Welcome to Kids Camp

Who runs camp?

Kids camp is run by the Community Development Network Trust (CDN) We have been running kids camps for 28 years at Woodend Christian Camp. We have 2-3 paid staff at each camp, as well as a team of about 30 volunteers who join us for camp.

The Staff

Our CDN staff spend time before camp organising people into teams, sending emails and doing all of the work that makes sure camp happens. One of the team will also make a phone call, or visit your caregiver before camp to answer any questions you have.

The Volunteers

CDN has an amazing team of volunteers who give up their time to help you have an amazing camp. We have people who come to lead in cabins, do dishes, look after peoples medical needs, organise the program, and even a team of people who just come out to help us clean up camp on the last day. 

We also have a team of Leaders in Training (LiTs) who are just starting their leadership training with CDN. Lots of our leaders have also been CDN campers in the past. 

What do I need to know before hand?

CDN is a Christian organisation, and a part of camp is Adventure Time; this is a space where we explain what Christians believe and give everyone at camp a space to ask questions. You do not need to be a Christian to come, in fact most campers aren't. 

You can read more about what that all means here

What to Bring:

• Essential Medication (with instructions in a bag)

• Pillow/ pillow case

• Sleeping Bag and/or Blanket

• Single Sheet

• Warm Clothes

• Waterproof Coat

• Togs + Towel

• Personal Toiletries

• Hat + Sunscreen

• Sturdy Walking Shoes

• Torch (optional)

What to leave at home:

• Cell phones, Smartwatches, and other electronics

• Pets

• Make-up

• Lollies/energy drinks

• Spending Money

Camp drop off

It's the day of camp!! We have 2 drop-off points for camp, one for people in Christchurch and one if you live closer to Woodend, at 124 Woodend Beach Road.

At either spot, you will meet one of our friendly leaders who will have a high-vis vest on, as well as a lanyard saying their name. They will tell you where you can leave your bag and point you to the sign-in desk.

Here, you will find your own camp name tag, your caregiver will sign you in, and you will hand in medication you may have to the camp nurse.

Then we have some hangout time; for those at Woodend, we have games like basketball, gaga, and 9 square to play. For those in Riccarton, we have a hall to play some running around games in, and some quieter side rooms with card games and colouring.

It's normal to be a bit nervous at this point of camp. If you don't know who to talk to or what to do, find one of our leaders and stand with them. They are great at helping people make friends and they know exactly what's happening next

Getting to camp 

If you are meeting us in Christchurch, once everyone has arrived, we will sit everyone down and introduce a few key leaders, and then we will ask for some volunteers to head out to camp in 1 or 2 vans, and everyone else will get on the bus for our trip out to camp.

If you get a bit car sick, this is the time when you want to volunteer to ride in the vans.

The ride out to camp takes about 20-30 minutes and is a great time to chat with other campers and leaders about what you are looking forward to at camp.

At Camp

Once everyone is at camp, we will gather in the Woodend main hall; here we will get to meet all of our camp leaders and some of the Woodend staff who will help us out during the week.

At the end of our time in the main hall, our program directors will tell everyone what cabin they are in for the week and who your cabin leaders and Leader in Training (LiT) are.

Once you know who your leaders are, you can go and set up your cabin

Camp Activites

When you get to your cabin at the start of camp you will see a program for the week. Sometimes we do tweak the program during camp, especially if the weather changes. 

Our camp activities are a mix of things that exist at Woodend all the time and some extra special ones that we bring out to camp. So even if you have been to Woodend for a school camp there will be something new to do at Kids Camp.

Normally we have things like Go Karts, Zipline, Aerojump, Nerf, Archery, Air Rifles, Waterslide, Massive games on the field, and a trip into a swimming pool.

Kai

The catering team at Woodend do an amazing job of making Kai for us at camp.

Menus change from camp to camp, but you can expect to have many of these things at your meals, pizza, burgers, pies, potato bake, coleslaw, garlic bread, salad, sausages, butter chicken, lasagna, nachos, chicken, fruit, biscuits, cereals, toast and milo.

Our camp food is made with Year 7 and 8s in mind and is always yummy.

Even better our LiTs do the dishes for us!

Free Time

We have a heap of cool things to do during free time at camp. There's space to explore with your friends, minigolf, trampolines, card games, colouring in, people to chat with, basketball, a maypole, playground and heaps more to do. 

Some of our free time games like Gaga Dodgeball and 9 Square have some rules we all follow.

Gaga Dodgeball

One of our favourite free time games at camp is Gaga Dodgeball. To help everyone have fun everyone plays by our camp rules.

•  To start, everyone must be touching the wall
•  Someone tosses ball into centre of pit
•  Ball must bounce 2x on ground- ball is now live
•  Slap-hit ball with hands
•  Player is 'out' when hit 'below the waist'
•  Player is 'out' if they hit ball out of pit
•  No 'double-hitting' ball untill only 2 players are left in.
•  WINNER is 'last one standing'

9 Square in the air

9 Square in the air is a fun mix of 4 square and volleyball, and is a camp favourite.

The player in the center square serves the ball to any other square. The player receiving the ball must hit the ball out the top of their square and into another square. Each player is allowed to hit the ball only once per turn. Play continues in this manner until someone is eliminated.

A player is out if:

• They fail to return the ball to another player's square.
• They hit the ball outside the entire game structure.
• They double hit the ball.
• The player who is eliminated will exit the game and get in line and wait to re-enter the game.

The remaining players will advance forward in a clockwise manner to fill the empty square, and a new player will enter square one.

FAQs