HAPPY CAMPER
I'm heading out the door in a minute to meet with two guys who want to create a youth camp called "IKON" with me as a lead teacher. They have many years of experience in this field, yet they're letting me have a say in just about everything. (?) They want my input on what this camp should look like, where it should be, what the schedule of the day will be, what will be taught and how, any other activities we'll offer and anything else I have suggestions for.
Problem is I didn't go to camp much as a youth - only three times. Maybe you did. So if you could create the perfect camp experience for a younger high school aged you, knowing what you know now, what would it look like?
Problem is I didn't go to camp much as a youth - only three times. Maybe you did. So if you could create the perfect camp experience for a younger high school aged you, knowing what you know now, what would it look like?
posted by Shaun Groves @ 8/05/2005
7 comments
7 Comments:
My perfect camp would have be out in the middle of no where. Woods all around or at least out in the country. Cabins, no AC just a really huge fan at the end of the building. Showers and bathrooms are a must. Should have a lot of walking. Have chapel 3 times in a day and also let the kids sign themselves up for activities. Have mimes, puppetry, a bible study, choir, different sports, crafts, dance, sign language, have one group go out to the community and do missions work, For the ones who would bring the kids set them aside and turn them into campers. Take them away from their kids and fill them up with doing whatever they wanna do but make sure they go to chapel different from the kids but chapel none the less. My location would have to be near a lake and also would have to have a pool that way we could go boating and tubing in the lake but also swimming in the pool. Food has to be good and filling but this is not nutrition camp so it can be a little fatty, you're gonna be walking every where anyway so it really doesn't matter. Length of camp time would be a week to 2 weeks long. For the chapels at the end of camp week always have an evening awards show, talent show, or concert. Mid-day chapel would only be about 30 min long before lunch around 11:30 am. Morning chapel would start at 8:45 AM and would be an hour long. Night chapel would always consist of a different speaker and last as long as praise and worship does no time limits put on God here. Chapel would be outside somewhat in a giant ampitheater with a roof incase of rain. The Bible studies would have to consist of different small groups so that way you can actually discuss scripture and have time to get to know each student. Shaun, I'll write more on the boards. I'm far from being done.
I know alot of youth camps are based on FLorida beachs now adays...we took our youth to Student Life camp with Shane and Shane and they really really enjoyed it.
It tends to work out best..I think...when the camp is more of a conference style than a actually outddors camp...don't get me wrong I love camping, but the youth that I've worked with respond best to the conference style teaching, as opposed to cabins and the like
The best camp that I went to was an FCA camp, although I did go to lots of different camps. I liked this one the best because they generally separated the girls and the boys. It was a coed camp, but we were all put in teams of either boys or girls. We ate together and sat in chapel together. The boys sat on one side of the chapel and the girls sat on the other. We had plenty of opportunities to mingle and flirt as all highschoolers do, but when we were learning about the Lord, leadership or athletics, we were not distracted by the presence of the opposite sex. Consequently, I actually learned a lot at that camp.
So there's my 2 pennies.
i went to music camp from the age of 7 to 17. . i met my husband my last year at camp. . we then went on to counsel at music camps as older teens. . then counseled 'fresh air camp' (for inner city kids). . . TOUGH. . then as married adults with our children we were then asked to become part of the music camp faculty for several years. . what a WONDERFUL experience camping was! our camp was in Selkirk, Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie. . S.A. run camp. . cabins, auditorium/chapel/gym, dining hall, various utility buildings, ropes course, pool, canteen (tuck shop). .
What do teens like?
lots of activity! haunted hay rides, ropes course, 'bouncy castles'!! dj dance, trampolining,
but they also love their free time. .
the 'usual' camp stuff. . they love camp fire nights with lots of music and goofy singing and star gazing and hand holding. . all the good stuff.
we had tons of choices for teens, musically. .
percussion elective
guitar elective
worship band elective
composing elective
drama elective
graded instrumental *brass* and vocal programs (exam and competitions)
reading band *brass*
faculty band *brass*
music theory classes (exam)
Bible program (exam)
Devotions in cabins
talent night (big hit!)
food and lots of it!
swimming
hot tubbing
soccer
baseball
basketball
capture the flag
music and or movie trivia challenge students vs staff/faculty - which they LOVE
any challenge which pits them against the adults they will love.
being on the camp committee several times, i've been in on the planning, special guest arranging, faculty choosing, scheduling (which was among the toughest things to do), cabin assignments, ordering awards, camp t-shirts, etc.. .
scheduling i think is the hardest thing. . cuz you want to strike that balance - you don't want to wear the campers out and you don't want them sitting around bored. . its a fine line. Our camp always tended towards the former!!! We tended to cram in the activities, electives. . The elective were popular. . offering a good selection of diverse 'electives' is a great thing to do at a teen, preteen camp. .
Bible program. . that used to make the campers yawn!!! somehow the Bible always was much more boring than all the other cool stuff. . sad i know. We reschedded it from early morning after breakfast. . when everyone only fell asleep to later in the day. . we changed the format from a lecture format to an interactive learning experience. . HUGE difference. .we changed locations of where the Bible time was done. . sometimes down on the rocks at the lake, sometimes in the woods at night, using flashlights and guides. . VERY effective and scary! i will never forget that lesson or what its like to be lost in the dark and not know your way and NEED light and NEED a guide who knows the way. . sometimes in the pool! sometimes on the trampolines. .
we changed the compulsory Bible exam at the end of the week to an essay type, what did you learn this week type of paper. . big improvement in camper interest there. . the worship times were complete camp participation times. . every musical section, every cabin, every drama student, every musical or performing elective contributed to the worship service. . those times were very spirit filled and special. . camp is often a place where kids will 'let go'. . no parents around watching. . i made my decision for Christ at camp, many kids do the same, all at different ages. . its such a responsibility to make sure that in every way your camp makes it easy for people to connect with God or reconnect with him. . to get away, to learn, to have fun.
I'm excited for you!!!
thank god some of us are speaking the truth! go reyma. aside of the beer (underage) im with you. are we really gonna use knots and only fans in real life. (think about it).
Here's my comment, and I'll make it quick. I'm 18, and I left Rocky Mountain High just as you were pulling into Estes Park in all likelyhood. Anyway, all that to say that I've been to a few youth camps. My biggest peeve with youth camps is the jesus high they give. There's nothing intrinistically wrong with that, the problem is that they don't equip the kids to go back and face a world that most certianly doesn't want them the have that Jesus high. Also, I've noticed that a lot of youth camps paradoxically don't spend a lot of time in the word. Now, since I'm 18 I obviously have a different P.O.V. than a 14 year old. I, for one, really want to hear what God has to say about certain things, not what a speaker thinks God has to say. Lemme hear from Him straight up. As proof that the Bible has advice on absolutely everything, I direct you to my favorite Bible verse. Its nothing terribly profound, it just illustrates to me that God thought of everything. Its in Proverbs, I believe chapter 16, verse 32 (Or whatever the last verse is.): Grey hair is a crown of glory, it is earned by living a Godly life.
Anyway, that's a round-about way of saying that what I would want in a youth camp is people equipping youth to face the real world, not simply milking a Jesus high-- how to do that is up to you-- and to spend a LOT more time in the Word.
I've served on a couple of camp staffs. The best info I can give you concerning a camp schedule is to show you the one we used at the last camp I worked at. Visit www.passportcamps.org, click on "Camp Info", then click "Day at Camp". The site has videos that tell you more about each section of the day. (Passport is a great camp, by the way.) I think the most important thing you can do is give the students the tools and the opportunities to go out and change the world.
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