Camp Class on Walking with Bilbo

[honi...@cmich.edu]

I will be teaching a class at a camp here in michigan on July 10-15.
The theme of the week is "Dude, Where's my bible?" and I was asked to
teach a class on what to do with the bible mainly. The other classes
will be history of the bible and other things. I was wondering if
anyone had any ideas on what to do with the class. I am currently
reading Walking With Bilbo, since the coordinators thought it would be
a great idea for 6th and 7th graders. It is 5 days, but each day I have
a different class of middle schoolers, so I need something short and
that follows the book. I was hoping a game could be involved, then a
lesson. Any ideas will be helpful!

Thank you and God bless
Erika Honigfort

[kim]

I have taught 3 classes on Walking with Frodo and am preparing to teach
three more classes on Walking with Bilbo. Personally, I think that
considering you are only teaching each class one day of the study,I
would think that Walking with Frodo would be a lot easier to adapt to
your situation. Most kids are familiar with the trilogy whereas,kids may
not be as knowledgeable on the Hobbit. Plus there are so many overriding
Biblical themes and character parallels b/w LOTR characters and people
and themes of faith in the Bible. If this sounds like something you'd
like to do-I have a couple games and funny things that I did with my
classes to really make it enjoyable. Plus-I could give you some ideas on
a quick lesson/lessons for your five days. Either way,good luck and have
fun-Sara's books make wonderful classes and invaluable studies.:)
-kim

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[Erika R Honigfort]

The director of the week thought walking with Bilbo would be
better, so that is why they told me to go with it. I showed
them both books though, and that is the one they chose. If
you have any ideas on games or lessons, please write back.
Thanks
Erika

[Sarah Arthur]

Walking with Bilbo was definitely a good choice for that age group:
even if they're not familiar with The Hobbit, they know that Bilbo was
the one to find the ring, so you can build a lesson off of that.
Perhaps your theme could be looking for treasure. Bilbo thought he was
on an adventure to find the dragon-wealth of the dwarves, when the REAL
treasure was the ring he accidentally found in the tunnels under the
Misty Mountains. The ring looked boring and nondescript at first, but
soon it became the key to the whole story -- and later to LOTR (though
in an negative sense). The Bible is the same way, except in a positive
sense. Our first impression of it is that it's boring and irrelevant --
not as exciting as the treasures the world offers. But once we start to
use it, we realize that it's the REAL treasure after all, the key to
all our adventures.
So as far as activities go, what if you recap Bilbo's story and then
take the kids on a treasure hunt, complete with a map ("X" marks the
spot!)? They must solve a riddle to figure out where to start (the
volleyball net, for example), then use a compass to take 12 steps west,
then 8 steps south, then 27 steps west again, etc., until at the end
they find a box with a Bible in it. There are all kinds of scripture
verses you could use -- perhaps print your key verse on tiny slips of
paper rolled inside plastic wedding rings from the dollar store, and
have those slips in the box too. They can wear the rings as a reminder
of the lesson. Voila! Sounds fun -- wish I could be there! :)
Sarah Arthur

[Erika R Honigfort]

Thank you so much Sarah! I talked to the pastors wife at my
church so we could order some rings from oriental trading.
They arent wedding bands, but rings with crosses on them:) I
really appreciate your help! Again, thank you. The kids are
going to love it! I was thinking...should I wear a costume?
or just wear regular clothes... I have a medieval dress that
could look like arwens dress..but Im not sure if that is
what I am going for..I just want something that will fit
with the theme.

Thank you!
Erika

[Sarah Arthur]

I'm happy to help! I organized a week of camp for our confirmation kids
every summer for six years, and I miss it sometimes. Your question was
a great excuse to get creative about those kinds of activities again.
Regarding the costume: What about something simple like a bandana and a
walking stick? A medieval dress doesn't fit the theme of treasure hunt
as well, though it's always fun to find and excuse to wear stuff like
that... I was Arwen for Halloween a couple of years ago, and my husband
was Aragorn. :)