Children + Calves = Self-Confidence

Does your child love animals? Click here for this summer camp

A calf will teach your child life skills that a dog or cat can’t. The leadership skills a 10-year-old girl acquires when she controls a 150-pound calf are priceless. These are some campers and calves from the 2022 Farm Camp at Miles Smith Farm. Camp is from July 10 to Aug. 4. Sign up here.

I love sharing Miles Smith Farm with young people each summer. And the kids love it too. They learn how to feed the goats, the donkey, sheep, Tazzy, the pig, rabbits, and chickens, and they each get a calf assigned to them for a week. Last year the campers waited eagerly to see if they’d get Sophie, Autumn, or Jay Jay, that season’s favorites. This year the barnyard talent will include Millie, Peaches, and Jerome, who are tame enough to be safe, but impish enough to be fun.

Last year Henry, age 13, chose to snuggle with his calf rather than fiddle with his phone or run through the sprinklers with his buddies. His calf was his new buddy.

Then there’s 10-year-old Charlotte. I watched her work with the calves Millie and Bette. This shy girl’s face lit up as she told the calves to “Walk on.” What a joy to see new-found confidence in her words and her actions!  Charlotte became a different girl. She was no longer shy; the calves did exactly what she told them.

She was learning skills she could take away from the farm and use for the rest of her life. It’s empowering when an 80-pound child controls two 150-pound calves. And the fact that she adores them made her glow with pride and affection.

Calves do that to you. They steal your heart and make you a better person.

Here’s a note received last year:

“Our grandson was unsure if he was going to like Farm Camp. His anxiety was getting the best of him the first day, but he came home that night and said it was really fun. By Wednesday night, the last thing he said as he went to bed was, ‘Thank you, Nanna, for signing me up for Farm Camp; I love it.’”

On the last day of camp, they dressed up their calves to present them in a judged cattle show on the farm. Last year Logan the calf was dressed as a leprechaun, complete with a tie, while Sophie looked snazzy in her cowboy hat. What fun!

Would your daughter or son benefit from a week on the farm? We still have openings for the Farm Day Camp held from July 10 to Aug. 4. Sign up here. Scholarships are available.

If you don’t have kids, you must know a child who loves animals. Scholarships are available, so don’t wait to spread the word.