AgriVenture for Kids Camp Provides Interactive Outdoor Experiences
Home of Martin and Lucille Wolf, Memory Lane Farm has been in Martin’s family for more than 100 years. Located in Marshfield, Wisconsin, the farm was originally a successful dairy farm and home to the Wolf’s and their six children.
After the Wolf’s retired from dairy farming, and raising their family, they welcomed hundreds of children and families as they hosted an interactive agri-tourism business with pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and horse drawn wagon rides.
Now, a new AgriVenture for Kids camp taking place this June fulfills a lifelong dream of Martin to help local children experience a love of being on the farm. Providing a faith-based, hands-on learning experience for youth on a family farm setting, the camp’s purpose is to inspire, support, and encourage youth to explore the wonders of nature, agriculture and animals.
“Today, many children have great access to technology, however lack of hands-on learning experiences where they can simply explore nature,” said Beth Zarnke. “Our campers will plant a grove of trees, learn to make a garden to produce food for their table, problem solve a woodworking project and experience the healing properties of being in the presence of and working with animals.”
A longtime dream of the couple, Martin and Lucille view AgriVenture for Kids as an opportunity to give back to the community, as thanks to what God has blessed them with.
“Campers will experience a continuation of what other families experienced years before at the Wolf farm – a faith-based environment where respect, care for one another, kindness and peace are demonstrated,” said Zarnke.
The camp runs in the evenings from 6-8 PM on June 6,7,8 and 13,14,15 with campers attending each night. The camp will allow up to 50 campers, entering grades 3-6 to participate. Campers will be divided into 5 groups so that the five main areas can be shared and allow campers to have a small group hands-on learning experience.
The five program areas are Gardening, Forestry, Farm Animals, Woodworking, and Arts and Crafts. Zarnke explained each area and what the children will learn:
Gardening will include learning about seeds, compost, and much more. Campers will be able to plant seedlings in the ground at the farm as well as start their own gardens at their homes. Campers are welcome to return to the farm throughout the summer to tend to their garden or plants.
Forestry will include a wagon ride to the woods to explore its ecosystem, trees as a renewable resource, wildlife, wildflowers, and forestry products.
Campers will be given opportunities to learn about horses, sheep, chickens, cows, goats, and other species. Youth will learn about animal communication, safety and how each are used on the farm. A sheep shearing demonstration will help kids learn about wool and see first hand how it is produced.
The woodworking shop will be a buzzing place as each camper will have opportunities to learn how to use woodworking tools, be creative, problem solve and make a woodworking project.
Youth will have fun creating arts and crafts that correlate with the themes they are learning about in the main program areas.
The final night (Thursday, June 15), will be Family Night at the Farm. The campers, along with their family are invited to celebrate with all of the volunteer staff. The evening will consist of a potluck meal, games, youth-lead sharing, camp recap, campfire and other fun.
Each camper will experience at least two hours of each program area, on a rotating basis with their group throughout the camp. Kids will be encouraged to “do” with their hands, head and heart, and in the process they discover life skills.
“This is a healthy outlet for kids to ‘get off the grid’ for several hours per night, using their hands, heads and hearts to problem solve, learn and grow,” said Zarnke. “With research pointing to physical health and behavioral issues on the rise with our young people, we’d like to offer an alternative, even if for a short time, to experience freedom from screen time to learning to live for a purpose and being exposed to a reverence for our land, nature, agriculture and animals.
Children entering grades 3-6 are welcome to sign up. Visit www.memorylanefarm.us for more information. Campers can register by going to www.memorylanefarm.us to download a registration form. The cost is $15 per camper. Information can also be found on facebook (Memory Lane Farm).
