Real Life Daycamp and Farm

I’ll be going here for my 5^th summer this year and I’m beyond excited. I’m counting down the days until I get to go see everyone. The counselors and staff are all wonderful and They make it so much more fun. My favorite part of the day is horseback riding lessons where I get to help out with the younger kids. I love to ride Blue, my favorite horse. The instructors are very experienced and I feel very safe with their instructions. When we go swimming at The Summit, Farmer Don has us do buddy checks to make sure everyone is there. They may be a bit annoying at times, but it’s better that we do them. On Thursdays we always go on really cool trips and it’s a great way to spend time with your friends. Last year we went to the Detroit Zoo which was my favorite trip. On Fridays we have a special cookout day where we go to our campsites/​forts and enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers we cooked ourselves in the fire. Afterwards we make s’mores and get on the buses to swimming. There are so many things to do there! my favorite part is that it’s not an organized day camp where we have schedules. We can do whatever we want to, as long as we stay on the farm and come to lunch when the horn sounds. There are different activities every day we can do, but we don’t have to. At arts and crafts we always get to do really fun stuff like friendship bracelets, sand art, plaster molds, and dream catchers. we make Pearler beads on days when it isn’t windy. The barn basement is really fun. There are so many animals to play with and hold, and every single one of them is very friendly. there are cats, bunnies, goats, pigs, and chicks/​ducklings. There are hand washing stations outside the barn and we are required to wash our hands before we eat our lunches. I 100% recommend this place to everyone. I look forward to it every year and it’s my favorite place to go in the summer.

My 5 year old daughter went with her class here on a field trip yesterday and I feel REALLY bad for her.
They had the rabbits, goats, sheep, cows, etc. that you would expect. Even a charismatic «Farmer» that would talk to the kids.
*The Pros:
The animals looked healthy
I only had to pay $ 9
*The Cons:
They lectured for over an hour to 5 year olds that just wanted to play on the playground
I thought it was irresponsible that «anyone» could handle the animals (ducklings, rabbits, pigs.)
*The laughable:
We went on a «hayride». There were no bails of hay to sit on, just scattered hay on the floor of the «wagon» (plywood). We went in circles for about 25 minutes viewing DEAD TREES, PILES OF ROCKS, A PILE OF OLD EQUIPMENT and the highlight of our ride… THE DEAD CAT!
(the 2^nd runner up was being pulled through the «toilet» area of the field)
**THE DANGER**
They had 8 horses, 6 big 2 small that the kids could ride in the circle, pretty normal… Then, when cowgirl whatever her name is said «I NEED 10 ADULTS TO VOLUNTEER», I got nervous!
She had 1 ADULT VOLUNTEER THAT WAS LIFTING CHILDREN ON AND OFF THE HORSES
She had 8 ADULTS THAT WERE NOT TRAINED TO WALK THE HORSES WITH MY CHILD ON IT
And 1 ADULT TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE GATE
NO BELTS
NO HELMETS
NO INSTRUCTORS
NO ORGANIZATION
I ALMOST didn’t let my daughter ride, and in fact, her horse was «stubborn» and the «Cowgirl» had to run over and help the parent leading her horse! I was MORTIFIED! This place is a lawsuit waiting to happen! They’re lucky nothing happened to MY child!

My daughter went here for summer day camp. After the first day, she came home in tears, screaming that she never wanted to go back, because one of the teachers called her «rude». It is not acceptable for a teacher to call a four year old names. She went back one more day and was nearly as unhappy. She refused to go back again. This is a child who has gone to preschool and other camps and NEVER had a problem. Since this incident, I can’t get her to go to any other camp– even the ones she had loved so much. She is terrified of teachers and «being bad».
The director did not handle the situation well when I called to discuss it. She defended her teacher saying he would never have called her rude (I’m certain my four year old didn’t make up a situation where she was called rude. She probably doesn’t even know that word).
Overall, the experience was terrible and my child hasn’t acted the same since. She is terrified to do anything wrong for fear of getting in trouble and being called a name. Her once happy-​go-​lucky attitude is gone.
I can’t believe how scarred she is from this event.

Just went today with my daughter’s preschool! It was awesome!
We started our day riding horses with Farmer Ian. The little pony was so cute! My girl rode Blue, all the horses were friendly. We then got to play for a little while, they have a playground. Farmer Don then met us in the barn to play with and feed the animals. We held bunnies, kittens, chicks, baby goats (kids) and ducklings. Bottle fed baby goats and pigs. Hand fed grain to cows, goats and sheep. Then the kids all got to milk a cow. We finished up the day with a hayride.
We left tired, happy and a little sunburned. Farmer Don was so good with the kids and very funny. I think I may have to check to see if they have any summer programs. I grew up on a small farm so this place brought back a lot of great memories!