TLDR: Families of all ages come to Family Camp to draw closer to the Lord and each other. Family Camp is designed to be a powerful and engaging experience, no matter how old or how young the attendees are. This guide includes everything you need to know when considering Family Camp with young kids, teenagers, and grandparents.

 

Family Camp at Glorieta With Young Kids

 

Wondering what Family Camp is like with young kids? Whether you have one little camper or several little campers plus older campers, your family can have an incredible time at Family Camp. Our staff have put years of experience and intention into making sure the entire family can enjoy Family Camp. Below are the top five ways Family Camp meets young families where they are. (P.S. You can read the full article about Family Camp at Glorieta With Young Kids here!) 

#1 KidTribe

Childcare is included as an option in the Family Camp experience at Glorieta. Our childcare program, KidTribe, is open to littles ages 0-5. KidTribe is run by friendly and intentional Glorieta staff who make sure even the youngest campers have a memorable camp experience. While they’re at KidTribe, kids enjoy playground time, arts and crafts, music, nap time, and more.

Parents often tell us they appreciate KidTribe during activity time when they have older kids who want to go on more advanced activities, like ziplines or mountain bikes. With KidTribe, parents and older kids have a chance to bond and the older sibling gets to experience new challenges. 

#2 Family Camp is Flexible 

Our programming is designed by staff who get it — we have worked with families and kids for years, and are raising kids of our own! You’ll always be met with grace and understanding here. At Family Camp in Glorieta, every activity, adventure, and meal is opt-in. If your family ever needs flexibility due to the needs of your littlest camper, that is always okay. Breakfast and lunch are served on a rolling schedule, meaning you can take a few extra minutes getting ready if that’s what you need. 

#3 Date Night & Hall Monitors 

Date Night is our most popular evening experience at Family Camp in Glorieta. So much so, that it is the only experience we bring back year after year. Every other experience at Family Camp is fresh each summer, but Date Night is really special to families.

It gives parents a chance to dress up some and enjoy a nice meal together … an occasion that can be hard to come by for young, growing families! During Date Night, kids are having a fun programmed night of their own, often with games or a movie alongside a special meal. 

Family Camp at Glorieta also offers hall monitors during the evening. This is a great option for families who have a young camper with an early bedtime and other campers who want to participate in evening activities. During this time, you simply set up a baby monitor with your young camper and our staff stay in the building, watching the monitors. If your camper stirs or needs you, you’re contacted right away! 

#4 The Foam Party

Everyone loves a foam party. Really. This is another common repeat during Family Camp because kids — and parents — just love it! (The foam party at Family Camp is a time for dancing, running, and playing through an ever-growing mound of soapy foam on our turf field!)

The foam party is just one example of activities we offer at Family Camp that are designed for the whole family to enjoy. Your littles will have a blast running through the foam, seeing Dad make a foam beard or their older siblings also laughing and playing. 

#5 Part of the Family 

Family Camp gives every camper, no matter their age, a chance to feel a sense of belonging with their family. The adventures, intentional family time, group games, and plenty of laughter and fun naturally bring everyone closer together. Even the littlest campers often feel extra family connectedness at Family Camp.

Family Camp at Glorieta With Teenagers

Family Camp at Glorieta has life-changing adventures designed for every member of the family. Every camper, no matter how old,  can walk away with a memory to treasure or an experience that broadens their perspective. That goes for teenagers as well! Below are six ways teenagers can enjoy Family Camp. Read the full article Family Camp at Glorieta With Teenagers here! 

#1 Adventures for Every Interest

Part of what makes Family Camp at Glorieta fun for the whole family is the wide range of adventures available. Some campers might find that scaling the rock climbing wall or practicing paddle board yoga is enough adventure for one day. Others crave high-speed ziplines and exciting mountain bike trails.  Family Camp has a range of activities that will keep both the thrill-seeking teen and calmer teen happy and wanting to come back year after year. 

#2 Community & Belonging

Teenagers have the chance at Family Camp to feel a powerful sense of connectedness within a godly community and make friends who also love the Lord.

The multi-generational and Christ-centered aspect of Family Camp at Glorieta creates a sense of community that is often hard to find in today’s world. When teens have fun and ace new challenges within a community, they often feel a sense of belonging. It gives them a chance to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, something they can contribute to. And the effects of that continue long after the family returns home.

#3 Teen Night 

Teen Night at Family Camp is a popular highlight of the week. It’s an activity slot supervised by Glorieta summer staff designed for the teens of Family Camp to adventure together. They experience activities and games unique to Teen Night and have a chance to connect with the other teens attending Family Camp. It’s fun, it’s memorable, and it’s a great way for teens to have their own adventure during the week.

#4 New Experiences Around Every Corner

Family Camp at Glorieta is chock FULL of new experiences (even for families who come back every year)! This gives teens a chance to keep taking on new challenges and experiencing adventures for themselves in a safe and Christ-centered environment. They can challenge themselves on Via Ferrata (horizontal rock climbing with obstacles), take on a guided hike or mountain bike ride, complete a relay with their family, and even try new food.

#5 Permission to Play

Here at Glorieta, we’re proud of our Permission to Play values. This is an adventure camp! Even the most serious teens who may feel hesitant about appearing silly in any way are given a big green pass to have FUN. This break from the typical social pressure at school and their increasing responsibilities is so good for teens.

There are plenty of calm and reflective moments at Family Camp. But each day is bookended with fun: high-speed ziplines, foam parties, paddle boarding, late-night activities, group challenges, themed dinners, even dance parties. 

At Family Camp, teens get an escape from the daily stresses of becoming their own person and take time to play again.

#6 Families Understand Each Other

Away from everyday routines and the roles each member plays inside those routines, families gain a new understanding of each other at Family Camp. Teens get to see Mom’s funny side or Dad’s hidden sense of adventure. Parents get to see teens take on new challenges and bond with their younger siblings. Family Camp creates a yearly reset where busy families can discover who they are outside of the roles they already know each other in. This is often a delightful surprise to both teens and parents.

 

Family Camp at Glorieta with Grandparents

 

We get asked a lot at Glorieta if grandparents can come to Family Camp. The answer is a resounding yes! Grandparents often enrich the Family Camp experience for everybody and end up having a blast. Keep reading to check out our top five reasons why the grandparents should join you next summer at Family Camp! (And read the full article Family Camp at Glorieta with Grandparents here!) 

#1 Adventures for Every Interest

Like we mentioned in a previous post, Family Camp With Teenagers, part of what makes Family Camp fun for the whole family is the wide range of adventures available. Grandparents have a lot of options, depending on how adventurously inclined they are! They can join the other thrill seekers on High Five Zipline (many have and loved it!). Or they can opt for more laid-back adventures such as paddle board yoga, hiking, or encouraging the grandkids on activities.

#2 Multi-Generational Impact 

The multi-generational experience of Family Camp creates a sense of community that is getting harder and harder to find in today’s world. Grandparents add value for everyone who attends Family Camp. Multiple generations represented and having fun together creates a deep sense of community and belonging. There is no full picture of community without senior generations included. 

Many grandparents who attend Family Camp say their favorite part of the experience is watching their grandkids have fun, make friends, and grow in the Lord. Family Camp at Glorieta gives grandparents a chance to feel a sense of connectedness with younger generations. That is vital to a healthy, godly community.

#3 Closer Families

When families step away from their daily routines and the roles each member plays inside those routines, they gain a deeper understanding of each other. Family Camp enables grandparents to see a side of their grandkids they may not get to see in everyday life. It also gives grandkids a chance to understand their grandparents a little bit better and make special memories with them. Family Camp creates a yearly reset where busy families can discover who they are outside of the roles they already know each other in. This benefits everybody, from the most senior camper to the littlest.

#4 It Takes a Village 

Grandparents enrich the parents’ experience of Family Camp as well. In some contexts, grandparents can help parents “divide and conquer” the day’s schedule. Grandpa can take the grandkids to activities in the morning while Mom and Dad go for a hike together. Or parents can take older kids on Arbor Climb while grandparents do a more mellow activity with their youngest camper. 

Many hands make light work, and oftentimes grandparents can not only give a hand to parents, but help give each grandchild a more personalized experience. 

#5 Family Camp is FUN! 

Grandparents should come to Family Camp because it’s fun!! 

We’re aware that each session of Family Camp includes campers with a broad range of interests and ability levels. We’re always striving to create various adventure options so everyone in the family can have a fun, impactful time. 

The list below includes several of our activity options at Family Camp that grandparents might enjoy! This list is  not meant in any way to limit grandparents, but to provide an example of some of the calmer adventures we have available. High adventure activities  including High Five Zipline, Super Swing, and Via Ferrata  are always an option, too!

• Paddle Boarding and/or Paddle Board Yoga
• Guided Hikes 
• Gameroom Activities (pool, board games, puzzles, books) 
• Family Devotionals 
• Target Town (archery, slingshots, and BB guns) 
• Mixer Dinners 
• The Tea Room 
• The Craft Room 
• Waterfront Day and/or Foam Party
• Arbor Climb (tree climbing with a harness and rock climbing holds)
• Evening experiences, featuring costumes and challenges, relays, or reflective devotionals 

The Lasting Impact of Family Camp

By now you can see that here are Glorieta, we LOVE welcoming families of all ages to Family Camp! We design each element of Family Camp with intention and purpose so that each member of the family can find something to enjoy or a new adventure to take on. We can’t say it any better than our guests:

“Family camp is a great place to reconnect with your family and the friends that you make while here. It is a wonderful blend of worshipping God and doing fun things that you don’t get to do in regular life. It is just enough down time to catch your breath but not get bored. This was our 6th year and my kids talk about it for the rest of the year and would be disappointed not to get to come.” —Heather

“This camp was the perfect amount of adventure for us to be able to pull our teenagers back in close for the week! We got to be courageous together, laugh at mom (me) together, read scripture together, worship together, play together, eat every meal together… this is exactly what our family needed! Perfect balance of adventure and intentional time to slow down.” — Kali 

“I loved so much of it. I loved that we had opportunities to do things with all six of us, and then opportunities to do more adventurous things with the older kids while the younger kids had fun things to do, too. It was so great to be able to show our kids we can all enjoy being together since we have an age gap.” — Micah