Goods and Goats Summer Camp Teaches Importance of Farming and Animal Care

By Breeana Greenberg

Tucked away on Trabuco Creek Road in San Juan Capistrano, the small Goods and Goats Market farm offers a hands-on learning experience at its summer camp and Junior Farmers Program. Goods and Goats Market hosts four weeklong summer camps for kids ages 6-12. Campers can sign up for half-day camps from 9 a.m. to noon or full-day camps from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition to the summer camp, Goods and Goats also offers a six-week Junior Farmers program where kids can spend more time learning to cultivate the land, care for the farm animals and enjoy spring farm adventures.

Each day at the Goods and Goats summer camp begins with a morning meditation, intention setting and dream journaling.

Once intentions for the day are set, students will move into the gardens and goat areas to focus on planting, soil health, plant anatomy and animal and overall farm care. In the garden, kids will learn to grow fruit or vegetables that are in season at the time.

“We want the kids to actually eat and touch the fruits and vegetables that they plant and cultivate,” Educational Director and Farm Manager Lara Hughes said.

After learning to garden and cultivate an edible garden, Goods and Goats Market Owner Lani Jones explained that kids are more willing to eat something they have never tried before, and it “always tastes better because it gets to fully ripen.”

At the end of the Junior Farmers program, kids will cook a dish from the local seasonal fruits and vegetables that they learned to cultivate.

Each camper will get hands-on, one-on-one time with the farm’s Nigerian Dwarf goats, learning about proper goat care and anatomy.

“Our Junior Farmer program and our summer camps are two parts,” Hughes said. “So part of it, we want to teach kids about cultivating the land and how important that it is to be future stewards of our world and how they can take it on themselves and maybe take it back to their own house and their gardens.”

“Then the other half is our animal anatomy, where we focus on the goats’ horn and hoof care,” Hughes continued.

Every kid will get to choose a goat that they will spend time and bond with throughout the week. The kids will then learn to walk the goat on a lead, like walking a horse and learn about hooves and horns and how to care for them. Campers will even get the chance to enjoy storytime with the goats.

The farm has 36 goats on the property, with many of them born on the property, some from other farms or rescued from untenable living situations.

“Our goats are now born here on the property, but when Lani started, some of the goats came from a different farm so some of the horns have been removed from another farmer or bred out,” Hughes said.

Hughes explained that kids tend to have many questions because some of their goats have horns and some do not.

“So we talk about that and then we teach the kids how to trim their hooves up,” Hughes said. “We also talk—which goes into any farm life—about the cleanup.”

“I think there’s always this glamorous picture of a farm, but the reality of a farm is that’s what happens, they go to the bathroom, we have to clean up, we have to keep them in good conditions,” Hughes continued.

Jones explained it’s valuable to teach the kids about hard work and what goes into caring for an animal, as well as how to compost during the cleanup.

Campers will be able to get creative with many different crafts like building birdhouses, tie-dying, painting kindness rocks and more. Students will also learn through hands-on science experiments.

Hughes’ background in animal science, wildlife conservation and biology informs her experience teaching campers.

“I do really gravitate towards science, so I really like it to be hands-on,” Hughes said. “So every Junior Farmer Session and even every week in Camp, there will definitely be one or two science experiments that we do, but it will always pertain to what we’re doing.”

“So winter was potatoes, so we grew potatoes, our feast was potato soup, and then we did a science experiment with potatoes where we all worked together to create a battery with potatoes, and we were able to turn on a clock,” Hughes continued.

Through hands-on science experiments, Hughes can teach campers about the scientific method, creating a hypothesis and testing it.

At the end of the day, campers will have free time around the farm, where they can interact with resident bunnies, guinea pigs and chickens, zip line, play with vintage Tonka sets and more.

Families who sign up before April 15 will receive an early bird special of $40 off per summer camp registration. After the early bird discounts, sibling discounts are available for families who sign up multiple campers. The camp includes a Jr. Farmer Goods & Goats Market T-shirt and a dream journal.

Nature Reserve Offers Outdoor Opportunities For Kids

For children eager to spend time outside and willing to learn about ecology along the way, The Nature Reserve in Rancho Mission Viejo is offering a spring break camp where they can explore the preserve in a fun way. The camp will be held from April 4-6, with a new theme each day. April 4 will give kids a chance to learn about reptiles, April 5 an opportunity to make wildflower-themed art, and April 6 concluding with a day of outdoor eco-themed games to teach campers about recycling. Each day will also give youngsters an opportunity to do a 1-mile trail hike. The camp costs $45 for one day and $115 for all three days. The day’s activities will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with drop-off starting at 8:30 a.m. Registration and more information can be found at thenaturereserve.org. — Collin

Breaux

By Shawn Raymundo

ummertime can bring so much fun and excitement to children’s lives, whether they’re going on adventures with friends, traveling with family, or, on occasion, getting into a bit of mischievousness.

With all that fun, though—in between days of just lounging around the house—those summer months can really fly by, leaving little opportunity for creativity.

To help parents and guardians who are looking for their kids to exercise some creativity this summer, we spoke with renowned San Clemente artist Rick Delanty, who shared some advice on how kids can spark their imagination, putting pen—or pencils, markers or painted fingers—to paper.

“Creativity is not just applicable to art professions, but to any (field),” he says. “I think getting involved in the arts, just like getting involved in sports, is creating a well-rounded, adjusted individual that can be successful anywhere, so I think it behooves parents to give this drawing stuff a try.”

“It’s really exciting for the kids to plunge the depths of their potential and realize things that are in there that they may not otherwise unless the parents or teachers help bring those out,” Delanty adds.

To get started, one of the first things a parent should purchase for their kid, Delanty says, is a sketchbook. The sketchbook simply allows the artist-in-training to learn by doing, drawing various shapes and anything else they see.

One of the goals of the sketchbook, Delanty says, “is to have those kids do anything they want to from their imagination; start drawing things they actually see, emphasize the idea that drawing is not photography, it’s all about shapes and the inter- relationship with that.”

As for what to draw with, the age of your child will certainly be a factor. Delanty says that if your kid is very young, he’d start with finger painting and chalk. For kids in upper elementary school grades or in middle school, he advises getting them watercolors or markers. And for those in high school, they should be using pens, drawing pencils and paint.