Tacoma Summer Camp at Zestful Gardens
Welcome to Summer Camp on the Farm!
At Zestful Gardens Farm Camp you'll find new things to discover each week. Natural programs taught with gentle care, focused on creativity, connection, and curiosity will be interspersed with farm chores, healthy snacks and free play. Each week will has a unique theme. (see below)
Weekly Themes
Zestful Gardens Farm Camp brings classic summer adventures to kids ages 4-14 on our organic working farm located in the Puyallup Valley. Each day includes farm chores: feeding the animals, gathering eggs, harvesting vegetables and fruit, and activities in the garden. Theme based projects, songs, stories, and a hearty mid-morning snack of organic fruits and vegetables picked fresh from the farm, round out the day’s activities. Farm camp strives to help kids develop a sense of self in relationship to community and the earth through fun, play-based nature education with uniquely individual themes each week.
Registration opens: March 1st 2020
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2020 Farm Camp Programming
This year we will run 6 weeks of camp, each week has an overarching theme. (below)
Campers in Regular camp weeks will be split into two age groups "Willow" ages 6-9, "Cedar" ages 9-14
and will flow between the main camp yard and our satellite "base camps" throughout the farm!
We are also excited to have 2 weeks with specialty programs for Younger Campers ages 4-6, and Older Campers: Girls and Boys weeks in the fist and last weeks of summer.
Themes 2020
June 22 - July 31 | 9am -1pm
Mud!
(ages 6-14) 9am-1pm
In addition to our regular farm and garden chores, we will explore the farm to discover left behind treasures! No matter what this seasons treasures are, there's lots of opportunity for creative found object arts, like: wool crafting, fiber arts, mud structures - dissect owl pellets, foraging and survival skills techniques, mud construction and camouflage. Stories, games, and lots of mud play are always in the mix!
Concoctions!
(ages 6-14) 9am-1pm
In addition to our daily farm & garden chores we will explore life cycles through herbal exploration! Harvest, taste and smell the various forms of herbal and floral life on the farm. Get creative with nature's recycling processes: mud play, compost concoctions, herbal crafting..."How does the earth use this?" and "How can we use this?" Cultivating harmony and appreciation for nature's bounty. Stories, games, and mud play - everyday!
Pickle It!
(ages 6-14) 9am-1pm
It's a fun and fruitful week on the farm, we're focused on the beautiful bounty of the garden! Tend the garden, and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables in season on the farm and preserve them through drying, and pickling! Stories, games, crafts, animal observation and mud play enhance our learning experience and fun on the farm!
Jam It!
(ages 6-14) 9am-1pm
This classic summer adventure is ageless! The garden is bursting with fruits, vegetables and tons of BERRIES! We pick bushels full of berries with our friends ... get lots of berries in mouths and faces (and clothes) and still pick enough to experience making refridgerator jam, create natural dyes and paints, and bring home lots of fond memories of our summer(s) on the farm!
Farm It!
(ages 4-6) 9am-1pm
An introduction to farm life! Tend the garden, care for the animals, explore farm chores, mud play, feel the expansiveness of the farm! Through story, art, play and movement we build awareness of our body and its connection with nature and life all around us.
(no aftercare this week)
Willow Circle Girls Week
(ages 9-14) 9:30am-3pm
A special week for (gender identified) girls ages 9-14 to tap into the creativity and intuition of the Feminine through the age old tradition of nature connection, harvesting and hand crafting items sourced from the land, within a circle of sisterhood. This week we will explore inner and outer landscapes through crafts, team building, nature exploration, and friendship.
(no aftercare this week)
Pick It!
(ages 4-6) 9am-1pm
This is the perfect time to harvest the beautiful, fruitful bounty of the garden! We pick bushels full of fruits, vegetables and berries, lots get on our faces!, but if we manage to pick enough, we will experiment with preservation processes like pickling and jamming (depending on what's seasonally available!). As always, there are farm chores, animal observation, stories, games, and mud play - everyday!
(no aftercare this week)
Journeymen Boys Week
(ages 9-14) 9:30am-3pm
A special week for (gender identified) boys ages 9-14 to explore land stewardship, team building, nature exploration, building relationships with nature, oneself and other boys. This week we are excited to collaborate with the Journeymen. An organization dedicated to cultivating transformational experiences for boys and men through nature-based rites of passage, mentorship, training, and community events. Inspiring the men of tomorrow.
(no aftercare this week)
Journeymen will receive a charitable donation of proceeds from this week. If you would like to make a direct donation please click here: Donate to Journeymen
