Why I send my kids to camp

Parents often get the raw deal from kids’ camps. We pay for the camp. We drive or carpool to get our children there and back again. We pack and make sure they take not only snacks (no nuts!), but also a sleeping bag and change of clothes, which usually comes home still neatly folded at the bottom of the bag. We pick up tired children after camp, who apparently had the time of their lives but cannot seem to remember anything specific to share about it!

In all this hustle and bustle it can be hard to see the value of sending your children to camp. 

So why do it?

It’s a big step forward in independence and confidence

While leaders and organisers take every precaution to make camps safe for everyone involved, for a child it is still a step outside the familiarity of home with their usual circle of support. There might be some nerves or anxiety before the event about going to sleep without mum or dad there to tuck them in.

Alternatively, the worry might all be on the parents’ side, with a child expressing just a little too much enthusiasm for being released from the boundaries of home! (This is perhaps an opportunity for us parents to learn to trust God more and more with our children.)

Camp can be a unique opportunity for our children to learn what we might call basic life skills. It might be the first time they attempt to negotiate mealtimes alone: choosing food from a buffet under time pressure, asking for what they need, taking a turn doing orderlies duties. Or the challenge might come with bedtime, showering, keeping track of clothes or putting on sunscreen. These are seemingly small, but significant steps forward. 

Camps can help our children to grow in independence, confidence and resilience because they have the opportunity to do things on their own.

Friendships deepen

Camps, like Youthworks Square One for Years 3–6, provide the opportunity for friendships with peers to be strengthened as time is spent together over meals and shared activities. Bonds are forged by newly discovered similarities, and shared experiences have ongoing relational value: ‘Remember when we went down the waterslide and you crashed into me?!’, ‘Remember when we slipped in the mud and then we painted our faces with it?!’ (As an aside, isn’t it great that kids get to do these messy, muddy activities away from your house and car!). 

Learning to become a good friend is a life lesson we all want our children to experience, and camps are an ideal place for that to happen. What is helpful when a friend is missing their mum or nervous about a challenging activity? Perhaps your child will be the one comforting and encouraging a friend or perhaps they will be comforted, discovering that God’s family is bigger than they knew. Perhaps they will be watching all this from an upper bunk, witnessing other kids acting in ways they haven’t seen before. 

One of the ways I love to see kids encourage each other at Square One is seeing them talk about their faith in small groups. It’s a rare opportunity to learn how to talk about their beliefs, their questions, their hopes, doubts and ideas, all in a safe place with leaders who care. Christian friends who can talk about their faith and encourage one another are such treasures. Camps nurture these friendships in a unique way.

They’ll see faith in action

Another favourite part of camp for me is the singing in the large sessions. Have you ever heard 300+ children loudly and joyfully singing about salvation in Christ? Often singing is hard in small church contexts but at camp, children get to see others enthusiastically participating and can ‘have a go’ without feeling weird or embarrassed. They get to stand alongside leaders who model faith in their singing, and in a million other tiny ways. 

Camps bring together people who have had different faith journeys, and who express faith differently. What a great way to strengthen our children’s faith as they see and hear so many different examples of love for Jesus. They’ll meet Christian men, women and younger people who all follow Jesus, but perhaps not in exactly the same way—as each other or as us. 

I’ll hear about it one day

Although we might not hear about the fantastic activities or see the personal or spiritual growth in our children in the days or weeks after the camp, these experiences have a lasting impact on them. Going to camp means there is more potential for them to see the relevance of the gospel to their lives, whether it’s through meeting new faith role models, hearing the Bible taught in a new way, learning from the faith of peers or experiencing being part of God’s big family. 

When my children have grown up, I hope I will get to hear about how at a certain camp helped them to personally understand the enormity of God’s grace or the importance of Jesus’ death.

Camps were important to my spiritual growth 

Our heavenly Father uses all kinds of situations to draw people to himself. For me, one of those really important turning points in my life was at a kids’ camp. I’d been to school camps before and had fun. But at this camp, I saw God’s love among his people in a new way and I was convicted of my need for him, as there is life nowhere else but in Jesus.

Amidst the cost, the tiredness, the time and effort of driving and all the washing afterwards, I keep sending my children to camp, and I encourage you to as well. Our frustrations will soon be forgotten but the memories, life lessons and, we pray, the spiritual growth in our children will last a lifetime.

A shorter version of this article originally appeared at Youthworks.net.

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Annemarie Rivers has three children and has served in children’s ministry in a variety of roles for many years. She now works with the Youthworks Ministry Support Team, training and supporting Children’s ministry leaders across Western Sydney. 
 

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