Trail Hide and Seek
Creation for Kids in Church Camps
This game helps campers to become acclimated to moving in the dark without a flashlight. Choose a wide, well-used trail for this game to work best [1]. Choose one volunteer from the group to be the seeker, and instruct the rest of the group to follow another staff member down the designated trail and to hide within five feet of the trail. Explain that the seeker will be trying to locate them, and if he does so, they must quietly come out of the woods and help in the search for other campers. Send the hiders off into the woods to hide while you talk with the seeker about careful observation being key to the game.
The staff member leading the journey should yell back to the trailhead that the group is ready before hiding herself. Given that cue, accompany the seeker along the trail as he tries to discover the other campers. Once the seeker (and hopefully some campers that he has found) reach the end of the trail, turn around and tell the hidden campers to emerge from the woods as the group walks back to the starting point. Play the game a number of times to give a number of campers opportunities to move about in the dark.
Note that the presence of a staff member with the seeker and with the hiders ensures campers’ sense of safety during this game. While one of the goals is to acclimate campers to the dark, they should never feel unsafe during their time in the night woods.
End the activity by discussing darkness in Psalms 18 and 139. In Psalm 18, God comes amidst the darkness on order to save the people. In Psalm, 139, we read that even if we hide in darkness, even there God can find us for the darkness is not dark to God. Although people are afraid of the darkness, God promises to protect us, even in the darkness. Just as the night is no longer frightening for the campers, help them to understand that even in the darkness of life, God is present and active in their lives.
- This activity is an adaptation of “Camoflage” Joseph Cornell’s book, Sharing Nature with Children, 2nd ed., Nevada City, California: Dawn Publishing, 1998. pages102-103.