Harvest Moon Community Farm Offers Summer Art and Farm Camps for Children

Harvest Moon's summer camps combine activities in the arts, agriculture, and nature with a special cultural focus during each month (African, Asian, and Native American). The camps are located in Scandia, Minnesota, and are based at a family farm.

Harvest Moon Community Farm is offering four-day Create & Cultivate Art and Farm Camps as well as a Harvest Camp designed for 6-11 year old children during June through August.

The 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.

The lessons at Farm Camp include: farm animals (sheep and chickens); agriculture and cooking in Asia; Chinese and Korean traditional paper craft; 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.

At the Art Camp, children have many opportunities to work with professional artists each day in beadwork, clay, doll making, felting, floral wreath-making, folk dance, mosaics, music, sculpture (making a Peace Village), storytelling, textile painting, and weaving.    

In addition to the core lessons, children at the Farm and Art Camps participate in daily mask making lessons focused on African, Asian, and Native American masks and cultures. At each camp there is a different cultural theme. Some of the masks the children will be making this summer include: Nigerian ancestor mask; Tunisian wall mask, Korean gourd mask, Chinese lion mask, Japanese Noh mask, Inuit finger mask, and Northwest Coast transformational 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 camp participate in 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.

Harvest Moon also is offering a Harvest Camp (a Christian camp focused agriculture, farm animals, nature, and the arts). In addition to many hands-on activities about these topics, there is a strong emphasis on community service. Children will be making leaf-printed placemats for seniors who receive their lunch through Meals on Wheels, collecting food for a local food shelf, and assembling art kits and bags of warm clothing for children living in a Chinese orphanage.

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 different cultures as they relate to farms, farm animals, nature, and the arts."

Harvest Moon also is offering Create & Cultivate Art Camp for 6-11 children from June 23-26 and August 11-14; the Farm Camp from July 14-17; and the Harvest Camp from July 21-24. The cost is $195 per week. 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.