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After receiving an enthusiastic response from the youthful participants and their parents for last year’s three-day event, the Swank Farms Kids Farm Camp returns in June with more activities, more hands-on agricultural experiences and an extra day of fun.
“It was endless entertainment,” Swank Farms Experience co-owner Satarupa Swank said of last year’s camp. “We tried to make it fun, but also a chance to learn a lot about nature and life on a farm. The kids loved it.”
Campers engaged in the usual Swank Farms kids stuff like bouncing on the farm’s two 40-by-60-foot inflated Jumping Pillows and slipping down the 25-foot Slide Mountain.
They also picked vegetables, gardened, tended the farm animals and planted seeds in the pumpkin patch. There was even a competition to design last year’s corn maze, won by 6-year-old Hayley Calamia.
Following her marriage to farm owner Dick Swank, Satarupa said she attended every event at the farm and noticed a common thread: children, in particular, love the farm.
“When kids come here,” she said, “they would have a great time, and parents would struggle to get them to go home. We had never done anything specifically for kids, and we wanted to have something dedicated to those kids.”
Satarupa worked with Spring Grove sixth-grade teacher Amber Painter, who supervises the camp and leads the activities.
“As my kids get older,” Painter said, “they love participating in camps. And Swank Farms is a beautiful facility for that sort of thing. We had kids saying they wanted to stay as long as possible.”
On a typical day this year, campers will start with arts and crafts activities in the barn, followed by feeding and caring for small farm animals. Morning snacks include fresh produce from the farm, including watermelon and cantaloupe. Planting and gardening fill the time before lunch, followed by water activities.
“I wanted us to do something different,” Swank said. “The kids get to spend time with nature learning about farming and animals, which is the core of human life, at the same time that they are having fun.”
Swank said the camp provides these lessons, which are not part of every child’s typical education.
“If you ask most kids where food comes from, they will say from the grocery store,” she said. “Here, they get their hands dirty learning how their food is grown. It is such a basic thing, but here they are literally getting back to the roots.”
Swank is expecting about 100 kids to attend this year and has organized the program based on feedback from the parents of the 30 kids who participated last year.
“We were very hurried last year,” she said. “Almost nothing was planned because we were unsure of how many kids were coming. Everyone said they wished it was longer, so we are adding more activities. But those are going to be a surprise.”
The camp runs June 10-13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to kids ages 5 to 14. Tickets are available through Swank Farms.
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