Registration for an upcoming spring break camp aimed at getting youth involved in hands-on activities and farm life is now open.
The new spring break farm camp, hosted at JC’s Ooasis on 234 N. Popp Rd., is from March 24-28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Young farmers ages 8-13 will enjoy hands-on farm animal care experiences, nature exploration, a daily craft, activities focused on repurposing, recycling, reusing, and more.
Linda Oosse operates JC’s Ooasis, and said kids who attend camp will have the chance to interact directly with all the animals on the farm including goats, poultry, ducks, guinea fowl, an undersized cow, mini horse, donkey, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, and Juliana (miniature) pigs. Campers will also learn about the lifelong commitment to an animal’s care and wellbeing, as well as healthy farm practices, and the four R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose), among many other topics.
“One of my big bents is to keep things out of the landfill, so one of the activities is to see how many items they can find around the farm that have been reused or repurposed, and there’s a lot of them,” Oosse said. “Another thing we’ll do everyday is explore nature… We’re surrounded by sandy bottom creeks, so we’ll also talk about the water table and the importance of healthy farming and how we have to keep track of animal waste and how we’re utilizing that waste and how we’re storing that through the winter season.”
After hosting a summer camp last year that was well received, Oosse said she wanted to give families and kids the opportunity to dive into farm life during spring break. The camp is flexible, so kids can sign up for one day, two days, or five days, with Oosse noting that participants should “plan to get dirty” on the property.
“Each day, we’ll actually spend time with all of the animals, but we’re really going to try to dig in a little deeper with a specific animal each day... On that Monday, we’re talking about horses, Daryl the horse, so we’re going to groom him and brush him and clean him up and talk about all the parts of the horse and what a horse requires,” Oosse said. “A lot of what’s involved with animal care, it’s not just a weekend commitment… It’s a lifelong commitment, you have to make plans, you have to financially take care of it, food and medical costs.”
Since participants are elementary- age kids, Oosse said she hopes the spring break camp helps to plant a seed of information that will inspire and motivate them to keep learning about animals and farm work.
“Even if they just take one thing away that goes with them into adulthood to help them be better stewards of our environment and animal welfare would be amazing,” she said.
To learn more about the camp or to register, people can call or text Oosse at 231-866-6516.
