MSU Extension Tollgate Farm and Education Center

2022 Wild Animal Camp: Day 1

Week 2 of MSU Tollgate Summer Camp has officially started and all the campers are getting wild to learn about wild animals during the next five days of camp! With our Green, Yellow, Orange and Red Pepper groups, this summer camp is bound to have the best time ever! Let's take a look at what we did throughout our day one of WILD ANIMAL CAMP! 

Flag Ceremony 

Every day of camp we kick off the day with a flag ceremony where the different pepper groups will present the flag. Today they red peppers did an amazing job covering all the color guard positions. After flag ceremony we headed down the hill for a presentation on the C.A.R.E.S. Contract all the campers sign prior to attend camp. Campers did an amazing job understanding good vs. bad examples of our C.A.R.E.S. Contract. 

Wagon Ride 

We also kick off every Monday Morning with a wagon ride tour of the property. The camper groups were able to see all the farm animals, lots of turkeys and some deer in the woods. Its a fun way to explore areas camp often doesn't get to see. 

Animal Chores: Chickens, Ducks, Goats, and Rabbits

If you have been to our camp before you know that everyday each pepper group does an animal chore. Today the Green peppers visited the rabbits, the yellow peppers visited the chickens, the red peppers visited the ducks and the Orange peppers got to milk a goat! We love having animals on the farm because campers can gain new life skills and experiences when caring and interacting with the animals found on our farm. Campers will rotate through all the animals throughout the week. 

Garden Kitchen: Homemade Ranch and Sweet Potato Fries 

In our Garden Kitchen today in the morning the campers learned how to make a delicious homemade ranch dressing using dill fresh from the garden infront of the AC. We served this with delicious locally grown veggie snacks including cucumber, carrots, and broccoli!

The afternoon snack was sweet potato fries. A healthier alternative to normal potato fries. Campers were challenged using the young chef knives but embraced the challenge and came out with a delicious sweet and savory snack in return. 

All the Garden Kitchen recipes the campers make, they get a little recipe card to take home!  

STEAM: Creature Creation

Each week at camp we have a different STEAM project campers complete. This week our STEAM project is called creature creation. Throughout the week campers will learn about wild animals and adaptation. Campers will be able to create their own animal, thinking about their habitat and animal adaptations. Campers did an amazing job getting creative and creating their initial plan for their creatures. 

Tie-Dye

You can't have tollgate without tie-dye! With multiple colors to choose from, and our lovely Education leaders to help out, today's tie-dye experience was filled with laughter and smiles. All the campers were very polite to one another and took turns using all the colors that they wanted to make their tie-dye shirt as colorful as it could possibly be! At the end of the day, each camper got to take their shirt home, to wash and wear.

Migration Game and Bird Feeders

This afternoon all the campers got to learn about migration, who migrates, why they migrate, and then play a game where campers get to migrate themselves. During the game campers learned that migration is not always smooth sailing and that the act of migration can be really dangerous. Campers took a long journey to see if they would survive their long migration home. 

Then we also, talked about diet of bird and how humans can help promote wild bird into their neighborhood through bird seed. While we don't want to feed wild bird too much so that they depend on humans-- it can be a fun family activity to provide a treat to the wild birds from time to time. 

The End

Well that's the end day one! We sure did have some fun! Looking forward to all the fun the next 4 day of Wild Animal Camp will bring! What was your campers favorite part of the day?

Lets end with an aftercare duck picture :P