Power UP !

Living in the Spirit

Day Camp

The Need Grows

The need for day camp is growing, especially as parents look for quality experiences for their children during school vacations. Some school systems have gone to year-round school with a shorter summer break and two weeks off in the fall and spring, as well as at Christmas. Working parents want the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and having a great time!

The ministry of day camp can fill that need. Some residential camps are expanding their programming to accommodate both types of camping simultaneously in their location. Churches, although not equipped for residential camping, often have facilities that can host a day camp to fill the need in their community. Some churches, however, do not feel equipped to take on such a program. Consequently, a growing number of residential camps are partnering with churches to provide the expertise and staffing to fulfill the desire to reach and serve more children and families. A typical partnership begins with one week of day camp and grows into more weeks in subsequent years. The combined efforts of hosts and partners—plus a good program resource—can fill the need.

The Options Are Ready

Whether you are already providing day camp at your camp or at a satellite location or you are considering the opportunity, having a good program resource is key. Here are ready-to-go options for creating up to six full weeks of fun—and life-changing—experiences for day-campers of all ages. Each week has a different look at Living in the Spirit (Celebrate, Imitate, Fruit of the Spirit, Community, Courage, and Peace). The theme-related games, arts and crafts, nature activities, music, Bible exploration, quiet time, and devotions work together to help your eager and energetic day-campers grow in their awareness of the power they have through the Holy Spirit for living as followers of Jesus. You can also easily adapt the activities and modules or add other favorite traditions to make your day camp a great experience for all.

Help your eager and energetic day-campers
power up for living in the Spirit!

If you are doing only one week of day camp, consider Week 3: “Power Up with the Fruit of the Spirit,” especially if your group tends on the younger side. If your group is mostly older, consider also Week 5: “Power Up with Courage” or Week 6: “Power Up with Peace Wherever You Go.”

Day Camp: Week 1

Power up and Celebrate the Spirit

Plan Your Week

Use the grid below as an example to help you create a visual plan for your week. (You will want to list your own schedule and write in your choices.) Select activities from the various listings below; feel free to add others of your own creation, as well.

Camp
Schedule / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
Getting to Know You / • I’m Going to a Party... / • Lima Y Lemón
Energizers / • Got It! / • Monkey-Crab Relay / Rope Star Team Builder / • Elbow Tag
Bible Time / • Story of Pentecost
• Language of Love / • Sense of Pentecost / • The Story Is Alive! / • Eyewitness Account / • The Fire That Can’t Be Extinguished
Morning Activity Options / • Story Symbol
• Pentecost Windsock / • Song Fest
• Wind Walk
• Paper Plate Dove / • Prayer Hands
• Pentecost Candle
• Natural Art / • Search Out the Spirit!
• Chicken Noisemakers / • Feasting Together
• The Holy Spirit Is with Me!
Quiet Time / • Rest & Read
• Journal / • Table Talk
• Journal / • Rest & Read
• Journal / • Table Talk
• Journal / • Rest & Read
• Journal
Afternoon Activity Options / • Song Fest
• Fly Kites
• Bubble Wands / • Spirit Pinwheels
• Name That Spirit! / • Skit: Eyewitness Reaction
• Wind Chimes / • Plan the Birthday Celebration
• Prayer Flags / • Happy Birthday, Church!
• Show Your Holy Spirit!
Devotions / • Celebrate! / • Celebration Prayers / • We Are One / • Listen for the Spirit / • Take the Fire With You!

Week 1 Overview

Scripture: Acts 2:1-18, 22-24, 33 (CEB)

Focus: The Holy Spirit filled the disciples and empowered them to share the good news in many languages. Through the Holy Spirit today people are empowered to come together and to understand.

Connection to Campers: The campers’ excitement and energy are a perfect backdrop, as this week focuses on celebrating the Spirit. The theme reminds campers of the power of community and the joy of the Spirit—tangible gifts the campers can also experience.

Leader Notes: To prepare, read through the “Biblical and Theological Overview” for Day 2. The Common English Bible (CEB) translation is recommended for today’s lesson because the language is somewhat easier to follow with this longer passage. Read as much or as little of the scripture as is appropriate for the ages you have. Consider letting the story “grow,” reading the basic verses the first day and adding more as the week progresses.

Be thoughtful about the words you use when discussing the Holy Spirit with the campers; try to keep from using the pronoun “it.” For many, the concept of the “Holy Ghost” or “Holy Spirit” is tough to understand and may feel supernatural. Using words such as “Teacher,” “Advocate,” “Counselor,” and “Comforter” will feel more tangible and better fit their developmental understanding.

Symbol for the Week: Candle with a Flame

Campers will quickly make the connection to the joy of countless birthday celebrations—and now to the celebration of Jesus’ promise fulfilled. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, it’s time to celebrate the birthday of the church. Throughout the week, as part of the various activities, look for ways to refer to the flame.

Most of these activities come from specific age levels in the residential camp daily plans. However, they can readily be adjusted for younger or older or mixed-age groups in day camp. Feel free to adapt them to fit your camp and campers.

Getting-to-Know-You Games

I’m Going to a Party

To learn the names of the campers, have them form a circle. Model the pattern: “My name is______. I’m going to a party and I’ll be (taking/doing/enjoying...) ______.” The next person needs to repeat either all the patterns of the previous campers (or the previous five) before adding his or her own. After one round, have everyone shift places and challenge the campers to recall the names of the others. Remind everyone that this week’s theme is about celebration!

Multiple Intelligences: Linguistic, Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: None

Lima Y Limón (Lime and Lemon)

Here’s a fun game for getting to know names on a day that celebrates the Holy Spirit bringing diverse people together in understanding despite their language differences.

Have the group stand or sit in a circle with the “Fruit Picker” at the center. When he or she points to someone and says, “Lima,” that person must say the name of the person on the left before the Fruit Picker counts to ten in English or Spanish (or Korean for those who do Tae Kwon Do or any other language of their choice). If the Fruit Picker says, “Limón,” the person indicated must name the one sitting to the right before the count of ten. If the person indicated fails, then he or she becomes the Fruit Picker. For added challenge, shorten the count to five after several rounds of ten.

Multiple Intelligences: Linguistic, Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: None

Energizers

Elbow Tag

This version of tag is mostly just fun, but it is also a game in which players are “safe” when they aren’t alone.

Head outside to a large, flat, open area. Explain to campers that they will be playing a special game of tag. Invite them to pair up, with each pair joined together by linking arms at the elbows. (Each person should still have a free arm.) Select one pair and split them up, naming one person “runner” and the other “It.”

Instruct the linked pairs to spread out across the open area. The person who is “runner” must run up to a pair and link arms with one member of the pair before being tagged by the person who is “It.” When this linking happens, the other member of the pair must leave the grouping. That person becomes the “runner” and must link with a different pair before being tagged by “It.” If the person who is “It” succeeds in tagging the runner before he or she links with a pair, the runner becomes “It,” and the former “It” becomes the runner.

When you are finished, take some breathing time and remind campers that with the Holy Spirit they are never alone and, when trouble chases after them—when they are sad, hurt, scared, or disappointed—they can “link up” with the Spirit through prayer.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: None

Monkey-Crab Relay

Create two or more teams of at least four players. Set a start line and a finish line. On “Go!” the first player in each team moves forward, like a monkey, on all fours racing to the finish line. When they cross the line, the second players then race toward the finish on all fours, only backwards, like a crab. Players alternate until the first team has all members across the line.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: None

Got It!

This game of tag has a twist. “It” is required to hold one hand on the place where he or she was tagged and still run after the others to tag a new “It,” who then has to hold a hand to his or her tagged spot and so on.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: None

Rope Star Team Builder

This is a fun way to energize campers and get them problem solving and moving together.

Tie a long rope into a circle.

Have campers grab onto the outside of the rope, with them evenly distributed all the way around.

The first part of the challenge is for the group to form a five-pointed star (the way they learned to draw a star back in elementary school using one continuous line) without letting go of the rope.

After campers have created the star, have them reverse the procedure to get back into a circle.

Afterward, discuss:

• What was easiest? Most difficult?

• What worked well as a team? What needs to improve as a team?

• How does the Holy Spirit guide us to follow God’s will?

• What skills from this team builder are similar to powering up with the Holy Spirit? (listening, willingness to be led)

Variations: Have all but one of the campers wear blindfolds; the one camper with sight doesn’t hold the rope, but rather leads with voice to help guide blindfolded campers to move. Or, only allow one camper to talk; the rest must stay silent—a challenge for listening skills. Choose other shapes to create—figure 8, trapezoid, and so on.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal, Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: A long length of rope in an open space, (optional: blindfolds for variation)

Bible Time: Acts 2:1-18, 22-24, 33 (CEB)

Story of Pentecost

Give the campers a little background before reading the Bible story. This story follows the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. So the disciples are together waiting as Jesus instructed them to do. A crowd of people from many different areas and languages is also in Jerusalem. Most are Jewish, and some are Gentiles or non-Jews with other beliefs. Now together read the Bible story in Acts 2:1-6.

Day Camp Adaptation: If your campers are older, go ahead and read the rest of the scripture passage. Or build anticipation by telling the group that they will hear the rest of the story in the next few days.

Multiple Intelligences: Linguistic

Supplies: Bible

Sense of Pentecost

Have campers practice some sound effects to add to the telling of the story. Show the campers how to make the wind sound. Have them practice rubbing hands together back and forth or blowing with hands tented near the mouth, opening and closing their hands to change the windlike sounds.

Give each camper red and orange pieces of crepe paper to be “flames.” Hand out pieces of paper with “God is with us” written in different foreign languages; give campers a minute to practice saying their version. Give English to younger campers who are pre-readers, and pair early readers with a youth or an adult to read in a language.

Read Acts 2:1-6 slowly, allowing the campers to add the sound effects and actions throughout the story…

• “Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind…” = rubbing hands together then stronger and stronger blowing with mouth and hands, “…filled the entire house…”

• “individual flames of fire” = waving crepe-paper flames above heads

• “began to speak in other languages” = speaking “God is with you” in multiple languages

Multiple Intelligences: Linguistic, Bodily/Kinesthetic

Supplies: Bible, index cards with “God is with us” in other languages (Spanish=Dios esta con nosotros, Dutch=God is met ons, French=Dieu est avec nous, Czech=Buh je s nami, Filipino=Ang Diyos ay sa amin, German=Gott ist mit uns, Norwegian=Gud er med oss, Polish=Bog jest z nami), red and orange crepe paper strips for “flames”

Language of Love

Leader Note: Are there any campers in your group who are bilingual? This is an activity in which they can shine.

Ask campers: “How do you feel when you can’t understand what other people are saying to you?” Share stories in the group about times when people couldn’t understand each other—perhaps they heard something incorrectly and that caused problems, or perhaps they simply spoke different languages and didn’t know what each other was trying to say.