The Lion Camp by the sea in Posedarje, Croatia, was a great success. Below the program with many program ideas.

Dear children and young people of the Lion Gang,

Our Lion Camp will start in a few days. Now I (Meindert) have to work very hard to put together a program and I help myself to continue writing. So this open letter is actually a helicopter view of the current program at the sea.

You are the Lion Gang, a children's and youth club in Croatia. Now that sounds cool, but what is this really about? Why a Lion Gang and not a Frog Mess? ( For group discussion: Click here for ideas ) A lion appeals to the imagination. He is big, strong and the king of the jungle. In itself enough reasons to call yourselves the Lion Gang. As you know, our project (Projekt DUGA) is there for you to help you. So if I help you with the Lion Gang it means that I believe this is good for you and that it can help you. You want to be like lions? Okay, but then I ask you: what can you learn from a lion that also benefits yourself? An example. I see a lion on TV and it stalks a deer. And I see how patiently that lion waits for the right moment, and then all of a sudden it jumps out of the high grass and with great speed and great power, it overtakes this poor deer. You want to be like a lion? What can you learn from this?

• Patience is important, you have to be able to wait, recognize the right moment, not give in to the urge to eat.
• You have to be physically healthy, able to sprint, run away very quickly from a standstill, jump and pounce.

Okay, I'm okay with it. We can practice this and you can prove yourself this week. I come up with a patience game, a sneak game, you have to sprint, jump and pounce and catch and master. But I also want to ask you: what do you think this would benefit from in your own life? We will work this out in the small groups so that you get enough help from your group leader.

Camp rules

Camp rules are important. It is also important that you understand and agree with them. Can you come up with camp rules yourself? You can do that in your own group. I'm going to give points for the best list of camp rules. Just name a few yourself:

1. You participate in the program and do not come up with a program yourself
2. If you have a different idea, don't grumble, but talk about it in your group and with Meindert
3. You never go into the water alone. An adult always comes along.
4. and so on.

Attributes

This week you will receive supplies to use. Each group has its own bucket, shirts or cap in the color of the group, a plastic box, plates, cutlery cups, and so on. We are going to check which group best fits the stuff. There are also things that you have to make yourself. First you will make a Lion flag in the color of your group . You monitor it all week. We are also going to play a game with it. You will also receive your own craft supplies and markers, pencils, clay, pens, paper, glue, scissors and a number of magazines and newspapers per group. At the beginning of the week you will set up a Leeuwenhonk per group on the small campsite. A place where you can sit together as a group and where you keep your belongings. In this Leeuwenhonk you will also consult with each other and the first meeting is an introductory game . Then you will make a poster together . You can cut, paste, write, draw and paint, but the poster must be about the question: what is the character of a real lion. And in the evening you can present that poster in the group.

You are also going to make a mask. Of a lion. That's a big doll and I'll explain how to do this. You have to protect this lion this week because a lion protects his family very well.

The character of the Leo

Ok, of course you made beautiful posters and gave an interesting explanation. What are you saying now? Do you want to be like a lion? Or are you already like a lion. In what and where not? What would you like to grow in? Interestingly, you know that I enjoy talking to people about their faith and that I enjoy talking about Jesus. Well, what about the character of Jesus. Does it look like a lion? Why and why not? Well, there are a lot of people who think that Jesus is a soft boiled egg. If someone hits you on the left cheek, you have to turn the other. And He just let himself be killed! That doesn't really look like a lion. But do you know that it is He that has been given the title "Lion"? He is the Lion of Judah. What could that mean now? Apparently, the character of Jesus resembles a lion. And if you want to be like a lion, then you have to be like Him. Hmmmm, enough to think about ………

Unfortunately, a lion is not always doing well …..

We also pay attention to this one morning: a lion can be strong and powerful, but that does not mean that he is always doing well (unfortunately). Click here for ideas, a game, explanation and a play.

Activities

1. Baseball in the water. Floating bases, shallow water, sandy beach. Ball is a softball that is hit from the beach, running through the water, etc.
2. Cook. A different group cooks every day. They can come up with their own recipe and have to dress tables etc. Also provide dinner.
3. Snorkeling, diving, swimming lessons, diploma
4. The lion passport. You can earn a number of visas. Every visa means that you have passed a test. Afterwards, the children receive a Leeuwen certificate with all achievements.
5. Beach volleyball with mobile volleyball net
6. Hockey
7. Bottle football (no Meindert, you are not allowed to participate, watch your knee)
8. The trip through the Jungle. The children go through the city like lions (Jungle) and end up in situations where they have to assert themselves as lions. Click here to see how we worked this out during this camp.
   
9. A scavenger hunt with only the visible clues. For example. They walk out of camp and see "Antonio" as a clue and that is the name of a pizzeria. There they must go and move on to the next clue.
10. Create colorful stones and shells. These are souvenirs that they can exchange or sell among themselves and with which they can also earn points. They get the most points when they manage to sell their souvenir to a tourist.  

Classes:

1. You are not alone and you are not alone. You are part of a group and the group needs you. Click here for an explanation of this lesson.
2. The character of the lion. What can you learn from it?
3. The lionking

* Levend stratego met variatie Leeuwen; wordt gespeeld in Posedarje in stadje en aan strand. (deze link verwijst naar de uitwerking op Scoutpedia)
Click here to see how we worked this out during this camp.

* Click here for scriptures where a lion is mentioned. (English)

* Click here for quiz questions about the lion.

* Camp map and layout