Summer Camp at Terhune Orchards

Experience life on the farm!

Terhune Orchards welcomes children to enjoy a unique, fun-filled week of summer camp on a picturesque, 250-acre working family farm. Campers discover how a farm operates through fun, interactive and educational activities.

Campers will take advantage of our beautiful surroundings, streams, nature trail and fields, and get a closer look at our resident wildlife and barnyard friends. In addition, campers cultivate a children’s garden, enjoy wagon rides, experience the harvest and sample the crops in season. Daily activities and crafts projects blend learning, doing and, of course, fun! Campers spend time both outside exploring the farm and nature, as well as inside engaged in activities in our lovely Amish-built barn.

Terhune Orchards Summer Camps are certified by the State of New Jersey Youth Camp Standards.

camp chickens

Summer Camp Schedule for 2023

Farm Camp
July 10 to July 14 Session Full
July 24 to July 28

Registration:

Ages 8-12 years
Camp Session: 9am-3:30pm $425/week

Download and mail in registration and medical FORMS with payment.
Register early since space is limited. For additional details or questions, call the Farm Store at 609-924-2310.

See COVID Safety Policy Information

Farm Camp at the Farm

We offer a one-week session that focuses on how the farmer and nature work together to grow healthy crops.

This hands-on program includes a variety of activities, games, crafts and field trips that will teach the campers about farm life. Activities include visiting Terhune Orchards’ fields to pick fruits and vegetables, which campers then prepare for healthy snacks; becoming friends with our animals, including gathering eggs and feeding all the animals; studying insects; identifying trees on the nature trail; learning about water quality; discovering nature in the Children’s Garden (planting, caring and harvesting), plus much more. Hiking the Farm Trail and exploring the Stony Brook provide additional fun activities for the campers.

Examples of hands-on fun activities:

  • Flower press and pressing flowers.
  • Visual “story stick” of farm trail hike using found objects.
  • Treasure box to collect finds!
  • A nature journal, nature poetry.

Camp Director: Elaine Madigan has been the Terhune Orchards Education Director and Manager for 25 years. She is a naturalist and artist who enjoys sharing her love of discovery with children of all ages.

elaine campers
camp composting
farm camp gardening

Farm Explorers Camp

We offer three one-week sessions that are filled with different activities each week. These activities blend learning, doing and, of course, fun!

  • Be farmers in our own Children’s Garden: garden preparation and planting, tool safety, weeding, watering, plant types and harvesting
  • Investigate STEM through hands-on activities, explorations and experiments
  • Harvest from the fields, cook “Jersey Fresh” snacks to taste, and take home farm-fresh produce
  • Interact with farm animals by learning about their role on the farm, what they eat and how they are cared for
  • Explore the farm “behind the scenes” — the buildings, the tools and the wide variety of crops
  • Explore and investigate the natural world around the farm
  • Enjoy farm games and sports
  • Learn, laugh, explore, make friends and build wonderful memories

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Camp Director: John Emmons is an elementary science and STEM teacher. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Planning from Rutgers University and a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from The College of New Jersey. He has been awarded grants for school gardens and educational projects and awards for his innovative teaching.

What do parents say?

“This camp is a highlight of our year. Our kids can’t wait to return.”

“My daughters loved camp. They couldn’t wait to go in the morning and they didn’t want to leave in the afternoon. They were excited to tell me everything that they did and show me all the crafts they made, all of which we still have…Almost as soon as it was over they asked when they could go back.”