Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Weird science: Kyle Flagg of Willow Glen watches water drip through a coffee filter at his Prusch Park daycamp. The exercise is a science experiment that mimics the process of how capillaries work.
Prusch farm has it all
Curious kids have fun exploring cornfields, barns, tractors--and super silly science
By Chantal Lamers
The tree-lined pathway into Emma Prusch Memorial Park and Farm makes its visitors forget they're in the middle of Silicon Valley. And for children who attend summer camp at the 18-year-old farm, the cornfields, barns and tractors make the park even more exotic.
Prusch Farm Camp Director Sandi Funke says the weeklong day camp sessions combine recreation and hands-on learning. "We offer a variety of activities every day that are fun and educational," Funke says. "The kids get a really great experience."
Funke says the camp attracts kids from all over the South Bay, including Willow Glen, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, Santa Clara and Milpitas.
Camp sessions run through August. Each week kids can experience a different theme such as Super Silly Science, Feathered Friends, Country Farm Crafts, Dynamic Dynos, Nature's Art, Plants & Ants, Creatures of the Sea and Country Fair. The week's games, crafts, projects and field trip reflect the weeklong learning theme.
Willow Glenite Kyle Flagg, 10, has been a day camp regular for four years. As most of the kids who spend part of their summer soaking up the farm atmosphere, Kyle's favorite activity is feeding the chickens, geese, turkeys, rabbits, ducks and peacocks.
The freckle-faced boy is really looking forward to the Thursday field trip to Moffett Field with his camp counselors and new camp friends. Field trips shuttle campers off to places like the Tech Museum of Innovation, the California Academy of Science and the San Francisco Zoo.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Decorator: Keenan Flagg, left, shows fellow camper Dylan Travers how he's decorating his boomerang with a space motif.
Kyle's 7-year-old brother, Keenan, loves feeding the geese everyday. The little Glenite likes to chase his new, honking feathered friends and to feed them as they roam freely throughout the farm.
Michaela Maley, 6, rubs her nose against a stripped rabbit and smiles. "It's my favorite animal on the farm," she says.
Michaela's sandy blonde, pony-tailed hair flies behind her as she runs to another cage where a peacock is spreading its feathers. The kids watch quietly, mouths gapping. "It's fun just being with everyone and making new friends," Michaela says. "I like the farm animals because they're cute and fuzzy."
The kids meet in the meeting hall each morning and sing camp songs to warm up for the day. Surrounded by crates of magic markers, crayons, rolls of drawing paper and tubes of Elmer's Glue, these kids look forward to getting their hands nice and dirty each day.
During Super Silly Science week, the 45 campers learn about capillary action, and that gravity is the force that pulls an object down. Their experiment includes trimming a coffeepot filter; drawing a big dot in the middle with a magic marker; cutting two half-inch lines leading to the dot; and placing the coffee filter over a cup of water with the strip inside the cup.
Annie Chin, 8, watches capillary action. The ink blob in the middle of her coffee filter blurs down the strip and she smiles, satisfied.
Between activities, the kids play on antique tractors and old manure spreaders scattered throughout a tan bark field. They eat their homemade-bagged lunches together on the hall's deck that overlooks the park's 47 acres of grass and farmland. When it's hot, counselors put on water balloon games and make popsicles.
Camp sessions are Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and cost $100 per session. Summer Camp Scholarships are available through Prusch Farm Park & Cultural Arts Foundation. Extended care beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5:50 p.m. is available for an additional cost. The farm is located at 647 S. King Road in San Jose. For more information about the camp or activities, call 408.926.5555.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
