On June 17, the kitchen at the front of The Factory Ministries' building was filled with the unmistakable scent of peanut butter. Five of the dozen children present were lined up by the kitchen sink with their hands in the air waiting for Liana Rogers, elementary program and family outreach coordinator for The Factory, to wash their hands. Rogers patiently removed peanut butter, honey, and pieces of oatmeal from each child's hands while her assistant, Julia Jones, cleaned the same ingredients from the kitchen island. The food items were the remnants of the granola balls the students had made earlier.

Fun with Food for first- through third-grade students in Pequea Valley School District was the theme of the first of four weeks of camp being held at The Factory over the summer. The free Brave Kids Summer Camps are open to all elementary school-age learners in the district with the goals of engaging with others in their age groups and empowering students through summer learning activities. This is the fourth year that the Braves Learning Center has held summer camps with a focus on making learning fun.

Fun with Food was held June 16 through 18 for first- through third-graders and June 24 through 26 for fourth- through sixth-grade students. "We do some cooking," stated Rogers. "Today we started off making pinwheel sandwiches followed by granola balls, and later we will do some protein pretzel bites." On the first day of camp, Rogers reported, the focus was on fruits and vegetables. On day two, students learned about eating a balanced diet, and on the last day, the theme was "being creative in the kitchen."

Following the cooking lesson, the students moved to the gymnatorium, where Jones and Rogers' other assistant, Peter Tyrrell, led games. Much running and merriment occurred during that portion of the camp.

From July 1 through 3, camp was open to students in kindergarten through sixth grade, with sessions in the morning and the afternoon. The theme was "Art & Garden." "Ken's Gardens (donated) a bunch of succulents for us to use, which (was) helpful," stated Rogers, who added that in addition to potting succulents, the students created seed balls and planted tomato seeds. "(There were) a lot of outdoor activities," noted Rogers.

The final week of camp, with activities July 8, through Thursday, July 10, also included many outdoor activities. "It's called 'Getting Messy' camp," stated Rogers, who noted the activities designed for kindergarten through sixth-grade students have included making slime, painting with water shooters on canvases, and tie dyeing.

More information about Factory programs for children may be found at https://thefactoryministries.com/what-we-do/#early-learning.