UI Extension Opening Camp Up To Families

Summer camps are no longer just for kids.  University of Idaho Extension’s 4-H Alpine Family Camp, launching this summer serving eastern Idaho, will enable parents to share in the outdoor fun and activities with all of their children.  UI Extension educators Paige Wray, Bonneville County, and Kari Ure, Bear Lake County, created the program with the aim of promoting family bonding.

“I always feel like families are very busy and it’s hard to find time to spend together,” said Wray, who has a background in teaching extension classes that strengthen families. “I’ve loved to see that change in the families and see them come together and learn about their family values, letting their kids’ voices be heard.”

Ure said she hopes the camp experience will demonstrate to families that camping and spending time outdoors can be simple and inexpensive, while providing them a template to plan their own trips in the future.

Registration will be open to the first 20 families; the fee to participate is $20 per family. Each family will be assigned a private cabin, and the facilities have running water.  The camp is situated in a heavily forested area adjacent to Palisades Reservoir.

“It’s amazing how close it is to town, but you feel like you’re up in the mountains,” Ure said. “You don’t need a lot of money to get away and enjoy nature together.”

Activities Will Have An Olympic Feel To Them

Families will gather at 4 p.m. on a Friday and will leave after 4 p.m. on a Saturday. Breakfast on Saturday will be included, but families will be asked to bring their own Friday dinner and Saturday lunch.  Activities will have an Olympic theme, taking advantage of amenities at the camp including a grass field, a hiking trail with an overlook of all of the cabins and the lodge, a shooting range and an archery range. 

“I do think it’s fulfilling an opportunity for families to be together, especially at a low cost, without requiring a lot of time off of work,” Wray said. 

Wray knows of a few counties in Utah that have offered family 4-H camps for several years and contacted those offices for guidance. Wray plans to ask participants in the inaugural U of I family camp for input on the length of the camp, as well as other details. In the future, she would like to expand the program, offering more family camps to different groupings of counties, or even to individual counties. 

The camp is scheduled for June 20-21 at the Alpine 4-H Camp in Alpine, WY, which is cooperatively owned by some of UI Extension’s eastern Idaho county offices and the U.S. Forest Service.

Click Here to register.

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