Harvest Moon Brings Asia to a Family Farm

Harvest Moon Community Farm is offering Create & Cultivate Farm Camp - a summer camp for children at a family farm that combines lessons in agriculture, nature, and the arts with a focus on Asia. The lessons at Create & Cultivate Farm Camp include: farm animals (sheep and chickens); agriculture and cooking in Asia; Chinese and Korean traditional paper craft; orizomegami (the Japanese art of folding and dyeing rice paper); butterflies; and trees. Artists from The Schubert Club, Theater Mu, and CAAM Chinese Dance Theater will teach the children about Javanese shadows puppets, Chinese dance, Indonesian dance, and Taiko drumming.

Harvest Moon Community Farm is offering Create & Cultivate Farm Camp designed for 6-11 year old children from July 14-17, 9:00-4:30 each day.

The four-day Farm Camp gives children an opportunity to learn about sustainable agriculture, farm animals, nature, environmental preservation, and the arts. Each day, there are four core lessons presented by Camp Educators and Artists: two about agriculture, one about the environment, and one about the arts. This years Farm Camp highlights Asia with a special focus on China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

In addition to these four core lessons, children at Create & Cultivate Farm Camp participate in a morning self-directed mask making session focused on the masks and cultures of Asia. Each day of camp, a new mask type is introduced to the campers including a Korean gourd mask, Chinese lion mask, Japanese Noh mask, and Indonesian paper mask," says Ann Rinkenberger, Executive Director. Children use their imagination and many different materials including paper, wood, feathers, plaster, paper mache, and clay to create a collection of masks to use and display at home."

Also, children at Create & Cultivate Farm Camp participate in an afternoon self-directed session at one of several Discovery Stations set up throughout the farm. At the Discovery Stations, children discover and explore the farms nature trail and pond; learn to garden; help feed the sheep and chickens; play musical instruments from around the world; create a home in the playhouse; go back in time as they use farm antiques and try on costumes from 1850-1950; or engage their imaginations with a variety of art materials.

Too much of our lives allow children to be passive; to be mesmerized, to be entertained," says Ann Rinkenberger, Harvest Moons Executive Director. At Harvest Moon, we aim to provide a rich sensory experience in which children thrive and their imaginations can soar. We encourage children to use their creativity and imagination as they learn about Asian culture as it relates to farms, farm animals, nature, and the arts."

The lessons at Create & Cultivate Farm Camp include: farm animals (sheep and chickens); agriculture and cooking in Asia; Chinese and Korean traditional paper craft; orizomegami (the Japanese art of folding and dyeing rice paper); butterflies; and trees. Artists from The Schubert Club, Theater Mu, and CAAM Chinese Dance Theater will teach the children about Javanese shadows puppets, Chinese dance, Indonesian dance, and Taiko drumming.

Harvest Moon also is offering Create & Cultivate Art Camp for 6-11 children from June 23-26 and August 11-14. The cost is $195 per week of Farm Camp and Art Camp.

Registrations can be made by calling Ann at 651-433-4358 or sending the registration information (available at www.hmcf.org) to: Harvest Moon Community Farm, 14363 Oren Road North, Scandia, MN 55073.

Registrations are on a first-come first-served basis, and are intentionally kept low to ensure a 1:5 educator:child ratio.