FOREST & FROLIC KIDS CAMP
Fostering creativity, play, and learning through engaging with the plants, animals, and four elements using all of our senses
Ages 3-7 (Preschool-kindergarten)
Week 1/ June 13-16: Music & Storytelling
Week 2/ July 18-21: Animals
Week 3/ August 22-25: Plants
Camp Hours: 10am-3pm*
*Daycare is available upon request for one hour before or after at a rate of $10/hr
Camp will be held at LAUGHING LINDEN FARM in Frankfort, Michigan. Laughing Linden Farm is a 70 acre pollinator sanctuary tucked in the rolling hills of Frankfort, Michigan. Open meadows, forest, creeks, farm animals, and wildlife of all kinds provide an exciting and engaging space for your child to play and learn. Our camp is 100% outdoors, with a temporary shade/rain structure set up.
Cost:
$240/Week*
$670/For all three weeks**
10% Sibling discount when multiple siblings attend the same week of camp
*Due to sharing our camp details only a month in advance, if you sign up for Week 1: Music & Storytelling by May 27, we will discount you $10.
**If you sign up for all three weeks by May 27, we will discount you an extra $15.
Camp Registration deadline for Week 1: Music & Storytelling is June 3rd. Spaces are filling up, so sign up soon!
Please email Stephanie Rhodzell for more info at ventosobra@gmail.com.
ABOUT FOREST & FROLIC KIDS CAMP
Welcome to our first offering of Forest & Frolic Kids Camp in beautiful Northwest Lower Michigan! Our vision is to foster creativity, joy, and learning that engages the five senses. At our camp, the children will be encouraged to tell their own stories, learn some new stories from us, go for hikes, spend time in the garden dirt, put on plays, do some kid-tastic yoga, taste and smell fruits, vegetables, and herbs, listen to the wild sounds that surround us, and sooo much more! We will weave the elements of earth, air, fire, and water into our daily activities, using natural materials such as wood, wool, and clay to inspire creativity and a deep respect for the land, all the while learning fine motor skills, awareness of our environment, developing language skills, building confidence, and cultivating a sense of wonder for the outdoors!
Building relationships between the children, as well as a strong bond with us as camp leaders is of utmost important to us. Each morning upon arrival children will be greeted and play or sit with a camp leader. At around 10:15 we will initiate a circling up, sing a morning song, share our names and engage in games that will create comfort and ease as we transition into the more active part of our day. Each day will be themed with an element, and on that day we will be celebrating the element in everything that we do! For example, on Water Wednesdays, we may take a short walk to the creek and explore the flora, fauna, and funga, paint a clay animal water whistle, sample some different herbal teas, make a popsicle, paint a watercolor card, and so on.
We are so grateful to have this opportunity to play, create, and learn with your children this summer!
STAFF BIOS
Stephanie Rhodzell is a partner to an amazing husband and
mother of two wonderful children, who spend most of their days learning
on the farm or exploring new beautiful places. Stephanie has facilitated
playgroups, crafty workshops, and musical gatherings with children, from
making felt fairies for her daughter's fourth birthday party to organizing a
maypole gathering in her own backyard. She has fond memories of taking
trips to wild places with her parents, camping out in the woods or on
steep canyon ridges, which fostered her love of the outdoors and a sense
of home among the wildness of nature. She also grew up attending
summer arts camps, alongside artistic family members, enrolled in grade school with a distinguished music program, and has gained skills from artists all over the US. Through these experiences, she has developed a deep love for everything art, from singing, playing guitar, sewing, clay works, needle felting, food preparation and cooking, and all crafts that are accessible to children! She finds endless joy in sharing her crafty hands and heart with children. She is also a community herbalist who runs Fox & Flower Apothecary. When she's not playing with her children, you will find her in the woods foraging, forest bathing, in the garden growing things, making music with her husband, dancing, and once in a while lying in the grass watching the clouds roll by.
Cierra Dunn has worked with children for 10 years, working at a daycare center, nannying for several families, facilitating playgroups for 3-4 year olds, and most recently being a homeschool teacher one day a week for Stephanie and Eran's eldest daughter Linden, as well as providing endless support and care for Linden and her younger sister as needed! She specializes in early childhood education. She feels passionate about being deeply present and communicative with children, as well as using nature to propel their learning process in a natural and organic way. Cierra is a bodyworker serving Benzie county and the greater Traverse City Area community when she isn't frolicking with the children in the woods, making animal puppets, foraging wild plants, making music, gardening, and swimming at the beach.
Eran Rhodzell is a an outstanding papa, husband, gardener,
tender of trees, writer, and musician. His dream is to live in a world
abundant with wild places and resilient communities. Working at a kids
camp in upstate NY, teaching skiing to kids and adults of all ages for
the past six years, and volunteering as a soccer coach for the local 4-H
club in Autumn of 2021 has provided Eran with ample experience
working with children of all ages among many settings! When he's not
working his landscaping business, he is reading books and telling
stories to the children, hiking in the woods, planting fruit trees on the farm, making music, baking sourdough bread, cobbler, and lasagna, or telemark skiing in the winter. Eran is so excited about bringing the kid vibes to Laughing Linden Farm, and sharing in the good times!
