same thing. Seek out the children you work with and make sure that you strive to know them beyond the fun and games. Ask God today to lay a few specific children on your heart that you can invest in, love on, and let them know that they are not alone.
