Registration is open to youth ages 12-14 through Saturday
MANHATTAN – The Kansas 4-H program is welcoming back one of its most popular summer camping experiences in late June.
The 4-H Campference, which was held virtually a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held June 27-30 at the Rock Springs 4-H camp, south of Junction City.
Registration is available online through Saturday and spots are limited, though organizers say they will keep a waiting list to fill late cancellations.
“We are so excited to get back to Rock Springs this summer,” said Beth Hinshaw, a Kansas 4-H youth development specialist in southeast Kansas.
Campference is open to youth ages 12-14. Hinshaw said the camp originated several years ago as a way to keep middle school youth engaged in 4-H activities and serve as a “bridge” to other statewide 4-H activities, such as Discovery Days.
“We always talk about all of the fun at 4-H camp because we’re going to ride horses, we’re going to paddle canoes, we’re going to do the adventure course,” Hinshaw said. “But we’re also going to have some very specific workshops that help these ‘tweenagers’ with leadership skills and how they can use those back in their community.”
The adventure course is a new feature at the Rock Springs 4-H camp. Hinshaw said delegates to 4-H Campference will participate in activities on the high ropes course, led by trained staff members. “They are teaching aspects of teamwork, working together and coming to consensus,” Hinshaw said.
Other activities include icebreakers, a guest speaker and a morning mail call in which youth are led through activities to help them get acquainted with others in their camp group.
“We want everybody at Campference to know everybody else by the time it’s all over,” Hinshaw said.
Hinshaw urges youth and families to learn more about 4-H Campference by contacting their local 4-H club leader, or their local K-State Research and Extension agent.