How to Plan a Gathering for Your Grandchildren: Easy Ideas For You to Implement

I’m blogging over at Club31Women this week about planning a Cousin Camp. Here’s an excerpt:

Recently I was asked, 

“Susan, looking back over your whole life, what is one of the things for which you are most thankful?”

Without hesitating I responded, “the Cousin and Family Camps we’ve had with our kids.”

For eleven years my husband John and I hosted a “Cousin Camp” for our grandchildren.

What is Cousin Camp?

We began with five grands from our three oldest families and the last few years, we had all twenty-one grands from all five families. You must be four years old to attend our camp. Cousin Camp lasts for four days and three nights. At the end of Cousin Camp, the parents with little kids arrive for three more nights of Family Camp with all of us. 

Throughout the years, I’ve had people ask a lot of different questions about Cousin Camp, mainly: How will you sleep all those people? (I’ve heard that a lot!) Sleeping bags, floors, closets, a sleeping porch, hammocks, and a neighbor’s shared rooms. But camp is not about sleeping; it’s about cousin bonding. (Only adults get beds at Family Camp!)

Our vision for Cousin Camp and Family Camp has always been the same. It is based on the two great commandments — to love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neighbors as yourselves. (Matthew 22:36-39)