Adventure Camp Teaches Kids About the Great Outdoors
Minnesota offers a number of outdoor amenities, but to truly appreciate everything, it usually requires a helping hand.
“It’s a ton of fun,” said Andy Harris, the director of the Loppet Foundation’s Adventure Camp.
Adventure Camp is a week-long day camp where counselors introduce kids to activities like mountain biking, rowing, canoeing and orienteering.
Adventure Camp’s home base is at Theodore Wirth Park in Golden Valley, but the 60 kids signed up this week learn to enjoy activities throughout the Chain of Lakes — activities that might have been a relatively foreign concept just a week ago.
“I learned how to mountain bike,” said Charlotte Morris, a camp participant from Minneapolis. “I’ve never gone mountain biking before.”
Whether it be mountain biking or canoeing, it’s a chance for kids to take advantage of the natural resources, which wouldn’t have otherwise been an option.
“Probably on a normal day, no, but since I got introduced to do all this stuff, then I’d probably do it more often,” said Shale Hornig, a camp participant from Edina.
Adventure Camp provides kids with the tools, the expertise, and the confidence to discover the great outdoors.
“We get kids who don’t know how to bike, who don’t know how to paddle, and just being that entry point into these activities that they can take and do for the rest of their lives is enormous,” Harris said.
Adventure Camp Goes Beyond Learning Physical Skills
It’s enormous, not just for the physical skills the kids learn, but for the life lessons that surround each activity .
“Stuff like grit, determination, an adventurous attitude, trying new things,” Harris said. “Those are all wrapped up in the activities that we do.”
The hope is that a week’s-worth of camp activities will help create lifelong adventures.
“I’m just happy to be a small part in their, hopefully, lifelong journey,” Harris said.
Adventure Camp runs through August 17, with a new group of kids taking part every week. Scholarships for the camp are available through the Loppet Foundation.
