Children are not only the flowers of life, but also extremely susceptible individuals. Education for believing parents is a paramount task, since their personality is extremely susceptible to influence until the age of 16-18, and it is better if it is a good influence. Raising children in the Christian faith, in compliance with its fundamental principles, is very difficult, because today the world offers a lot of entertainment that corrupts the soul and leads to sin.
Therefore, the most correct option would be to replace this influence with Christian education. An excellent option for proper leisure time with Christian influence would be an Orthodox summer camp for children. This is a place where kids can have fun and have fun, but at the same time comprehend God.
At a children's Orthodox camp
Camp Grand Duchy reviews
Camp Grand Duchy is a small recreation center for children from 5 years old, 38 km from the Moscow Ring Road with all the infrastructure for recreation, sports activities and spiritual and moral education.
As a rule, reviews about it are positive.
Marina, Volgograd
We learned about the Orthodox camp from friends. At first, there was no particular desire to take the child there, because they were afraid that he would not be interested there. But we were convinced that it was interesting there. This is actually true. Our child enjoyed his time there. They taught him English, played (every day at the camp was themed), practiced drawing, and taught him spiritually. According to the child, they told him fascinatingly about the commandments and sacraments of God, and held spiritual conversations. They also taught acting and taught how to think creatively. In general, the child, like us, is very happy.
Alena, St. Petersburg
Our child goes to Sunday school. In the summer we were advised to send him to an Orthodox camp. We went to the website of the Moscow Grand Duchy and we really liked everything. We decided to send the child in August to the 5th shift. There are no questions regarding food, accommodation, medical care and safety. I would like more spiritual conversations and trips to churches for services, but, in general, everything is at the highest level. We will be happy to send our child next year.
Unauthorized entry allowed
There is one common misconception: Orthodox camps are only for believers, churchgoers. In fact, most of the current Orthodox-oriented camps (we prefer this term) are open to everyone who does not find the “specialization” of the camp objectionable. The main thing is that newcomers understand where they are going and respect the rules, leaders and other participants.
The task of the camp teachers is not to convert children to church at any cost, but to show them the huge, deep world of the Orthodox faith, to show them the format of human relationships based on Christianity. What choice the child will make next, we cannot know. This is his freedom and his life.
Orthodox camp for children Moscow region
In the Moscow region there are the largest Orthodox camps for children from 5 years old. They are organized at churches and Sunday schools.
Here children can relax and gain knowledge about spiritual values, communicate with other children and spiritual mentors, and gain an understanding of the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church and prayer rules.
In their free time they can have fun, swim in a lake or river, go on a hike, engage in creativity and develop thinking and motor skills. We will present to you the largest camps for children below.
Bogoslovo camp
The camp is represented in the Mozhaisk region and the Yaroslavl region. There are only three bases located in nature, near ecologically clean rivers and forests.
They are located near the Annunciation Church in Petrovsky Park.
The leaders are active parishioners, choristers, teachers and clergy. The basis of camp life is the creation of a friendly atmosphere according to the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In addition to worship services and spiritual and moral activities, here children relax in nature, learn to do something with their own hands, helping in the kitchen or learning survival skills, and learn to live in harmony with nature.
Camp Military Outpost
This is a Moscow Orthodox-patriotic camp, which is included in the list of the best camps in the Russian Orthodox Church . Presented as a tourist base for children from 7 to 17 years old, operating in 6 shifts, starting in January.
While the child is in the camp, he receives moral, military-patriotic and creative education, participates in Orthodox and creative electives, receives basic military training, studies foreign languages, relaxes in the water park, plays sports games, participates in hikes on the Oka River or Protve, rides horses and much more.
Review of popular holiday destinations
An Orthodox summer camp for children is a great opportunity to provide your children with proper rest. There are a variety of Orthodox recreation centers throughout Russia, so choosing the right option is not difficult.
To choose the right location, you should consider in detail all possible options, unless, of course, the issue of location is not the main one.
About Orthodox education:
- Orthodox gymnasiums and schools
- Orthodox Sunday schools for children
- What to read to children about Orthodoxy
"Symbolic"
The tent recreation center is located in the Oryol region and exists from an autonomous organization of the same name. Its main mission is to transform a teenager spiritually, mentally and physically. Children from 10 years old can come here. First of all, the organization invites low-income families and large families to participate.
On the territory you can find a canteen, a first-aid post and a temple. Throughout the shift, participants can talk with the priest present about topics that concern them.
In a programme:
- participation in team games;
- terrain orientation training;
- forest survival course;
- acquaintance with the nature of the region;
- survival in extreme conditions.
During the summer, the organization conducts 2 shifts of 40 people each: July 10-23 and from July 24 to August 6. Due to the small number of participants, instructors and teachers can provide everyone with an individual approach, without leaving them unattended.
Advice! Such a vacation will help the child strengthen physically, learn to survive in open nature, communicate with peers and self-actualize.
"Konevets"
The cottage-type houses are located on Konovets Island in the Leningrad Region, on the territory of the Konevsky Skete.
Children are accommodated in comfortable houses and participate in religious services: morning and evening prayers, services in the local church, communion.
In a programme:
- sports games: football, volleyball, beach games;
- hikes in the forest;
- forest orienteering course;
- boat trips on Ladoga;
- bathing;
- active quests and games on site;
- helicopter flights.
For reference! There is a constant presence on the premises of a priest who conducts conversations with children, as well as specialized teachers.
"The ABC of Orthodoxy"
The recreation center, blessed and supported by the Bishop of Kostroma and Galich Ferapont, is located in the Kostroma region, in an ecologically clean area - the outskirts of the city of Nerekhta. Much attention is paid here to acquaintance with church sights and various arts.
Participants expect:
- visiting monasteries and cathedrals in the region;
- inspection and excursions to the merchant mansions of the 19th century in Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Nerekhta;
- sports activities such as archery, sword fighting;
- hiking;
- gingerbread making;
- painting clay toys;
- participation in church services;
- educational conversations with priests.
For reference! Here you will find a comprehensive, balanced holiday, which includes cultural, spiritual, physical development and mastery of various handicrafts.
"Gorny Posad"
Metropolitan of Ekaterinodar and Kuban Isidor blessed the creation and development of an Orthodox-oriented recreation center in the Krasnodar Territory in the village of Neftyanaya, on the basis of the Holy Protection Church in the city of Apsheronsk. Spiritual mentor - Archpriest Viktor Bandurko.
The cultural program includes:
- prayers morning and evening;
- participation in services at the temple;
- visiting Kuban churches and monasteries, as well as holy springs;
- participation in impromptu Crusades;
- watching films;
- communication with spiritual mentors;
- mountain walks and hikes;
- sports competitions at a military training ground;
- opportunity to join a group of interests: fine arts, clay modeling, embroidery, beadwork, acrobatics, music, singing, Bible study.
Everyone has the opportunity to develop in the direction they are most interested in:
- military-patriotic;
- eco-tourism;
- creative and aesthetic;
- develop in the knowledge of God's word.
The warm climate of Kuban promotes health improvement.
Orthodox-oriented military-patriotic camp “Ratnaya Zastava”
Created in 2003, it is included in the list of one of the specialized camps. He was awarded government and competitive awards and was noted in many reputable Orthodox media.
The camp program includes comprehensive Orthodox and patriotic education of children:
- Training in the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture;
- Training in shooting from different types of weapons;
- Reconstructions of historical battles;
- Classical and folk dances, song competitions;
- River rafting and much more.
"Star of Bethlehem"
On the basis of the Patriarchal Development Center in the Moscow Region (health resort area in the Ruzsky district), the Star of Bethlehem operates, a recreation center that accepts teenagers 7-15 years old in 2 spring shifts and 5 summer shifts: in late March - early April, and throughout the summer from 7 days breaks between shifts.
The main feature is role-playing games (based on the works of Tove Jansson, Clive Lewis and Tolkien), which have become scenarios for creating a recreation program. Each shift is carried out in accordance with a specific program and consists of various competitions and tasks. Teenagers aged thirteen to fifteen years old must take the game version of the course before enrolling.
Important! Squads are formed up to 16 people so that counselors can provide everyone with the proper attention. Each squad has 2 counselors assigned to it.
Spiritual development consists of regular prayers with the whole squad (before breakfast and before lights out). There is a priest on site and participants have the opportunity to communicate with him and ask questions at any time. Also, everyone can, if they wish, perform the secret of confession and communion at the end of the rest.
All this is carried out at will and without violence against the individual.
Orthodox camps for children with parents
Many parents are afraid to send their children to children's camps for a long time.
Especially for such parents, there are Orthodox tourist and educational bases, where they can stay with their children, receive spiritual education, visit churches, actively spend time in nature, gain skills in working with folk crafts, participate in literary and historical games, and much more.
What to take with you
Whether to give a mobile phone is a difficult question. In some camps this is not welcome: many children now have smartphones, which are not only a means of communication, but also provide the opportunity to play, access the Internet, etc. The child’s attention will remain focused on virtuality, he will not be able to join the life of the camp .
There are camps where children’s phones are taken away upon arrival and given back every day at a certain time. In stationary camps you can call by landline.
It is understandable that parents want to be able to contact their child at any time. But we must take into account that not every moment may be convenient for communication. For example, you called when the child was at church service, or when he went on a hike, or played football. He may simply forget to charge his phone, and you start to panic. Therefore, in such cases it is better to call counselors.
You should not bring tablets, laptops, or consoles with you. Not to mention the fact that the administration of the children's camp simply does not have the ability to ensure their safety, the same thing will happen as in the case of a sophisticated smartphone: the child will not be included in the camp program.
But bringing with you a good book, a board game, or a collection of puzzles is useful. The child will have something to do on vacation or on the way to an excursion.
Children's Orthodox camps in the Leningrad region
In the Leningrad region there are many children's Orthodox camps where children can develop spiritually and relax both independently and with their parents. The most popular of them is Radonezh.
Camp Radonezh Optina Pustyn
The camp is located near the famous temple at Optina Pustyn in the city of Kozelsk.
Here children actively spend time with adults, attend worship services, play, learn to work together and create crafts with their own hands, organize theatrical performances and festivals, relax near pine forests and learn how to work in a field kitchen.
Selection criteria
You need to choose a camp in advance, adhering to the following principles.
Firstly, you need to understand who is organizing the camp, what kind of people they are, what pedagogical tasks they set for themselves, what their experience is. To do this, you need not only to first study the camp website, but also to personally communicate with the counselors. Don't neglect parent-teacher conferences. If your child is already a teenager, it is advisable to take him to the meeting with you and introduce him to the counselors and teachers. Both the child himself and the counselors need this in order to better represent the future contingent.
Secondly, you can find those who have already been to this camp and find out their impressions. Of course, the factor of subjectivity should be taken into account. Parents judge by their children’s stories, and they, on the one hand, can exaggerate negative impressions, and on the other, not pay attention to something important. An assessment of “liked or disliked” is not enough - you need to judge by many parameters: how interesting the camp program is for children, what skills they acquire there, what are the living conditions, how safety is ensured, how attentive and tactful the adults are, etc.
Thirdly, ask what the Orthodox camp team does during the year while preparing the program. Does she conduct her own counselor school? The presence of your own school indicates serious ideological preparation of the project and established methods. That is, this is a guarantee that your child will not be taught by people from the street.
"Take Me Out of Here"
It happens that after a couple of days the child calls his parents: take me away from here! The arguments are usually subjective: the food is tasteless, the discipline is strict, it’s boring, they load you with all sorts of activities, the guys in the room are bad... You can’t go to extremes here. You can neither unconditionally believe everything that a child says, nor dismiss all his words out of hand. Usually such calls are caused by difficulty adapting in the first days - especially if the child is quite small. Separation from parents, unusual life, lack of experience communicating with peers, simply emotional fatigue - everything can provoke a hysterical reaction. But then a day or two passes and everything returns to normal. It happens that nervous parents rush to the camp and find an idyllic picture: the child is happy, cheerful and may no longer remember what came over him.
The best thing to do is to be wary, but not to make sudden movements. Call the counselors, find out what is happening, how the child adapts, and whether he gets along with his peers.
But if such calls are repeated day after day, you need to take them seriously. In some cases, it is really worth taking the child out of camp.
However, before you panic, parents should remember why they sent their child to camp. For delicious food? For everyone to admire him? Or is education the most important thing? It is important that parents and teachers are at the same time on this issue.
Accommodation
In the summer, “Grand Duchy” conducts six shifts at the Malakhovka children’s sanatorium (Ilinskoye branch) in the Ramensky district, just 30 km from Moscow. Children live in 3-4 bed rooms with private facilities and are provided with 6 balanced dietary meals a day.
Children in the camp are accommodated in principalities (detachments), numbering from 10 to 14 people. In the junior principalities, two counselors (Princes or Princesses) work 24 hours a day; in the middle and senior principalities, one or two counselors work. Children in the principalities are divided strictly by age. The entire teaching staff of the camp undergoes strict selection and training in our camp; 80% of teachers work in the camp on a permanent basis.
