Our extended family holds a biannual cousin camp that mimics church youth conferences like For the Strength of Youth and Especially for Youth. Our cousins live all over the country so this is an opportunity for them to spend quality time together strengthening their cousin bonds.
It’s really great to have over twenty teens for this event. We invite all our cousins who are ages 12-18. Then we tell them to invite their cousins from the other side of their family and any close friends they think could be adopted cousins for the week. Our group has varied in size from 20-38 teens.
Our event usually runs from Tuesday evening to Saturday morning. Here’s an example agenda from our most recent camp held in Salt Lake City and Syracuse, Utah. For the Strength of Cousins Agenda 2020
Here are some ideas so you can organize your own Cousin Camp. We’ve divided our ideas into the fun stuff and the spiritual stuff. This is an opportunity to strengthen faith and family unity, so we always schedule faith-promoting devotionals and speakers at our event. However, we know our audience and no one would come if it wasn’t super fun. So, make sure you have a good balance of both and don’t forget to allow lots of free time.
-The Fun Stuff-
company competitions
Divide your group into teams of 5-10 people. Four groups is ideal. You can use these groups for food prep and cleaning assignments, but the main purpose is for everyone to be a part of a team. Every day should include at least one company competition. Here are four fun ideas:
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Set your teams lose on a photo scavenger hunt in a mall, park, or downtown plaza. Make a list of items and activities their team can photograph and video to earn points. Set a time limit and let them go!
Here’s our list: Photo Scavenger Hunt- Downtown Salt Lake City
Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course in a back yard or park. We had access to an inflatable obstacle course that served as one leg of the race. Make sure there are enough obstacles that everyone on the team will be part of the competition. We had climbing, jumping, running, and throwing events. We also had a putting golf hole, a trampoline challenge, and then some team challenges like a human pyramid and carrying people. Make it up based on your space. You’ll need a few adult judges to make sure no one cheats. Make sure the rules are laid out clearly before you start. This is supposed to be fun, so you’ll want to avoid any arguments over the rules mid-competition.
Game Show Competition
We created a really fun game show competition that was a huge success. We needed an inside activity for a hot afternoon and this fit the bill. Here’s the link with a full description and clues: Epic Game Show Competition
Cousins Got Talent (Skit Night)
On our last night, all the teams made up a skit and performed for the group. We had a panel of judges (uncles, aunts, older cousins) who scored the skits for the team competition. The groups knew about this all week so they had talked about it and used some of their free time to prepare.
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Water Kickball
If you’ve never played water kickball, you’re in for a treat. This activity costs about $100 but you can use it over and over. You will need 3 inflatable kiddie pools, four rolls of 3’ X 50’ 4 mil plastic sheeting from a home improvement store, baby liquid soap, a rubber kickball, and access to a hose/water.
Roll out the plastic in a 50′ square with kiddie pools for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases. Sit the pools on top of the plastic at each corner of your diamond to weigh it down. Pin down the home base corner with a couple of tent stakes. You don’t want stakes in the plastic anywhere else because someone could hurt their bare feet as they run. Squirt baby soap on the plastic, then spray it with water and fill up your kiddie pools. Keep the water flowing and continue to spray the plastic and fill the pools as needed throughout the game. Now, play kickball! You’ll be slipping and sliding and laughing the whole time.
Yard Games
Make sure your event has lots of free time. Yard games should be readily available so the kids can play whenever they like. Volleyball and Four-Square were our two favorites last year.
Water Day
If you have access to a lake or reservoir, take advantage. Our group had a great time floating in the Great Salt Lake. (I’ve lived in Utah most of my life and I had never swam in the Great Salt Lake. It was a blast!) Another year, we went to a water park. Water is just fun– especially on hot summer days. Add a little water to your event if you can.
Ropes Course
We really like ropes courses because they encourage teamwork, courage, and trust. We have had several good experiences with Utah’s CLAS Ropes Course in both Provo and Eden. In addition to the aerial park, we succeeded in several team building challenges on the ground. It was a great day.
More Information on CLAS Ropes Courses in Utah: CLAS Ropes
Games
Check out some of our game ideas to use throughout your event. Large Group Games
-The Spiritual Stuff-
Devotionals
Devotionals by older cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are at the heart of our cousins camp. There’s something special about learning from people who really love you. Make sure to include as many family members as you can to help promote faith and strength in your teens.
Speakers
We set aside one day in the middle of our week as our speaker day. We invite two guests to speak back-to-back at 10:00 and 11:00. The speakers are followed by lunch and then one last speaker at 1:00. We invite seminary teachers and friends who we know will connect well with our teens.
Hike with a Speaker at the Summit
It’s fun to go on a short hike with your group and have a speaker at the summit. If you can time it at sunset, it’s even cooler. Don’t forget to bring your flashlights!
Service
It’s also important to add an element of service to your camp. One year, we did a bunch of yardwork. Another, we made posters and delivered them to a nursing home to hang on the residents’ doors.
We hope some of these ideas inspire you to hold your own Cousin Camp! Strong families = Strong world