(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Benton County 4-H.)

The Benton County 4-H Day camps in Foley & Sauk Rapids are in full swing for the summer. The program offers exciting themes with huge numbers of participants, and continue sto have a large percentage of participants that are brand new to 4-H. 

4-H Summer intern, Rachel Danielson has worked to prepare for exciting hands-on activities, opportunities to experiment and learn new things. Danielson has been assisted by two powerhouse 4-H summer assistants, Brady Roberts of Sauk Rapids and Travis Boyle of Foley, as well as the 4-H Ambassadors.

There are eight day camps throughout the summer, held in both Foley and Sauk Rapids. Three sets of camps have occured so far. The first camp was about extreme weather where participants learned about all different forces of nature from earthquakes, floods, volcanoes and other extreme weather conditions. They were able to bring home their very own volcano. 

The second camp was AGsploration, where the participants made watermelon baby necklaces, created hanging gardens, and planted seeds. They also created detailed seed art masterpieces. 

The third camp was a hit with Experiments Galore. Summer intern Rachel Danielson showed the participants what happens when you mix Red Bull and milk. The acids in Red Bull caused the protein in the milk to curdle, break apart and rise to the top. The kids were surprised by the different reactions between whole, skim and chocolate milk. During a session led by adult volunteer, Bonnita Bernhardt, the participants used diffraction glasses that produce a spectrum of rainbows in light. The kids were able to ask lots of questions about lasers and spectrums as they experimented with light.

Benton County 4-H still has two day camps left for July 13 in Foley and July 15 in Sauk Rapids. The participants will become food detectives as they investigate what causes bacteria to grow in food, extract DNA from a strawberry, create art with food and much more. Be sure to contact the Benton County Extension Office to sign up. Call 320.968.5077.