Backyard Summer Camp

My friend decided to do some very brave hosting last week. She set up a backyard Bible camp and entertained 20 children (only 2 of which were her own) for 5 days. Wow! How did this happen? Well…

It all started during a conversation with the family ministry director at Cedars church, where our hero and her family go each Sunday morning. It turns out that the leaders of Cedars church have realized something very important. Some people will never darken the door of any church, and that’s ok.  They came to this by realizing something even more important. Nobody needs to go to church to meet Jesus. If God is everywhere, He can meet people anywhere. How about your backyard? Yes, they are encouraging their members to host church in their home and day camps in their backyard. Inspired? Terrified? Offended? Good.

Here’s how it all went down.

To prepare:

·         Michaela (our hero) and her instigating friend (Jojo) decided to skip the house and have everything happen in the backyard. The house was only a backup in case of rain.

·         They figured out how to divide the yard up into areas for crafts, games, stories, etc.

·         They decided what supplies were needed, based on a pre-set curriculum. They raided the church’s supply closets for stickers, paper, crayons, markers and balloons.

·         Signs were made for different stations and nametags were created.

·         Three teenage volunteers were recruited from family friends and networks and Jojo was sworn to coming over to help.

Monday Morning:

Michaela (brave in the face of danger) woke up nervous. “What if nobody comes?” She’d invited all of her two children’s school classmates by mass email. She reassured herself, “At least 12 people will come.” She’d heard back from at least that many people. Responses ranged from “A free camp? We’re doing it!” to “Um no, we don’t want to expose our children to that kind of thing.”

Kids and parents started to arrive and check-in. Twenty kids showed up and were ready to party! So, the party began…

Weeklong Party:

Timing her day turned out to be an easy thing, because Michaela was using the director’s binder from the Go Big! curriculum. That meant that everything was timed, literally down to the minute. That structure gave her the confidence that comes from a plan and the ability to be flexible within reason.

Friday Afternoon:

After a week of day-camp, Michaela and her volunteers were exhausted but happy. The campers had been saying things like, “This is the best camp ever!” and “Are you doing this next year? I want to come.”

Camp closed with a pizza party for kids, volunteers and any parents that came early for pick-up time.

Michaela and Jojo’s Clever List of Camp Ideas:

Michaela decided that she wanted camp t-shirts. Each parent was asked to bring a solid color t-shirt from their own child’s wardrobe. If a t-shirt wasn’t available, Michaela pulled one from her own kid’s closet. Iron-on logos were provided by her church. So, Tuesday night, our hero spent 1 hour ironing together a pile of free camp t-shirts.

Older siblings of her children’s classmates were invited too and they came! These 5^th and 6^th grade kids were designated as Senior Campers, assigned special leadership roles in groups and had the word “Staff” ironed on to the back of their t-shirt. They liked that A LOT and took their leadership role seriously.

Parents were given the choice to either pay $5 for a last day pizza party or provide a lunch dish for that same party. Friday was the only day on which lunch was provided; all other days included one snack time that Michaela and Jojo provided.

Final Words: Would she do it again? Emphatic “Yes!”

Got questions for our hero? Send them to me. I’ll post her answers here or send them back to you.