Summer Farm Camp (for 6-12 year olds)

“The great thing about bush-craft is that wherever you go, the skills go with you.” Ray Mears – British Woodman and Author

Outdoors Bush-craft and Survival Skills is an exciting opportunity to delve into some fantastic skills that can only be gained from the outdoor environment. Under the supervision of our educators, the participants will participate in some useful and highly engaging subjects.

Plant identifying and knowledge regarding their properties and even edible recipes from farm-sources flora and wild plants.

An overview on safe management of Fire-Lighting, Wood Chopping, Axe Work & Safety for fire camps and controlled practices of Wood Feathering and Wood Scoring techniques.

Natural Rope Making and cordage is also a large part due to the abundance of natural plant materials around and the knowledge will be utilised within Shelter Construction activities.

Messy Farm allows the participants to get fully down and messy with the natural materials that farm life has to offer, and find out that making amazing things can work hand-in-hand with nature.

Using farm-sourced materials we are able to have Clay Pottery sessions that can be shaped and moulded to fit the personality of the participant.

Creating homes for all our lovely critters on the farm is done through Creating & Painting Bee Hive Boxes and Creating Bug Traps so that we can observe and learn from the small creatures in our farm meadows.

We also learn about using natural, renewable resources in creation. Beeswax Candle Making and Natural Paint Dyes are fantastic ways of showing the importance plants and insects have on textile work – Plus there’s usually something to take home!

Have you ever wondered what life is like on a farm? How do animals and humans work so well together?

Well wonder no longer, as Life On The Farm allows the participants to get a real genuine sense of the activities and day-to-day roles when tending to a working farm and livery stable.

Participants can work with Feeding roles, where students feed the farm animals and get a greater understanding as to the animals physiology and how they give back to the farm such as Egg Collection from our feathered friends.

For any budding Veterinarians or those with a love of caring for animals, Wings Clipping & Animal Care are also jobs where participants can learn skills to show how animals are cared for and maintain a healthy life.

But it isn’t a simple walk-through, we’ll get messy and stinky with Poop Walks and Hay Work to show that farm-life is fun but not always rosy smelling ;)

Water, Water everywhere, and boy is it fascinating!

Our Waterways – Ponds, Ditches & Rivers allows participants and budding young marine scientists to find out and discover all the fantastic ways that water plays into our lives here on the farm.

Pond Dips & Discovery allows us to uncover various creepy crawlies such as frogs, tadpoles, sticklebacks, water beetles, and mosquito larvae, that live underwater in our ponds and ditches and, through our trusty magnifying glasses, identify them and the importances they have to the water ecosystem.

Buoyancy Experiments involve participants creating seaworthy (well...pond-worthy) constructs that allows the educators to explain buoyancy and water displacement in greater detail.

Southlands Heritage Farm is extremely lucky to be within walking distance of Fraser River via Deering Island, River Walks will also be an opportunity for participants, with educator led supervision, to explore the moor and fenland surrounding the river’s mouth and the wildlife and flora that accompanies the wetlands.

Wet-boots/Wellingtons/Gumboots – however you can them, they are a must!!

How does our food get from plant to plate?
How do other cultures differ from our own?
Where does it all come from?

Southlands Heritage Farm is extremely interested in the biodiversity of farming, understanding where our different products come from, and seeing from different perspectives – and we want to carry that onto the next generation.

During World Wide Wonder week, participants get the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of other cultures, try new experiences and uncover what makes our fantastic world so unique! Activities such as Farm to Table present a guided interactive activity for seed planting and harvesting to present a better understanding of where our food comes from.

This week also gives the opportunity for participants to broaden their knowledge of other cultures and ways of perceiving the world, not just in Canada but world wide! Our budding explorers will have a whistle stop tour of many parts of this great world.

See Something New allows the camp leaders to present new things from different cultures: games, items or even produce that you may not normally see.

First Nations allows a greater look at First Nations’ cultures and in particular the First Nations within Vancouver and BC area: The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

We want to broaden knowledge and we try to do that in a fun and engaging way.

World Wide Wonder is a great week for anyone who’s inquisitive and asks “Why?”

“To see a world in a grain of sand and a Heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” - William Blake, poet

In dark logs, deep in the wild grass, underneath our own shoes!

There is a plethora of fantastic things waiting for our farm participants to explore and discover.

Alighting the curiosity of all things small, Teensy-weensy Discovery is a week focused on uncovering what’s amazing that is usually unobserved.

During this week, participants will be involved in several activities looking at the amazing world of the small. Bug Trap Creating and Collecting gives us the opportunity to discover some creepy crawlers, identify them and understand the role that each creature plays. We might get a bit muddy but therein lies the fun!

Microscopic Mysteries gets the participant excited for micro-science and using our microscopes and magnifying glasses we are able to see amazing crystal and geometric shapes within pinches of dirt, or the shapes of different types of rocks and even the inner workings of leaves and plants.

Bizarre Bodies takes our micro-discoveries one step further; our exploring scientists will be looking at the vastness of information taken from one hair on our heads or how many germs are in one fingernail!!

Within nature, there is so much that can be uncovered and harnessed.

Fibre Art – Plant, Wool and Feathers is a week where any artistic participant can uncover how much nature gives us regarding sustainable textures, colours and materials for artistic work.

If you are a budding artist, creator or someone who likes to get a bit grubby this is for you!

Our participants will be able to use natural material to create lovely pieces of art to take home.

Leaf Rubbings gives the opportunity to explore the textures of leaves and create beautiful cards and designs with them.

Natural Dyes & Edible Paints show how much colour nature has and how we can harness it into artwork. You’ll be amazed at the art pieces we’ve had from colours gathered from carrots, cabbages and kale – all of which we’ve planted and stored from our farm gardens.

Fleety Felting gives the chance to try mediums of artwork as we use the natural fibres of our own sheep within the process to create little fluffy objects and pieces, while Feathered Dream Catchers use the feathers provided to use by our own poultry residences.

Clay Pottery is another popular artistic activity, whereby the locally sourced farm clay is used in ceramic artwork and the participants can add their own flair and flavour to their pieces.

A fun and arty filled week that sneaks in some natural science.

Southlands Heritage Farm is fortunate to have a great number of animals both wild and domestic. Our farm is full of amazing creatures, from small creepy crawlies to large horses and sheep.

All Creatures Great and Small week is for anyone with a love for animals and want to see what it’s like to work with animals, earning their trust and learning just how amazing they are.

Buzzing for Bees is an activity where participant will get to understand the importance bees play upon the ecosystem. We will have the opportunity to see them at work with our on-site hives, use the material from them with Beeswax Candle Making and learn the amazing ways they contribute to our human and non-human communities.

Bird Seed Crafting is our messy activity to make bird feeders which participants can take home and hang up to entice our local Vancouver birds.

For those who are interested in looking after larger animals, Animal Care & Hoof Care is a great opportunity to see how we take care of animals on the farm and present them with hands-on learning regarding animal welfare and what we do on a working farm.

Animal Tracks means that our participants can learn about the different types of animals that explore our local area, even if you don’t see them during the day and even create a few tracks of our own!

If you love animals, you’ll love it!