| Club of the Month |
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Location:
Whittier International
Elementary
Neighborhood:
Whittier in Minneapolis
When:
Weekly for an hour and a half
Youth:
26 youth
ages 6-8
Club Leader:
Casey Ruhland
Activity Highlight:
Creating recycling posters
- based on
Camp Fire USA's "Trail to the Environment"
curriculum with the outcome that youth place a high value on helping the environment
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| Make this Summer Memorable! |
2009 Camp Tanadoona Brochure
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Keep in the
Camp Fire circle 
Already receive our emails?
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Greetings!
Happy spring! We're excited to see the ground start to thaw at Camp Tanadoona just in time for our club-to-camp day.
Best Regards,
Marnie K. Wells, Chief Executive Officer
With your support, our programs can reach more youth!
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Club to Camp
Urban Camp Fire Club Youth Experience
a Day at Camp Tanadoona 
Each year Camp Fire USA organizes youth in Camp Fire clubs throughout the metro to experience the outdoors at Camp Tanadoona as part of the Club-to-Camp initiative. Friday, March 20 marked the first trip of 2009. Seventy-five youth hopped on yellow buses from their urban neighborhoods to arrive at Camp Tanadoona in Chanhassen at 10:00 a.m.
The youth and their club leaders had a wonderful time making birds, going on scavenger hunts, playing "Rabbits vs. Foxes," and more. The teen group did special activities, putting up tents, learning to build campfires, and cooking their own lunches. Then they put their newly found skills to the test by assisting in building campfires for the rest of the youth to make s'mores.
These trips are inspired by Camp Fire's belief in the power of nature to awaken a child's senses, curiosity and desire to learn. When children get into the outdoors it has significant effects that researchers are only beginning to understand. In Yale University professor, Dr. Stephen Kellert's recently published book, Building for Life, it states, "Play in nature, particularly during the critical period of middle childhood, appears to be an especially important time for developing the capacities for creativity, problem solving, and emotional and intellectual development."
The energy and joy seen in the youth who came to Camp Tanadoona on Friday was a testament to the invigorating power of nature. The next trip scheduled for April 3 will bring out all the remaining youth in Camp Fire clubs.
Related Links:
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Family Activity Resources 
Last week was National Wildlife Week, but it's not too late to celebrate. Here's a sample activity for the family from the National Wildlife Federation:
Green Hour Issue #78: Sound of Silence
Directions excerpt: Everyone gets paper and pencil and sits down where they want. Put an "O" in the middle of the page to signify yourself. Then close your eyes and remain completely quiet for two minutes, listening to what's going on around you. Then place an "X" on the paper in each location where you hear sounds. Next to each "X," identify the source of the sound in words or pictures.
For full directions and many more family activities ideas visit
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Youth Fact of the Month
"Each year, young people on average have a minimum of 1,900 hours of discretionary time--the equivalent of a full-time job for a year--without structure or supervision, according to a report from the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. In Minnesota, 42 percent of kids ages 10 through 12 are home alone after school."
~Dale A. Blyth,
associate dean of Extension's youth development programs and director of the
Center for 4-H Youth Development
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