Courtesy Mohawk Day Camp
Mohawk Day Camp’s Farm Program
White Plains
Get the best of both worlds at Mohawk, which offers a casual farm program, perfect for campers (ages 3-14) who want a small taste of farm camp but don’t want to give up a fully loaded day-camp experience. Mohawk campers get access to eight swimming pools, seven craft centers, two music centers, two nature centers, plus a working apple orchard, farm, and 10 rectangular gardening plots, where campers are invited to roll up their sleeves and garden.
The Stone Barns Summer Institute
Pocantico Hills
Got a foodie with a social conscience? Stone Barns (pictured left) has the perfect teen summer camp for you. The Stone Barns Summer Institute is a two-week program, open to rising juniors and seniors interested in working beside farmers as they care for livestock and crops. “It’s aimed at catching these kids before they enter adulthood, to help them see with fresh eyes the importance of food that they might take for granted every day. It’s experiential but also very academic, as campers work beside the farmer and beekeeper to learn everything from beekeeping to seed-saving and cultivating mushrooms,” explains Jessica Galen, senior communications manager at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.
Muscoot Farm Young Farmers Camp
Katonah
It’s never too early to indoctrinate kids into the world of farming and agriculture, and that’s where Muscoot Farm’s summer programs come in. The one-week Wranglers Camp is where kids (4-5 years old) get age appropriate, hands-on experience with the farm animals. And, for those farm enthusiasts in grades 1-8, check out Muscoot’s Young Farmers Camp, where campers take on daily farm chores, care for the animals and spend time ponding (using nets to catch and identify the critters that live in the pond), hiking,
and cooking.
Green Chimneys Hillside Camp
Brewster
Farm camp meets traditional day camp at the Green Chimneys Hillside summer camp, where campers get to experience farm, wildlife, and outdoor-education programming in addition to more traditional outdoor-camp activities, like sports, games, songs, arts and crafts, nature study, and hiking. Campers (ages 4-15) enjoy animal interaction led by animal specialists who introduce them to the farm’s horses, camels, goats, sheep, baby cows, pigs, and birds of prey.