I Wonder… What Happens When 100 Kids Camp Out for God?

What is it like when almost 100 kids are the centre of a weekend of worship, creativity, and camping??

On 21-23 March almost 200 people gathered in family, congregational and regional groups to find out at Kinds Camp Out (KCO) 2025! From the far reaches of Sydney to the Riverina, the Blue Mountains and Canberra, they came in car and bus loads, setting up little tent cities and bunking into cabins. The rain came and went a few times, soaking our campsites, but it could not dampen our spirits!

KCO is an annual opportunity for children in school Years 3-6 to join together from across Uniting Churches for a campout experience. It features fun and games, intertwined with worship and reflection on God’s mission in the world and our purpose as Christians. Campers are joined by parents and church leaders to supervise and encourage participation, as well as high-school-aged junior leaders who lead small group times and inspire campers through their example.  

The theme this year, ‘I wonder…’, encouraged the campers to think big and ask questions to go deeper into understanding one another, Jesus and the Bible. We are all made unique people by God for a purpose and being in a community is a gift from God to enrich each other with different insights, abilities, perspectives and interests. God wants us to wonder, ask questions and be curious about one another so we can appreciate and share our unique perspectives and gifts across and beyond our church communities.

Throughout the weekend, campers built marble runs, the longest and strongest Lego bridges, perfected paper planes, created art from reusable craft supplies, and made their own kaleidoscopes. Food featured highly too with camp cooking and nighttime roasted marshmallows over the central campfire! We never stayed still for long though as we played team water games on the oval and splashed in the pool – notable highlights on a very humid weekend!

The Pulse team would like to thank all the leaders and parents who supported the campers, the activities, and the logistics over the weekend, as well as the prayer and practical sponsors in the sending Congregations!

Kids Camp Out is one BIG mountaintop experience, forming part of the discipling journey that adult leaders and parents/carers walk with the campers during the other 51 weeks of the year!

We look forward to seeing even more Uniting Church kids and families connecting into KCO in 2026!

Emma Parr