Unrelaible Ideas # 28 Day Camping

Day Camping is about building on all the value of temporary Christian community with the need to necessarily travel to a venue and pay site costs for staying over. It aleviates night supervision leadership needs and allows for attenders who can't be part of the whole program.

A day camp could be a one day program packed with activity or anything up to four days or more with individual activity planned for each. For example with the luxury of something like the Gold Coasts Theme Parks, some groups have visited 3 or 4 across a holiday period or weekend.

In isolated or low income areas this is an affordable way to provide programs on a church or community site and can be tailored to suit your group size and context.

A Typical Weekend Day Camp:

Friday Night
Sausage Sizzle and Salads at the Hall
Icebreakers and mixing games
Maybe swimming or go karts

Saturday
Swimming
Wide Games
Speaker
Small Groups or Learning Groups
Meals
Worship if the group will relate to that/Reflection or Focus time perhaps

Giant Pictionary

Theatre Sports

Outdoor Movie

Sunday
Small or Learning Groups
Bushwalk or Team Challenges of Cooperation or Initiative Games
Huge Meal to finish with Photo and Thankyou's
Closing Activity

Each night kids go home rather than stay onsite. You can register for the whole program or individual days or sessions at leaders discretion. This balances community building against making the action accessible to kids who work, do lots of homework or play sports etc.

Many groups still do the individual day where the activity might be rounded out with a sharing of stories and focus time at the end of the day [sometimes but not always a more overt time of sharing faith and chalenging campers to respond].

Other possibilities:
Bushwalk for a Day
Mountain Bikes
Fundraising, Odd Jobs, Slave Auction
Clean Up Australia Day
Piggy back on another event like a Youth Alive or local concert
Abseiling
Lent and Advent Workshops leading to participation in worship
Guest Speakers
Sports Clinics
Playstation or X Box party
Cooking
Craft
Drama, storyteller, magician
Chalk Chase
Scavenger Hunt
and ...