Finding Purpose in Play: The Role of Recreation at Christian Camps

Recreational activities are perfect for getting the body moving, and to improve your fitness. At Christian camps, they’re a focal part of the camp regimen. Here, we’ll go over the importance of these activities at Christian camps, and also how they help build connection with faith. 

Play for Growth 

When we think of recreational activities, we rarely think of the spiritual growth that can happen. 

But there are tons of different ways to connect different games and activities with growth in faith. For example, a bible scavenger hunt is a fun way to learn about important parts of the bible while looking for items. 

Another example is of course, different nature walks.  You can look at the importance of the world God has given us, all while experiencing the beauty of nature, and what the world has to offer. 

In general, these different activities are a fun way to improve your faith and understanding. 

Better connections with those in Your Faith 

Faith is best practiced with your group. 

At Christian camps, you get just that.  Sure, these activities are fun with others, but your church group is the peers that you’ll go to ministry with.

These events help not only grow your understanding of faith, along with other aspects, but also better the growth that you have with others that you share these experiences with. 

Get to know not just the other campers, but also the counselors and mentors.   You can play sports, games, and also go on adventures. 

There are tons of fun ways to do this. 

The Balance Between Both 

Of course, all work and no play makes people upset. 

While you should always work on putting some time aside to play, balance is the key here. Many campers don’t want to just go to camps where they play all the time. 

With Christian camps, you want this balance. You should strive for playing and doing recreational activities, along with time for reflection. 

For instance, you can do a scavenger hunt, and then after reflecting on the bible verse and other aspects of the stories shared.  This, of course, creates an understanding of the different aspects of your faith, and really builds a unique understanding. 

How to Incorporate Play into Camps 

There are a lot of different ways for people to incorporate play and recreation into On’s camp experience.   This also applies to their daily life. 

A good way to do this, is to put together a schedule. Set aside time for prayer and reflection.  When you’re done though, spend time playing and growing in experience. As a person, you’ll benefit from this. 

Lots of campers do need to learn the importance between work and play. Some of them might just think camps are just a time to play and have fun. 

While the ultimate goal is to have fun, there are times where learning is powerful. In Christian camps, you want to tread the line between faith, and fun in most cases. 

Play is something that, with counselors, you incorporate both team activities and individual activities. Individual activities foster personal growth, while team activities boost collaboration with others. 

And most of all, try to incorporate faith into what you do at camps. If you're reading and putting together pictures, try to incorporate how this improves one’s understanding of Christianity.   This helps build better connections and interest, and in turn, can ultimately change the way people are able to understand their religion, on all fronts. 

So yes, work and play, and make sure to enjoy both when possible.