Category: Camp Ministry

Children’s Ministry Stunt Lesson: The Human Table

This human stunt is a crowd favorite – and anyone can do it.  Its called “The Human Table”.  You could also call it “The Levitating People” or come up with your own name.

It’s called a “stunt” lesson rather than an object lesson because you need 4 adults about the same size as one another who are willing to perform somewhat of a stunt (so they need healthy knees and backs).

I’ve been doing this thing for years with kids, adults, and audiences.  I first saw some clowns do it at Ringling Brothers about 15 years ago, so I can’t take credit for creating it.  But over the years, I have innovated a little and added some of my own twists and lessons to it.

Here’s how you do it:

What you need:

  1. 4 adults with healthy knees and backs (kids are usually too weak to make this happen, but teenagers will work) that are about the same size as one another.  Also, keep it the same gender (4 men OR 4 women, just don’t do co-ed – you’ll see why).
  2. 4 chairs that don’t have arms/armrests (folding chairs or choir chairs are perfect).
  3. At least 10-12 feet of space in all four directions from the middle of your presentation area.

Here’s what you do:

Step 1 – Call up 4 volunteers (according to the stipulations above)

Step 2 – Set up 4 chairs in the following pattern and do as the picture caption indicates:

Sit each person in a chair so that the back of the chair is on their right (so their legs extend out from the square of chairs)

Step 3 – Tell the participants to put both feet flat on the ground, shoulder length apart, and to make a right angle with their knees.  Have all four people raise their left hand straight up and repeat “I will not sue you for injuries incurred…” (no, really, they have to raise their hands so the next step will work).

Step 4 – Then have them all lay back on the knees of the person behind them, as shown below.  Then they need to interlock their left arms in the middle of their newly formed human square.

Step 5 – Take out the chairs!  One at a time, remove the chairs and ask the guy or gal sitting on it to lift their rear a little so you can pull it out.

Step 6 – I like to play some dance music and have them kick, hop, crabwalk, hold a kid on top of them, really anything that seems pretty crazy like that.

Step 7 – They’ll eventually collapse, but don’t let that happen before everyone can take a good picture.  They’ll remain your friend if you help them up.  At some point (before or after the collapse), I teach the kids about Galatians chapter 6 and how Paul teaches us to “bear one anothers burdens,” which essentially means that in the body of Christ, we are here for one another – supporting each other, encouraging eachother, providing for one another, and so on.  These 4 guys (or gals) illustrate how to “support” one another in the physical sense.  But we also want to do that in the spiritual sense.

Have fun with this and please don’t hurt anyone!  Here are some other pics of this trick from other events.  What kinds of human stunts do you do?

4 Reasons Why You Should Go to a Summer Camp

The coming of Spring means summer is fast approaching. Now is the time to plan ahead (if you haven’t already) for bringing the kids in your family ministry to a summer camp. Here are 4 things I think you should know about Christian summer camps:

1. Camp is Often THE Highlight of a Kid’s Year – or Life

Kids will often remember these experiences until they day they die. Why? Because summer camp touches the deepest parts of our senses and needs in life. In my opinion, summer camp is one of the most effective forms of ministry and outreach to kids. The rest of this article will explain why I think that.

2. Taking Kids to an Exciting New World Opens Up Their Hearts and Minds

A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our toddler daughter to the local petting zoo. My daughter is 17 months old and had been cooped up indoors for much of this past winter. When she finally met the live goats and sheet (things she had only known from picture books), her face lit up, she danced, she talked incessantly, and her overall demeanor was illuminated.

This is what happens when you bring your kids to summer camp. They get away from the video games and television and finally breath fresh air in a new and wonderful place, where they can safely explore and play. This does something remarkable to their hearts, minds, and spirits. It opens them up in fresh ways that would otherwise not be opened back home on their familiar turf. It is then that we take these open hearts and show them the love of Jesus Christ.

3. Christian Camping is About “Making Space”

I once heard recording artist Michael Card share about the idea of “making space” for God to do His work in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We make space by taking Sabbaths, spending quiet times in prayer, and going to places where we remove all the clutter so that we can hear and see God more clearly. Jesus was in the business of making space for the Father to move in the lives of those around Him. Summer camp is a ministry of “making space” for God to work in these kids’ lives. We take them far away from home, give them plenty of spaces to move around and play, and then we watch as God does amazing things.

4. Summer Camp is All Over the Bible

God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, not a video arcade. God led Abraham far from his home to set up “camp” in a new promised land. Joseph left home (not by his own accord) and ended up thriving in this far-from-home atmosphere. Ruth and Naomi left their familiar home, only to find God’s blessing on their lives in their new settlement. Shepherd boy David could have stayed home with his father and animals, but he made the long journey to his brothers’ “camp” and discovered that God had big plans for him at camp.

And then there’s Joshua, Jonah, Esther, Daniel – all who found God’s favor only after they made a bold journey or were uprooted from what was familiar to them. Don’t forget the New Testament – like Mary and Joseph, the 12 disciples, Paul, and Peter. Even John received the vision that became Revelation when he was far away on a tiny Greek island called Patmos.

It doesn’t take long to realize that most heroes of the Bible were not the kind of people who stayed in their comfortable home and town all year-round. They went away (either intentionally or unintentionally) and God did great things. I believe God will do great things in the lives of your kids, parents, chaperones, teenagers, pastors – everyone who goes to camp. There’s something about going far away that makes space for God to do what He does best – change us.

No more excuses. Sign up for a Christian summer camp and take all your kids. Empower parents with the information that will let them know the importance of summer camp (like this article). I would recommend starting at http://www.ccca.org/ to search for a quality Christian summer camp or retreat center.

What is your camp story? Why do you think summer camp is so important?

It’s As Scary As It Looks – At First


At first, this is very frightening. But after years of practicing the shorter unicycle, I found that once I took that first “leap of faith” onto the tall unicycle and rode it for a bit, it was just like riding the shorter one, just higher in the air. This was taken at Highland Lakes Camp in Spicewood, Texas at a camp for about 850 kids. My next goal is to juggle while idling in place on the tall unicycle.