Nick and Lisa Alsop, along with their daughters, Emily and Katie, have taken the very same vacation for the past six years. Sound boring? Not according to the Alsops. Summer after summer they’ve packed up the family car and headed off to family camp at Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, Texas.

Nick Alsop and his daughter, Emily

Nick’s 14-year-old daughter, Katie, also enjoys the annual trip to family camp because of the relationships they build with other families. “You become best friends right away,” she says. “Last year 19 of the 20 families who were there the year before, were back.

“It’s a reconnecting time,” she says. “You get to reconnect with your family, God, and friends.”

The family camp experience

The Alsops aren’t alone in their commitment to family camp. Every year thousands of parents join their children at family camps scattered across the nation. According to the American Camp Association, in the past two decades the number of accredited camps reporting family camping has increased more than 200 percent. As Gregory Keer explains in his article, “Family Camp Has Its Days in the Sun,” “Apparently, my love of the family-camp experience is not unique. This kind of vacation has grown increasingly popular as adults learn that camper bonding, lanyard-making and lakeside overnights are not just for kids anymore.”

Family camps are as varied as those who attend them. Accommodations range from first-class motel units and air-conditioned cabanas to dormitory-style rooms and rustic cabins. Some camps supply all of the linens while others require families to bring their own sheets and towels. Activities range from swimming and scavenger hunts to kayaking and rappelling. Generally there are special programs for the adults while children, from infants to those in high school, have age-appropriate activities with caring counselors.

Christian family camps often include daily Bible studies, worship, and even marriage and parenting seminars led by nationally-known experts in these fields. At Pine Cove, Alsop says, “they always have a speaker who comes and speaks five or six times during the week. And he’s always using the Scriptures.” Alsop says the kids “are not given lectures but they go through the Scriptures as well and do tons of activities.”

Tara Maher had a similar experience at Kanakuk Kamps, near Springfield, Mo. “You usually have adult Bible studies in the morning when the kids go off in their class and play,” she says. “Every night there’s an activity—hoe down, ice cream party, 80s party.” She says that it’s like going to camp as an adult—but with your children. “If you had one vacation a year in the summer and wanted to give it a try I think it’s totally worth it.”

Learn more

If family camps sound like something your family would like to investigate, you should:

• Talk with couples who have gone to family camp.
• Ask your church staff if they have any recommendations about specific family camps in your area.
• Determine if your family has any specific needs. For example, Joni and Friends has camps and retreats for families affected by disabilities.
• Check out camps for homeschool families.
• Visit the website for the Christian Camp and Conference Association.
• Talk with your family about your specific desires during family camp. For example, would you like to spend all of your time together during the week, or would you prefer that the kids have some separate time for their own activities?
• Take a look at your budget. When I did some research on the web, the costs varied from more than $5,000 for a family of six for seven days to approximately $750 for the same family of six. (Of course, one of these families would stay in a state-of-the-art camp facility while the other would be housed in a rustic cabin.)
• Consider attending a camp that lasts less than a week. New Life Ranch has a four-day camp for homeschool families ($600 maximum per family).
• If you cannot afford family camp, see if scholarships are available.

For more information

Here is a short list of camps to consider (An extensive list of Christian camps can be found on the Christian Camp and Conference Association website.):  

• Camp Timberline (Colorado) 
• Camp Vesper Point (Tennessee) 
• Joni and Friends Family Retreats (various camp locations around the United States that serve families affected by disabilities) 
• Kanakuk Camps (Missouri) 
• Life Action (Michigan) 
• New Life Ranch (Oklahoma) 
• Pine Cove (Texas) 

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