Party starts at 6:30 and ends at 9:30! See you tomorrow night!

Click the image above to go to the official page for more details and to begin the registration.

We’re super excited to announce that we’ll be having two weeks of day camp this summer! If you were fortunate enough to participate last year, you know that this isn’t your normal day camp! And this year will be even better! It’s going to be full of awesome activities, games, times for learning, building friendships, and having a BLAST!

Stay tuned to the official page (here) for details as they’re released. We’ll see you this summer!

Note: The Bridge Day Camp is different from the Chic-fil-a Winshape Camps for Communities which will be hosted at The Bridge this summer. Winshape is for elementary aged kids, while The Bridge’s Day Camp is for middle schoolers. 

But don’t worry, we’ll be back next week, starting with Tuesday/Thursday After School, and then Saturday Night PARTY!

We have two main programs at The Bridge. The After School Session and Saturday Night Party. They’re vastly different approaches at the same goal. Many people are familiar with the Saturday Night Party, but not many are familiar with the new After School Session.

Here are the differences:

Time. We have the After School Session on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-7pm. Food and beverages are available.

Smaller group. We have a significantly smaller group of kids at the After School Session. Roughly between 10-30 kids. That’s exactly where we want to be.

More laid back and flexible. Since the group is smaller, things are a lot more chill at the After School Session. Music isn’t quite as loud. Spontaneous games break out all the time (like today’s epic dart fight when the kids upstairs started raining foam darts down on the people in the cafe area… awesome!). There are areas for kids to do their homework uninhibited or distracted.

More relational. We work hard to provide and encourage positive, healthy, adult mentors  for middle school kids. The After School Session’s smaller size allows our amazing, vetted staff to spend solid good time with the kids.

Different activities. We have different games and activities that we can only do with a smaller group of kids which is awesome. Our amazing staff constantly come up with fun and wacky stuff for kids to do. Never a dull moment. We also provide “instructional” times for kids. We’ve had an amateur illusionist come teach kids how to do simple magic tricks (one kid said “It’s the best class in the world, because it’s the only class that you can use in real life!”), and a local Karate teacher provided a basic introductory Karate class. Instructional times are encouraged, but totally optional.

Bible study. This is a big one for us. We’re passionate about our faith or mission (which is clear). At every After School Session there is a Bible Study Discussion that takes place for about half an hour. Like the instructional periods, it’s encouraged but completely optional.

We want any and every kid who needs a safe, fun, and healthy place to be after school to come check out The Bridge After School! We’ve introduced Bridge Punch Cards to help alleviate some financial strain of having more programs (and boy do they! They’re a great deal!), as well as partnered with Joplin Middle Schools to provide bussing for kids who need a ride. So if you haven’t checked it out yet, you TOTALLY SHOULD!

They’re also handy dandy for carrying in your pocket to school, the mall, or anywhere else. No need to keep track of pesky money. Just hold on to your Bridge Punch Card! And if you throw them just right, they fly for a really long way! But that’s not all! You can also attach them to your bike spokes for a sweet buzzing engine noise whenever you cruise on your bike down to the corner store. But we wouldn’t recommend these last two uses, you might lose or damage your precious Punch Card.

You can purchase your very own Punch Card at The Bridge front desk, or in Autumn Ramp Park any time we’re open!

Bridge Ministries was nominated to be one of the non-profits people could vote for to win one of three grants the Beimdiek is giving away to local charities! Please take a few seconds to vote for us now!!!

Click the image above to vote for The Bridge! Thanks for supporting The Bridge!

The Bridge is hosting a WinShape Camp this summer! It’s going to be an amazing time for your family. In fact, the impact of this camp can go far beyond just being a totally awesome day camp for kids. Stay tuned for more details!

We’ll have some seriously fun activities planned, so you won’t want to miss it. It’ll be the best Valentines Day After School Program ever imagined. See you there!