2024 Summer Farmhands Camp Program Information

Register Today for 2024 Farmhands Summer Camps!

SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION

Guidestone is happy to provide scholarships on a first come first served basis. To request a scholarship, please fill out the request form, and we will look forward to following up.

SCHOLARSHIP REQUEST FORM

For information regarding Guidestone’s Farmhands Camp cancellation, transfer and refund policies, program location details, what-to-bring lists, behavior management policies, emergency procedures and additional details, please review our 2024 Farmhands Parent Handbook.

2024 FARMHANDS PARENT HANDBOOK

For any additional information or questions regarding our summer camp programs,
please contact Tracy: [email protected] or 719-239-0955.

Summer Camp Information

Three-Day Garden, Farm & Ranch Camps (back to top)

3-Day Camp Program Logistics

  • Tuesday – Thursday unless otherwise noted
  • May 28-August 8
  • 9 am–4 pm
  • Ages 5 to 11
  • $250 per 3-day camp
  • Scholarships are available
  • Registration closes at 5 pm on the Friday prior to each camp start date.

3-Day Camp Descriptions and Dates

Homestead Detectives
May 28- 30, 2024
Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

Do you like archeology, exploration, construction, and history? During this camp, we’ll become homestead sleuths to learn more about the people who lived here, the buildings and barns, the surrounding landscape, and the animals who call this place home.  How do we discover what something looked like in the past and recreate it? Explore bringing the past to life with us through history, science and art.

Wild, Wonderful Seeds!
May 28-30
Longfellow Elementary School Garden

Through seedy crafts, seed saving, stories, and seedy treats, explore all the seeds: poppers, droppers, grabbers, stabbers, floaters, and fliers! Taste what’s already growing and seed more garden treats for the fall!

Pioneer Camp 
June 4-6
Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

Step into the past and experience the homestead as a pioneer! Pioneers had to be resourceful, making many of the things they needed from scratch. Leatherwork, sewing, food preservation, household items, tools, and even toys and games had to be made by hand. We will practice these skills and imagine homestead life through the eyes and hands of many perspectives, sharing our experiences in a homemade journal. Join us as we walk in the footsteps of the people who have lived and worked at the Hutchinson Homestead!

Lettuce Dance to the Beet 
June 4-6
Salida Middle School Garden

Get ready to shake your rutabaga! This camp provides an opportunity to experience garden learning through music, yoga, dance, rhythms, hopscotch, and other forms of creative sound and movement in restorative garden settings.

Kids in Ag Camp
June 11-13
Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

If you love animals, this camp is for you! Meet and study our meat, milk, egg, and yarn producers, including beef and dairy cattle, goats, sheep, llamas, rabbits and pigs. We’ll learn about the care, feeding, and varieties of these animals, and the agricultural role they play, through the ranchers, veterinarians, and others who raise and care for them. Many of the guest instructors will be kids who are raising animals through the 4H Program. Today’s kids are tomorrow’s farmers and ranchers!

Imagine! Garden Art & Science Fusion 
June 11-13
Longfellow Elementary School Garden

This week in the garden will feature your imagination! Explore the art of growing food through a mash-up of artistic techniques, crafty creations, brainy hypotheses, and inventive experiments.

All the Water on the Ranch 
June 18-20
Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

    Water is life!  How do ranchers get water onto their land? From homesteading times to today explore irrigation ditches, a center pivot and rain, see how water affects the landscape.

    The Garden is Full of Stories 
    June 18-20
    Salida Middle School Garden

    The garden has many stories to tell, and so do you! Read, write, and act out stories and poetry from the canon of great garden literature.

    Birds & Bugs, Broccoli & Butterflies!
    June 25-27
    Longfellow Elementary School Garden

      Help our pollinators help us grow food! We’ll go on bug hunts, create pollinator habitat,  and learn about the many animals that call the garden home. 

      Ranch Camp
      July 9-11
      Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

        Become a Junior Rancher! Practice skills like roping, irrigation, and pasture management, learn to fashion the tools of the trade, give Rancher Abby a hand in completing an essential ranch project, help with cow and horse care, and more.

        Build & Grow in the Garden
        July 9-11
        Salida Middle School Garden

          With the garden as your muse, you’ll build structures, investigate systems and connections, and draw models for your genius ideas. Walk in the footsteps of our innovative agricultural heroes–George Washington Carver, Evangelina Villegas, John Deere, and Temple Grandin, to name a few. And have fun doing it!

          Pioneer Camp 
          July 16-18
          Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

            Step into the past and experience the homestead as a pioneer! Pioneers had to be resourceful, making many of the things they needed from scratch. Leatherwork, sewing, food preservation, household items, tools, and even toys and games had to be made by hand. We will practice these skills and imagine homestead life through the eyes and hands of many perspectives, sharing our experiences in a homemade journal. Join us as we walk in the footsteps of the people who have lived and worked at the Hutchinson Homestead!

            Water in the Garden
            July 16-18
            Longfellow Elementary School Garden

            Explore and discover what plants need to thrive. What are some uses for water? What are the steps in the water cycle? How does this relate in the garden? Hike the Spur Trail for stream observation and care for the stream.

            Art of Agriculture
            July 23-25
            Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center

              Celebrate agriculture with an artistic flair!  As participants explore the art of growing food, caring for animals and ranching, this week will provide many opportunities to observe, express and honor the uniqueness of an agrarian life and landscape through art. Creative expression through painting, drawing, music, poetry, crafts and theater will highlight the week.  Participants will get to share their work with their families at an end-of-week celebration and performance.

              Farm Camp 
              July 23-25
              Community & School Farm

              Spend 3 fun-filled days learning about farming and growing healthy food in the farm fields and greenhouses of the Community & School! Get your hands dirty while assisting with projects around the farm. Additional projects will include catching critters in the ditch, food preservation, composting, watering, season extension, soil ecology and more! Art and craft projects and journaling will also fill campers’ days.

              Ag Camp at the County Fair
              July 31- Aug 2, 2024 – NOTE! *Wednesday, Thursday and Friday*
              Chaffee County Fairgrounds

              The heart of the Chaffee County Fair offers a rich environment for discovering agriculture! We will meet at the Fairgrounds each day to learn about the sheep, goats, beef cattle, pigs, rabbits, and poultry at the fair, as well as some of the hands-on activities highlighted through 4H. Be a part of the County Fair in a whole new way!

              Bringing the Harvest Home
              August 6-8
              Community & School Farm and Hutchinson Homestead

              In celebration of this bountiful time of year, join us for 3 days dedicated to the farming and homesteading techniques that allow us to grow our own food, save it for the winter, and enjoy our harvest. The first day of camp will be held at the Community & School Farm where campers will get to dig in, help on the farm, and harvest their bounty. The remaining camp days will be held at the Hutchinson Homestead, where students will learn techniques to preserve their harvest, and celebrate the harvest season with homemade butter, Dutch Oven biscuits, hand-churned ice cream and more!

              2-Day Overnight Camp (back to top)

              Thursday, June 27, 9:00 am – Friday, June 28, 12:00 noon
              Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center
              *Ages 9-12
              Cost: $250

              Join us for an overnight at the Hutchinson Homestead! From morning and evening animal chores to crafts, games, cooking over a campfire and storytelling, experience the Homestead life after hours! 

              Rancher & Farmer Mondays (back to top)

              Program Logistics

              • 8 Mondays, June – July
                • Rancher Mondays (Hutchinson Homestead): June 10 & 24, July 15 & 29, 2024
                • Farmer Mondays (Community & School Farm): June 3 & 17, July 8 & 22, 2024 
              • 9 am–4 pm
              • Ages 5-7
              • $75 per day; full series $580
              • Scholarships are available
              • Registration closes at 5 pm on the Friday prior to each program date

              Rancher/Farmer Monday Program Themes

              Join us on Mondays to explore the daily lives of farmers and ranchers. We will kick off each Monday with farm or ranch chores, and then we’ll explore a new theme each session with hands-on activities and adventures! Guest instructors who are experts in their fields will enrich our experience.

              • June 3: Planting! 
              • June 10:  Animals on the Ranch
              • June 17: Bugs & Bees on the Farm 
              • June 24: Life on a Homestead
              • July 8: Water on the Ranch
              • July 15: Pioneer Living
              • July 22: Food Preservation!
              • July 29: Water on the Farm

              Little Sprouts & Little Spurs (back to top)

              Program Logistics

              • 1-Hour Programs
              • Thursdays, June 6 – August 1, 10-11am
                • Little Spurs @ the Hutchinson Homestead:  (June 13 & 27, July 18, Aug. 1)
                  • June 13: Animals on the Ranch
                  • June 27: Homesteading Skills
                  • July 18: Pioneer Life
                  • Aug 1: Kids and Chickens
                • Little Sprouts @ Longfellow Elementary School Garden (June 6 & 20, July 11 & 25)
                  • June 6: Potatoes and Sunflowers – Song & Story
                  • June 20: Insects in the Garden
                  • July 11:Taller, Smaller, Taste and Smell
                  • July 25: Flowers, Birds and Colors
              • Ages 4 and under; bring your family!
              • $20 per family; $150 for the full series (8 sessions)
              • Registration closes at 5 pm on the Tuesday prior to each program date.

              Little Sprouts/ Little Spurs Program Descriptions

              Little Sprouts
              Longfellow Elementary School Garden
              Join us at the Longfellow Elementary School Garden to explore the farm with your little one(s). Each program will include themed activities, stories, songs and more.  Grownups… join your little ones for a fun morning in the garden! 

              Little Spurs
              Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center
              Join us at the Hutchinson Homestead to explore the ranch with your little one(s). Each program will include a visit to the Homestead animals, themed activities, stories, songs and more. Grownups…join your little ones for a fun morning on the ranch!

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