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Northern Illinois 4-H Summer Camp – Where Young Minds Grow, Learn, and Thrive!

graphic of a campfire and the 4-H clover logo

Registration for 4-H Camp 2025 is open! 4-H Camp is set for June 8-12, 2025, at Rock River Christian Camp, Polo, IL. Sign up today to get your child in on all the amazing fun!

4-H Camp is a five-day, four-night residential camping experience that is conducted cooperatively by University of Illinois Extension staff in Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago Counties and the professional staff at RRCC.

Historically, parents have sent their children to 4-H Camp for a variety of reasons: to have fun, to make new friends, to develop new skills, to be physically active, and to appreciate nature. 4-H Camp is about way more than one week of fun. Sending your child to 4-H Camp will allow them to create memories they will carry with them through adulthood. 4-H camp teaches youth to make good decisions, build their self-confidence, become independent, and gain the ability to work well with others. These skills will help youth develop into strong adult leaders. In addition, 4-H camp counselors devote much of their personal time to ensure today’s campers have the same great experience they did as children.

Campers at 4-H Camp will check in from 6:00-6:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, 2025, and check out from 6:00-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, 2025. During camp week, youth will engage in a variety of activities designed to challenge, educate, and entertain. Two or three free-choice periods will be offered daily, including hiking, shooting sports, arts and crafts, crate stacking, team-building challenges, zip-lining, swimming, and more. Evening activities will be provided by the 4-H camp counselors and include campfires, a games night, and a dance or talent show. It is guaranteed to be a blast!

4-H Camp is open to ALL boys and girls, ages 8-14 by June 8, 2025. 4-H membership is not required; however, all participants will be expected to comply with the same high behavior standards expected of 4-Hers. Youth must be interested and excited to have a week of outdoor fun, away from television and technology.

The early bird cost is $325 for 4-H members and $375 for non-4-H members until March 1, 2025. After that date, the price goes up to $350 for 4-H members and $400 for non-4-H members. All camp fees must be paid in full by May 15, 2025. Register online at http://go.illinois.edu/4HSummerCamp. You may also call an office near you: Jo Daviess County at 815-858-2273; Stephenson County at 815-235-4125; Ogle County at 815-732-2191; or Whiteside County at 815-632-3611. Slots for boys’ and girls’ cabins will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Annalee Anderson, Evelyn Noller, and Ella Dittmar, Jo Daviess County 4-Hers, completed the Counselor in Training (CIT) opportunity available to campers 14 years old and planning to apply to be a camp counselor in the future.
Annalee Anderson, Evelyn Noller, and Ella Dittmar, Jo Daviess County 4-Hers, completed the Counselor in Training (CIT) opportunity available to campers 14 years old and planning to apply to be a camp counselor in the future.
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It is 4-H Camp week, and Karla and Scott Noller, Stockton, are checking in their children, Alyssa, Evelyn, and Kyle, for their 5-day camp experience in Polo, IL.
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Lane Vondran, a first-time camper from Scales Mound, showing off the tie-dyed t-shirt he made during one of the arts and crafts camptivities.
About Extension

University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.