Check in here on our Parents’ Page to see how our weeks at camp are going! We will post pictures here and on our Instagram @philliesbridgefarm to show you what we’ve been up to! Updates are typically posted 1-2 days after the week concludes.
Week 6 – Pollinators
Week 6 started out with a buzz! Bob the Bee Man came by to give us a presentation about honey bees, including the opportunity to see an actual hive up close and personal (safely behind glass though). After that we had a relay race to mimic the hard work of the honey bees, brining “nectar” from flowers to the hive. After learning about how hard bees work, we then made bee hotels to encourage pollination! We know that bees aren’t the only pollinators though, so our next activity was creating flower sun catchers in honor of all the pollinators that go from flowers to flowers. Bees are all about working together, so next we made our own hive of crafted bumblebees that we used to decorate the barn. On Friday of course we had our farmers market, complete with wildflower bouquets!
Week 5 – Milk Makers
Week 5 was all about milk! This week was all about cows, sheep, and of course, goats. Our farm animal friends need a home, so first we worked together to engineer our model barns! Then we discussed what milk is made of (did you know it’s an emulsion of solids in a liquid?) and made mini lava lamps as a demonstration. We then took a turn and talked about products from milk makers, in particular instruments made from horns! We made our own instruments out of craft supplies and had a music jam in the barn!
This week was also an extreme heat wave! We spent lots of time playing in the sprinklers, or just straight up hosing down the kids!
Week 4 – Shapes and Patterns in Nature
During week 4 we dove back into the wonderful nature all around us to learn about shapes and patterns! On Monday we explored the far edges of the farm to gather leaves to bring back for leaf rubbings in our nature journals. On Tuesday we thought about strong shapes to build our very own bird nests (inspired by actual birds nests taken down from the education room porch!) On Wednesday we discussed camouflage and created animals that could blend in with brand new environments. On Thursday we combined leaves, shapes and animals to create our own bug hotels! Of course on Friday we had our farmers market where we were able to show off our nearly 10 pounds of harvested goods!
Week 3 – The Colorful World Of Nature
During week 3 we got deep into the beautiful world and nature and learned all about where the various colors around us come from! We started the week by collecting materials from around the farm to create our very own solar dyes. Each camper got to put a piece of fabric into the dye to test what color comes from different plants! The next day we learned about chlorophyll and it’s green properties, We got a direct demonstration of the power of green by coloring in leaf illustrations by rubbing leaves onto paper to leave behind the green color. Moving away from plants, we then discussed pollinators and their special spectrum of visible color, and made brightly colored hummingbird feeders. To round out our week we went on a nature walk to complete a color scavenger hunt. We then (carefully) pounded what we found onto paper to see what colors transferred from the plants!
Of course along with all of that we still did our farm chores, played in the sprinklers, made friendship bracelets and played lots of games!
Week 2 – Break It Down!
This week we learned all about decomposition in all forms! From “minibeast” scavenger hunts to creating inventions with reused materials to gathering sticks for a hugelkultur strawberry bed, campers got to dig into the dirt!
Week 1 – Wonderful Water
What a start to the summer! For our first week we explored the theme “wonderful water”. Despite the short week we packed in an amazing amount of learning, friendship and fun! We started with a walk on our nature trail to observe the stream ecosystem, armed with observation jars, nets, hand lenses and binoculars. The next day discussed density through a game of “sink or float”. After discussing characteristics of properties that lend objects towards floating, campers designed their very own boats! Lastly we used ice cubes made with dyed water to decorate our own drawings of imagined water ways. Of course, we ended the week with a farmers market, showing off the delicious veggies we harvested all through the week! Along with tending to the education garden and harvesting vegetables, campers also took part in farm chores to care for our goats and chickens, and learned about perennial plants in our discovery garden.
