Children's Programs at General Assembly

The General Assembly Planning Committee is committed to making the General Assembly (GA) a multigenerational experience and to making GA accessible and welcoming to families with children.

All children are welcome to attend GA events with their parents or guardians. New this year: Children who have not yet entered high school (or its equivalent) are welcome to attend GA events with their parents or guardians at no cost, but are still required to register.

For parents who need child care or programmed activities specifically for children, several low-cost Children's Programs are available. Advance registration is required and space is limited.

Children's Programs are subsidized by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) at more than $300 per child. Please pay as you are able; the minimum fee per child is $35/day. Children may not be registered for GA Children's Programs without a GA registered parent or guardian. Space is limited. Registrations received after May 1 will be subject to a $35 late fee. No registrations will be accepted after May 31.

Program Descriptions

Child Care

Daytime Child Care for infants (6 months) and children through age 9 will be offered during General Assembly. Children will remain on-site and be cared for by professional child care workers in a setting that provides both activities and quiet time.

The theme for childcare this year is, It’s Good to be Green:
Alright kids! Ready, Set, GO GREEN! Taking care of each other and the planet is on everyone’s mind these days and being eco-friendly can be fun! From craft projects made with recycled materials to puzzles and games about our planet, we’ll learn about our environment in a fun, playful and creative way. Our nature theme tents and tunnels will give the feeling of playing in the great outdoors. Exploring our surroundings could lead us to a great scavenger hunt. Divided into teams and following clues, let’s see which team finds the most eco-friendly items hidden throughout the room. From using recycled materials to special projects directed at environmental learning, children will leave the program feeling positive about themselves and becoming eco-friendly.

The registration fee includes lunch and snacks. Parents must furnish baby supplies baby food, or other special food. Child Care will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday.

Covenant Children's Camp

Covenant Children's Camp is full on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you are interested in signing your child up for Wednesday or Sunday, please contact the GA Registrar at generalassembly@uua.org.

Children who have completed grades 4 - 8 or the equivalent for home schooled youth may enroll in Covenant Children's Camp, a day camp that engages children in actively deepening and developing their faith formation around covenant and how we gather, the two areas of focus for GA 2013. The registration fee includes lunch and snacks. Covenant Children's Camp hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday. Space is limited.

In this, the second year of the re-vamped Children's Covenant Camp, Michelle Bishop is excited to be creating and implementing a program based on covenant and environmentalism. The camp will include educational walking field trips, research on various environmental topics and conversations with environmental educators about things like climate change, waste management and air quality.

Michelle Bishop (photo) has been working with children her whole life as a babysitter in a large family and summer camp counselor; more recently as a Girl Scout leader and mom. After traveling back and forth across the country, Michelle is currently living in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, two daughters, cats, guinea pig, dog and various fish. Michelle enjoys reading and knitting, both of which are often carried to the side of soccer games and horseback riding lessons.

Since 2008, she has been employed at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) as the Children's Program Coordinator. During her tenure at UUCA she has created adaptive curricula for summer religious education programs and a once-a-month topic based curricula.