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Junior Explorers Camp
Age:
7 - 9
Cost: $360/week
When: Monday-Friday, 9am – 1pm (Maximum group size per week
is 12 participants.)
Sessions: June 16 – 20,
June 23 – 27, July 7 – 11, July 14 – 18,
July 21 – 25,
July 28 – Aug 1, Aug 4 - 8.
Online Registration Form | Print and Fax Registration Form
This form is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you are not able to view
this document click here to get Adobe
Acrobat.
Deer Hill Ranch summer camps offer children a unique opportunity to
challenge themselves in a safe and natural setting while learning about
the wonders of a ranch and nature. Participants are given the responsibility
of taking care of our gentle farm animals (morning feeding, pen cleaning,
grooming, hand walking our horses and picking their hooves, and other
ranch chores). Campers will also become familiar with the principles
of organic gardening and sustainable agriculture. Depending on the day,
we will then engage in a series of carefully sequenced activities designed
to reconnect children to the wonder and fulfillment of thoughtful and
responsible interaction with other living creatures and Environment.
There will be a snack and a lunch break each day.
Monday:
Farm Interaction Program
The goal of our farm interaction programs is to teach children respect
for all living things, to be mindful in their interactions, to use gentle
behaviors and to honor the earth. The hands-on experience is engaging
and memorable – as well as very educational. The day will start with
introductions and a few quick games to de-inhibit the group. Then we’ll
learn words like “predator”, what our “instinct” is
and what it is like to “observe” something and then comment
on it. Campers will then have the opportunity to participate in a variety
of farm chores, such as: hand feeding our sheep and goats, grooming and
walking our ponies or horses, brushing our pigs, collecting eggs, cleaning
animal pens and holding a
chicken in his/her lap.
Tuesday: A Day in the Life
of the Ranch
Today campers will learn about the slower pace and more physically demanding
lifestyle on a ranch. We will discuss different fibers for making clothes, explore
different hand tools and talk about life without insulation or electrical conveniences.
Wash and hand spin wool. Then, make your own dye bath for the wool using natural
dyes (i.e. black walnut hulls) found on the ranch. Learn to make butter by hand
(which will be shared with parents at the end of the day).
Wednesday: Nature Awareness Games and Adventures
Imagine you are led blindfolded to a spot on the farm, where you are
given 10 minutes to explore this area using only your sense of touch,
smell and hearing. Then, still blindfolded, you are led back to your
starting point where the blindfold is removed. Can you find your way
back to, and recognize, “your spot”? Campers will increase
their sensory awareness and deepen their relationship to nature. Explore
our vegetable and sensory gardens and help maintain our worm farm while
learning about compost. Realize how we are all connected through the “Web
of Life” game. Try to experience what it might feel like to be
a prey animal with “Deer Ears”.
Thursday: Living Off the Land – An Exploration
of Native Crafts
Twining is one of the oldest and simplest basketry techniques. Using paper
rush, participants will learn the twining technique to weave and complete
their own basket. While weaving, we will discuss and explore what it would
be like to live solely off the land, as the Ohlone and many other Native
American tribes did. Today participants will also begin to take an
in-depth look at the many California-Native plants and other natural resources
that surround the Ranch.
Friday: Nature Hike in Briones Park
This challenge hike will be tailored to the developmental and physical
needs of each group. Deer Hill Ranch is surrounded by miles of open space
filled with a variety of native plants, raptors, owls, reptiles and mammals.
On our hike we will examine the surroundings for signs of animal life,
including animal tracks and scat. We will learn about native plants and
how
to minimize the impact our lifestyles have on the environment.
About Deer Hill Ranch
Deer Hill Ranch is a non-profit 501c3 character and experiential learning
center on a working 20-acre ranch in Lafayette, CA. DHR develops resiliency
and social skills in Bay Area youth through programs that teach the value
of self and the group. We will be measured as a society by how well we
nurture and prepare our children to function in an increasingly complex
world. The goal of our work at DHR is to empower our youth to make better
choices and to honor each other, all living things and the earth.
Online Registration Form | Print and Fax Registration Form
Come and make friends, be challenged and grow at
our beautiful 21 acre ranch
in Lafayette, CA