Tag Archives: Camp
Thoughts on Summer Camp
Posted on 23. May, 2011 by Kenny.
Summer is almost here and we’re about six weeks away from taking about 100 3rd-5th graders to summer camp. I’m very excited as summer camp is one of the things I look forward to most every year in ministry. We began recruiting kids to come to camp in March and as of last week, we completely filled up and began a waiting list. I’m so pleased as to how smooth a process getting kids to register to camp has been. This week I want to share several thoughts I have about camp. Some of them are philosophical where others are more practical and administrative in nature. So, I look forward to sharing some of the things I’ve learned over the years as well as the experiences I’ve had this year.… Read the rest
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Camp Promo Card
Posted on 22. Feb, 2011 by Kenny.
We’re currently about 5 months away from summer camp. Woo hoo! Our registration goes live this week, so we designed a promo postcard pointing people to the website (which isn’t quite done yet) so they could get all the info and register their kids. Last summer was the first real summer we’ve taken kids to camp and we’re hoping to increase camp attendance by nearly 60-75%.
So, below is the front and back of the postcard we designed. We ordered 1000 5.5 x 8.5 high gloss, two sided cards. So, what do you think?
- We got the art from Orange (we’re using Chase the Light curriculum)
- I used Cartoon Speech Collection from iStockPhoto.com.
- I used True Type Fonts “Unmasked BB” and “Crash Landing BB” from 1001fonts.com
We tried to create an energetic and fun card that was simple and too the point.… Read the rest
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VBS/Kids Camp on steroids
Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Kenny.
A co-worker recently sent me information about a little event that happens at a church in St. Louis every year. When I came across JUMP, I had two simultaneous reactions.
- I was in absolute wonder and awe of the sheer size of this event.
- I threw up in my mouth just a little bit thinking about putting on and event of this size
JUMP is a week-long VBS/Day Camp hybrid held at St. Louis Family Church. Over the years it has grown from a small outreach to an event of epic proportions. This year 3,243 participated. Here’s some of what it took to pull JUMP off:
- 987 volunteers (Thank you all!)
- 158 watermelons
- 485 gallons of Gatorade
- 5,700 bags of cotton candy
- 260 pounds and 8,350 bags of popcorn
- 6,928 pounds of ice
- 167 gallons of syrup
- 18,200 sno-cones
Amazing, huh?… Read the rest
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My secret weapon to connecting with kids
Posted on 22. Jun, 2010 by Kenny.
It’s funny how kids connect. If I’m sitting with a group of 5th grade boys, I might talk about my favorite video game. If I’m talking with 3rd grade girls, I might talk about… well, girly stuff. 
When we show interest in the things that they’re interested in, it builds report. I’m not just saying that you learn a few lines or do a little “research” so you can be relatable. You actually need to know what you’re talking about, kids see through the fake.
Well, when communicating to over 400 kids during a week of camp, I kept thinking about what that kinds of things I could do to connect with the whole audience. For me it was simple. Titus.… Read the rest
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Communicating with parents while at camp
Posted on 22. Jun, 2010 by Kenny.
Over the years I’ve used a variety of ways to keep parents in the loop of what was going on at camp. In the early days, I’d shoot my admin a summary email that she would forward on to all the parents. Then in 2003 or 2004, I took a big jump and started using a yahoo group, which worked pretty well. I’ve found that the more I help parents feel connected to what was going on with their kids at camp, the more excited they’d be about the ministry that happens to their kids, both at camp and back at home. A lot of parents are nervous about being away from their kids, so they just want to see pictures of their kids all happy and having fun.… Read the rest
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Personal review for camp
Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by Kenny.
Kids Camp 2010 for our kids was pretty phenomenal. There are some things I’d like to see different for next year, but the experience was powerful. We took 58 kids this year and I can’t imagine we’ll take any less than 100 next year, not with the feedback parents and kids will hear from this year’s camp.
Personally, this was one of the best camp experiences I’ve ever had. It was a really unique opportunity for our church as for me. I guess I’ll start off at the beginning. I’m a HUGE believer in the power of camp. I went to summer camp as a 3rd-5th grader and have very specific and tangible memories of God’s work in my life at summer camp.… Read the rest
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Kids Camp 2010 in review
Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by Kenny.
It was a great week. No, it was a phenomenal week. Things got busy, so I didn’t have the time to post every day. This week I’ll probably get in 4-5 posts with information about camp, what we did and how it all went down. In addition, I’m going to review the curriculum we used, Take it In and Live it Out if you’re considering it for camp or some other event.
So, this was my first real camp experience with these kids. When I got to Gateway two years ago, about 15 kids were signed up to go to a summer camp. There hadn’t been a lot of promotion and since we were financially committed to this camp, I ate about $5,000 in expenses and ended up scholarshiping 20-25 kids.… Read the rest
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Camp message illustration help
Posted on 08. Jun, 2010 by Kenny.
I have to throw out a BIG thank you to those of you who read this blog. The last two to three weeks have been crazy busy for me and I’ve contributed very little. Instead, I’ve been asking of you for ideas and help and your feedback has been wonderful. I’m about 60% through writing/prepping nine talks I’m giving next week at camp. I need help with an illustration.
Here’s the setup. I’m talking about selfishness with the bottom line being: Live my life unselfishly. The scripture is from Luke 12, the parable of the farmer who built bigger barns. In my second talk that day, I’m honing in on what Jesus said before he told the Parable, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” I’m choosing to illustrate the point that we are spiritual beings living in a physical world and more often than not, we get caught up in gratifying ourselves with the physical things in this world.… Read the rest
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Camp Save-The-Date Postcard: Final Product
Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by Kenny.
Last week I posted my Summer Camp “save-the-date postcard for peer review. I got some incredible feedback. Thanks to everyone who wrote suggestions on the blog, my facebook and through DM on twitter. This community is amazing. I took every suggestion very serious and revised the card based on several of them. Here’s the final product.
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You may notice that I didn’t change the front of the card at all. Some suggested me making “kids quest” bigger. Actually I really wrestled with this; however, I realized that the point of the card is to draw parents to the fact that it’s time to register for camp. If they only see one thing on the card, I want it to be summer camp!… Read the rest
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Camp Save-The-Date Postcard
Posted on 20. Nov, 2009 by Kenny.
Hey, can anyone give me some quick feedback? On November 27th, Black Friday, we’re launching summer camp registration with a great pre-registration discount. We’re running the special until the end of the year and we have this postcard that we’re using to advertise the early bird price and have parents save the date. I’m placing the print order on Monday, so if you have any suggestions on the design, please let me know ASAP!
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