CentriKid

2016

Staying Focused During the Summer

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Staying focused during the summer in kids ministry can be difficult. With warm weather, no school, sports, camps and everything else crammed into June and July, summer can be crazy and hectic. Your kids ministry attendance might be lower than normal. For the kidmin leaders, it can be a distracting time as well, or might seem like a less important time since less kids are there each week. I encourage you to do two things:

Encourage kids and parents to prioritize Jesus over any sport, practice, or activity. 

In today’s world, sports and extra-curricular activities are highly esteemed. Which means that parents tend to encourage their kids to do every sport, dance class, or program, and end up having some type of practice or game every single day of the week. For many, this means sacrificing time spent at church learning about Jesus, or even time spent at home in personal, or family, Bible study. Encourage parents and kids to seek out Jesus above all things and to make Him the number one priority in their lives. Reach out to parents through social media, phone calls, or even emails with a challenge to finish out the summer with a new priority on having their kid involved in the kids ministry at church.

Encourage yourself to prioritize Jesus and not check-out. 

It can be just as easy for you to take your mind off the throttle during the summer and coast through it. Constantly remind yourself that the summer season is just as important as any other season. With great times for outreach during the summer, it isn’t a time you want to just slide by. Be intentional, plan out the summer, and engage kids in a whole new way to make them want to come back and learn more about having a relationship with Jesus. Summer can be a more carefree time, but the eternal urgency for the kids is still present during the summer as much as it is during the school year.

Stay focused this summer, and keep pointing kids and their parents toward Jesus. What are some tips and tricks you use to keep your parents, kids, kids ministry, and yourself focused during the summer? 

Recreation Game: Captain’s Orders

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“Captain’s Orders” is a game we have been playing at CentriKid this summer. Kids  have been loving this airplane-themed game that ties in with our 2016 theme: Unseen!

HOW TO PLAY
“Captain’s Orders” is similar to “Red Light, Green Light.” Ask players to line up shoulder to shoulder on the starting line. The goal of the game is to move down the field and reach the finish line. Players may only move by listening for commands and completing the corresponding actions. Use the following commands:

  • Takeoff – Run quickly
  • Reverse – Move backward (toward start line)
  • Delay – Freeze
  • Soar – Walk briskly and pretend to fly like a plane
  • Turbulence – Jump forward continuously or shake violently whilst moving forward
  • Optional: Tail spin – Spin like a helicopter

After each game at CentriKid Recreation, we take a couple minutes to debrief it and talk about how that game can actually relate to our relationships with God. This year, with Captain’s Orders, we are using John 8:31-32 and talking about how God’s Word is the ultimate Truth, and we can know it by reading the Bible and listening to the Holy Spirit every day.

This game is a great one to play with kids at church because you can give the kids a turn being “Captain,” and it requires very little equipment and minimal setup time. And the best part about it is that you can relate it back to God’s Truth, and how we can know Him more.

CentriKid Promises

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Camp starts next month, can you believe it? We are so excited to serve your church, kids, and adults this summer. There are different themes, different games, different bible stories every year at camp, but you can always count on these four things every year at CentriKid.

Rooted in Scripture

Communicating the Gospel to kids is why we do camp. At CentriKid you’ll find solid biblical content woven throughout every element of camp, from interactive Bible studies and fun rec games to worship, activity tracks, and even hang time. We are a camp with a clear purpose – building a biblical foundation for kids.

A Seriously Safe Place

We take safety seriously, and make it a priority with kids. At camp you’ll find a safe place for kids – emotionally, spiritually, and physical. You can rest assured that our trained staff value the safety of your kids!

Ministry through Relationships

Our staff will invest in your kids’ lives by showing the love of God through the way they live. Staffers aren’t performers; they are ministers. Meanwhile, we take care of all the details of camp, so you can focus on relationships with your kids rather than running around with a clipboard delegating tasks, or worrying about picking up the rec field.

Kid Friendly Programming

We are committed to providing excellent programming that keeps kids engaged. We know they learn differently at each stage of life. We train our staff to teach kids about Christ in a way they can grown and learn with kids their own age. In addition to Bible study, we keep God’s Word at the center of every aspect of camp.

We can’t wait to serve you and your church at camp this summer!

How to Point Everything Back to Scripture

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At CentriKid one of our main promises to the churches who come is that we will always root everything in Scripture. We believe it is important to tie everything back to God’s Word because there is no better place to turn. From Recreation and Bible Study in the morning to Track Times and Worship in the afternoon and evening, everything we do at CentriKid truly points campers back to the gospel and Scripture. We strive to give our activities a purpose, instead of just creating time fillers or fun things to do.Your kids ministry should seek to do this as well.

Plan it out
The best way to make sure you connect all activities back to Scripture is to plan for it. Plan to relate each activity to our relationship with God. In your preparation, whether it be for a regular Sunday morning or once a year event, schedule time to relate the activities you are doing to the Bible, and plan exactly how you will make the connection. This is an active, practical step to making sure you fit it in smoothly and without forcing it. One of our favorite ways to do this at CentriKid is to “debrief” the activity/game.

Debriefing
A “debrief” is a time where we bring the kids together to explain how the activity/game relates back to the Bible and our relationship with Jesus. Here are some tips for debriefing:
–Remove distractions (face the kids away from potential distractions: TVs, other kids playing games, windows they can see out of)
–Be one level removed (if the kids are sitting, you kneel; if they are kneeling, you stand)
–Use objects and personal stories (kids are concrete learners. So, applying spiritual concepts to concrete examples, like objects, helps create a strong connection in the mind of a child)
–Root it in Scripture (read from the Bible… that helps them know it is truth from the Word)
–Make eye contact (if you are outside, remove sunglasses)

I fully believe that fun games and the Bible can go hand-in-hand. So this week, plan out how you are going to relate each of your activities back to the gospel and God’s Word.

Recruiting the Orange Team

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When people ask me who the craziest color team is at camp, most people assume I will say the Blue 5th graders or all of those little Yellow 3rd graders. The Truth- the Orange team! Few teams are more excited for I Can’t Wait, make more noise during their cheer (even if they don’t know ALL the words), or cover me in more shaving cream during OMC. But what happens when you are having trouble finding those adults for your team?

Here are few tips to help you find the Orange Team you are looking for:

Ask them!
I know, it seems simple but this is the best place to start. When I say ask them, I don’t mean putting a slide up during the opening of the service or typing a paragraph in the bulletin. Although these can help, take some time and be very intentional about who you ask to come to camp. Share with them the impact that they can have on the kids and the amazing responsibility that they are given at camp to be a role model to these kids as the Gospel message is preached. By sharing with them that you trust them with this responsibility and the importance of this position, you will be able to find volunteers that share your excitement for sharing the Gospel with these kids in an atmosphere full of fun!
Play OMC!
After a Sunday service, have lunch with your kids, parents, and volunteers and then play a great game of OMC. Let your volunteers play and don’t forget lots of shaving cream, pool noodles, and tasks cards. This is a great way to have fun with the different people who are part of your ministry and also give them ways to interact with the kids outside of the Sunday School room or the Worship Center. At the end, don’t forget to tie it back to the Gospel!
Team Assistants!
Do you have any students in your ministry that love children? If they are a Junior in high school through college, they are able to serve as Team Assistants. Team Assistants give your students a chance to serve alongside you as a chaperone for your kids but they also get to be a part of our camp team for the week. Whether it is helping out at Recreation or Track Times, they will see a glimpse into what it is like to be a camp staffer.

We can’t wait to see you and your group leaders at camp this summer!