Children’s Center camps provide fun summertime learning opportunities

Summer camps provide a chance for children to put down the iPads while making friends and learning new skills. Throughout the summer, the Naylor Children’s Center (NCC) will provide three week-long camps, offering opportunities for children to participate in fun and interactive educational activities with fellow children of seminary students.

“We have a large home school community, and events like this give everyone an opportunity to gather,” says Kathi Rogers, director of the NCC.  The camps are unique opportunities for children to learn teamwork while sharpening their decision-making skills and trying new things. They promote healthy development in a place where having fun is a daily criterion.

Preschoolers ages 3-5 spent the week of May 22-26 seeking the greatest treasure of all—God—at the Treasure Hunters Preschool Camp. Each day, after a Bible lesson, the children went on a treasure hunt that reinforced the lesson. They also enjoyed crafts, games and snacks daily, and they had sailboat races and treasure hunts. “Each day ended with a Bible verse to help us remember that God is our greatest treasure,” says Rogers.

The week of June 19-23, Cooking Camp will provide participants in grades 6-12 an opportunity to learn basic culinary skills, kitchen safety, freshness, sanitation and food rotation at the Horner Homemaking House. Students will learn how to bake breads and desserts, including blueberry scones and yeast rolls. Baking lessons will be tied into lessons about the benevolence of God.

Additionally, each day will be devoted to learning the basic elements of five different cuisines, including Latin, Italian and American Southern food. The cost for campers is $50 to enroll, plus a $10 supply fee for each student. Enrollment for this camp will be held to a maximum of 12 students. Friday will be a special day, with families invited to a reception to enjoy cookies prepared by the students.

At Pioneer Camp, scheduled for the week of July 31-Aug. 4, students will learn the importance of spiritual disciplines, including generosity, daily Scripture reading and prayer, and sharing the Gospel. They will also learn how children lived during pioneer days, working hard to help their parents and neighbors with daily necessities such as making butter or milking cows.

“Students will learn that we should also work hard to maintain disciplines that honor God, such as reading the Bible and helping others,” Rogers says. Children will team up to make bread, butter, soap, coasters and candles, and they will learn how to milk a cow, shear a sheep, and take measurements without a ruler. The cost to register is $40 per camper.

Each of the two remaining camps will take place from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. daily. To learn more about the camps and other NCC activities and programs, contact Rogers at krogers@swbts.edu.