Messy Games

Flashback Friday: CentriKid History

October 16, 2015 By jeremyechols

Here is a fun look at CentriKid Camps history. I realized that while the logos and the themes have changed, there have always been summer staff committed to sharing the Gospel with kids.

When CentriKid began, there was an huge need to connect the name of the camp to Centrifuge Camps, which was the camp we got our name from. In the original logo there was even a dash and a bunch of colors to demonstrate the kid-friendliness of this new camp. (By the way, we now format our name as “CentriKid.” NOT “Centri-Kid” or “Centrikid.”)

This is the inaugural team that piloted CentriKid at Linden Valley in 2000. I only know a few of people in this picture. I remember that my friend Tim directed this first pilot week of CentriKid, but these guys are not celebrities, in fact CentriKid culture has never been one that is a “green room” culture, nor have we tried to create celebrities.

We’ve had some pretty awesome people through the years, but basically our staff are a bunch of ordinary college kids and young professionals who choose to give their summer to serve in kingdom work and promoting the Gospel.

This picture is the very first stack of OMC cards that weren’t printed on computer paper and hand-cut during the summer at camp. OMC began as a grab bag adventure… And has evolved and improved every year to become the phenomenally fun game that you know at camp now!

CentriKid has used a lot of themes through the years, we’ve played a lot of games through the years, and we’ve offered a lot of track times through the years. All of these are tools to help make the message of Christ clear in the lives of kids.

How many themes did you attend as a camper, staffer, or church leader?

Christmas Games for your Ministry

December 15, 2014 By centrikid2018

Amidst all the Christmas parties you are attending, planning, and skipping, you are inevitably charged with creating Christmas fun in your kids ministry. These Christmas games are fun, but they are built in a way to create a spiritual application. Your Christmas party will be a success with lots of fun and lessons will be taught through these games.

Candy Wrap Relay: open kisses using oven mitts in a relay fashion.
- Prepare: Set of oven mitts and bowl of Hersey Kiss© for teams of 4-5 kids .
- Share: Although opening a Hersey Kiss© with oven mitts on is difficult it can be done. In the same way before Christmas and before Jesus came to the Earth it was still possible but difficult for people to have a relationship with God. Unfortunately, it was very difficult. Jews had to practice the law, sacrifice animals for their sins, and worship God in very specific ways. However, Jesus coming to Earth, living a perfect life, dying for our sins, and resurrecting from the grave made having a relationship with God more accessible like taking off your mitts. Jesus did the work, Jesus made a clear way for us to have a relationship, and his life on earth began at Christmas in a manager.
Santa’s Beard: this is a stage game option. One kid gets petroleum jelly put on their face and another kid tries to throw cotton balls on their partner’s face to make a beard.
- Prepare: Petroleum jelly and bag of cotton balls for each pair. Create lines of stage of where they have to stand. A good distance could be 5 feet away.
- Share: Putting Santa’s beard on someone can make them look like a man. Jesus himself would have had a beard as a Jewish man. In fact it was key to our salvation that Jesus would come to the earth as a man. We needed him to be able to die as sacrifice for our sins. His birth on earth, which is celebrate at Christmas, is a huge part of our salvation plan.
Frozen: melt an ice cube fastest without throwing it on the ground.
- Prepare: Ice trays with enough ice cubes for every kid to get a cube of ice. Consider freezing a item for kids to have to retrieve.
- Share: When Christ came to earth most people, especially His people, had very hard cold hearts just like our ice cube. But God had already promised to those who would believe, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). Although some people would continue to have hard hearts, Jesus would melt away the heart of others and warm them to himself through a relationship.

We love the celebration of Christmas, and even more we love to use it as a teachable moment in our kids ministry. Take the next step whenever planning your Christmas fun and make a connection to biblical truths your kids need to hear.

Keeping Games Going with Kids

June 5, 2013 By lauraregister

Experts say that a child’s attention span is only a few minutes per each year they are old. It’s important when teaching or leading a game with kids to keep in mind how long you are asking them to focus on one thing. With games, we tend to forget that if we let it go on too long, our kids will stop having fun and often get out of hand. Once a game has reached this point, your success level with the game plummets and you lose the ability to use that game effectively again in the future.

A great phrase to keep in mind when leading activities or games with kids is “kill it before it dies.” What this means is that you keep a watchful eye on the activity and cut it before your kids begin to lose interest. The more you practice this skill, the better you will become at timing when to cut a game. At the very latest, stop the game as soon as you see your first kids begin to lose interest. The majority of the group is only a short step behind them.

Another way to keep games going with your kids is to add in new rules or adaptations along the way. This can lengthen the life of a game for at least a few more minutes and gives kids something new to focus on. Adding fun new rules keeps kids guessing at what is coming next. From time to time, let the kids who are playing come up with new rules themselves. Being in charge of the game gives them a sense of buy-in to the activity.

What are some creative ways you have kept kids interested in games or activities?

Get Kids Excited About Spring

March 6, 2013 By centrikid2018

Spring is almost here! It may seem cold right now, but the warm weather is coming and we’re sure your kids are tired of being stuck inside during these winter months.

Here are 5 ways you can get kids excited about spring and summer:

1. Play OMC! There is no better way to get kids excited about the summer than playing OMC on a nice, spring day! The cold months of winter will feel long gone when kids are getting sprayed with shaving cream and busting water balloons over the heads.
2. Do a service project around your church or neighborhood and plant flowers as a group. This gets the kids involved in serving and lets them tangibly see the difference they can make when they help others.
3. Play games outside as much as possible! The days are getting longer and warmer, so take advantage of playing outside. Start off your Wednesday or Sunday nights with a fun game outside!
4. Dedicate a Wednesday night to being “summer food themed.” Fix snow cones, lemonade, hotdogs, and other fun foods that kids love to eat in the summer.
5. Plan a trip to the zoo or park since you haven’t been able to do any fun outdoor activities for a few months!

There are lots of fun things that springs and summer are bringing your way, so make sure you get the kids excited about what is to come!

2 Games to Play, Even When It’s Cold Outside

February 20, 2012 By marycarlisle

At camp, we love games. Games are fun when it’s warm outside, but here are some crazy fun, semi-messy games that you can play, even when it is cold outside! Here are two of our favorites – and can be used for fun Saturday events, DNow Weekends, and more!

1. Ninja Search
Combining the best of capture the flag and sharks and minnows, all you need are two teams and two flags.
Each team huddles together on their side and chooses one person to hide the flag on them where no one can see it (pocket, ect.). The other team should not know which team member of the opposing team has the flag. Both teams line up at the back boundary line. At the whistle, both teams run towards each other tagging everyone they can before they make it to the opposite back boundary line. If the person with the hidden flag made it to the opposite back boundary line without being tagged, that team gets a point.

(Picture Credit)2. Foot Search
Equipment:
2-3 baby pools
Marbles
Pudding, warm apple pie, etc.

Directions:
Divide kids into teams (you will want to have the same number of teams that you have baby pools.) You can also use some sort of large mouth bucket instead of baby pools if you have smaller teams.

Lead kids to sit on the ground around baby pools filled with pudding (marbles are already hidden in the pudding)

Kids use their feet to get as many marbles out as they can after you say “go”. The team with the most marbles out after a certain amount of time will be the winner.

Other variations: Use water, jello, or leftovers. Have 2 teams per a pool, make certain colors worth more points than others.

***MAKE SURE TO PUT DOWN A TARP FOR THIS ONE IF YOU ARE PLAYING INSIDE!

Mary Carlisle served on the CentriKid office team, and loves recreation and developing fun games for track times.