It’s FRIDAY! Everyone made it through the week with smiles and great attitudes, and we are so thrilled about what we’ve accomplished this week!
We did all of the animal chores this morning. It was a very warm day, so we had to make sure that all of the critters had plenty of fresh water to help keep them cool.
Yellow Peppers interacting with the goat kids.
During Garden Kitchen, we used celery, SunButter, pretzels, and raisins to make our own edible bugs for snack.
Orange Peppers love Garden Kitchen!
We played a pollination game in the garden. Each camper had a pice of fabric with velcro circles on them tied around their knees. Campers had to pick up small balls with velcro using only their knees! This game simulates the process that bees and other pollinating insects use as they spread pollen from one flower to another. We also got to sample honey that was made by our bee friends.
Green Pepper loving her honey sample!
Red Peppers collecting “pollen” during their pollination game.
We spent part of the morning in the garden watching pollinators in action and identifying different bugs, plants, and flowers.
The Orange Peppers hose off between activities to cool down.
We took a few more photos of lady beetles around the farm and logged them as part of our STEM activity and the Lost Ladybug Project. We put the ladybugs in the freezer for a few moments to slow them down so that we could count their spots and take their photo.
Red Peppers documenting their found ladybugs.
Ms. Pam whipped up some fruit slushies for snack this afternoon. They were a perfect cold treat on this very warm day!
Red Peppers enjoying their slushies!
Insects, flowers, and even humans emit their own specific scent, called pheromones. We played a game called “Making Scents of Insects” where we smelled different essential oils and guessed what they were from. We smelled ginger, rose, peppermint, and citronella. Ask your camper which scent they liked the most!
Orange Peppers smelling the different essential oils.
To finish a wonderful week of camp, we released the swallowtail butterflies that were living in the Garden Kitchen all week. Then, all of the campers and staff participated in an all-camp relay event! We carried eggs on a spoon, made ourselves dizzy and then ran between cones, and completed an obstacle course. Some of our campers were a little more competitive than others, but in the end, everyone received a special prize for showing great sportsmanship and good attitudes: popsicles!
Releasing the swallowtail butterflies.
Orange Pepper vs. Red Pepper in the egg relay.
Green and Yellow Peppers spinning around a hula hoop before weaving through cones.
Cheering on our friends!
Racing through the obstacle course!
Crawling through hula hoops during the obstacle course!
Running home to finish the race!
If you have not already turned in your completed survey, feel free to mail it to us at the following address:
Alan Jaros
MSU Tollgate Farm
28115 Meadowbrook Road
Novi, MI 48377
We truly value your feedback and look forward to reading your evaluations of Tollgate and Bug Camp!
The Red Pepper group.
The Orange Pepper group.
The Yellow Pepper group.
The goofy Green Pepper group!
We very much enjoyed having all of your campers at MSU Tollgate this week. Everyone was worn out by the end of today, but we take that as a sign that it’s been a productive week! Thank you for sharing your camper with us, and we hope to see you around the farm soon! Have a safe and happy summer!
Fruit Slushies
Ingredients
½ cup Sparkling Water
1 cup of Ice
1 ½ cups Mixed Frozen Berries
Directions
- Combine ingredients in high powered blender until consistency of a slushy.
- Consider add ins, like vanilla, honey or mint leaves.
Thank you, MSU Tollgate Farms Summer Camps, for providing these children with such an amazing experience this week. The depth of the activities and the integrity of the whole camp are so amazing. They were all having so much fun they didn’t know they were learning anything until it was too late. You all are truly a blessing to these children.
Go Green! 🙂
Thank you for the kind words! We truly love working with our wonderful campers, and we are so thankful to have such a great support system among their parents/guardians. We look forward to seeing you and your campers soon!
Go White!
– Maddie