THE FACILITY

Camp Daisy, located 20 miles southwest of Topeka, Kansas, has 160 acres of natural beauty. Established in 1929, Camp Daisy has been offering girls an opportunity to experience outdoor living for nearly 80 years! Camp Daisy has a swimming pool, horse barn, lake, archery field and lots of hiking trails.

Living arrangements vary from A-frame cabins to platform tents. A-frame cabins sleep 8 girls on cots with mattresses. A platform tent is a full canvas tent with a wooden floor that sleeps 4 campers on cots with mattresses. All units have access to storm shelters, latrines, showers, and unit houses. Counselors stay in centrally located cabins or tents near the campers

WHAT TO EXPECT

Camp Daisy is a place where variety and adventure fill every day! Campers enjoy many different activities including archery, swimming, canoeing or kayaking, crafts, campfires and cookouts. Living in a group with girls your own age, planning and cooking a meal, and keeping your area of camp in good shape are all part of the fun! Many Daisy campers return year after year, and teen campers find a variety of opportunities to learn and practice leadership skills.

All campers will be evaluated for swimming ability during their first pool time. The evaluation includes: jumping into the water over your head, coming back to the surface and staying above water for one minute by swimming, floating or treading water. A lifejacket (PFD) will be thrown to each camper who will put it on in the water and swim 25 yards (one length of the pool). Campers who register for canoeing, kayaking or swimming programs must successfully complete this evaluation, or they may be placed in a different program group at the camp director's discretion.

CAMP DESCRIPTIONS - Camp Daisy

You and your patrol may choose to hike, swim, canoe, kayak, sing, play games, create art projects, and have a wonderful time doing a little bit of everything Camp Daisy has to offer. Explore all areas of camp from Lake Odonata to the buddy tree and beyond!

Join us for an angle on camp built just for teens like you: you choose what you want to do (and when to do it)--sleep in, cook out, hop in a canoe or kayak for some time on the water or just hang out by the lake. Take a break from your busy life! Come on out to camp to relax, hang out with friends, and choose some camp activities to brighten up your day. Go canoeing or kayaking. Design cool jewelry or cook your own dinner. Catch some rays at the swimming pool! The sky's the limit as you and your friends enjoy everything camp has to offer. It's all about being independent, and it's all about making some great friends and having a really awesome time together. Cool counselors, cool choices and a totally you environment.

Here's a chance to challenge yourself to the ultimate camping experience! Put your camping skills to use as you spend your week in a primitive campsite. Along with your campmates, you'll develop new and impressive camping skills like lashing, cooking over a fire, and digging your own latrine-you can even participate in a "survival night" if you want to! Of course, there will be plenty of time to visit the swimming pool and participate in other camp activities too.

Prerequisite: Previous resident camp experience, familiarity with basic camping skills, interest in primitive camping (no running water or toilets).

Let your imagination soar in the great outdoors while you dabble in the world of creative arts. Campers will spend part of each day exploring various art forms and making crafts. Pottery, painting and jewelry are just a few of the arts you might choose to explore this summer. Be sure to save time to visit the pool and check out other great camp activities too!

Fill your days with theater, song, dance and artwork. Share the spotlight as you spend time working on a production to perform for the entire camp. You might paint scenery, design costumes, or learn to be a stage manager. Bring your musical instruments, art supplies, costumes! Of course, you'll have plenty of time to participate in other great camp activities like hiking, cooking out, and swimming.

Have you ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of Nancy Drew or other great detectives? Here is your chance to give it a try! In addition to normal camp activities, you will learn how to lift fingerprints, analyze clues, and solve a mystery! After you master these skills, you will build your own mystery to stump your fellow detectives and counselors. You never know when the next mystery will be just around the corner! Take a break from your detective work to check out other camp activities like swimming, arts and crafts, and hiking.

Let Technology guide your way as you step into the digital age. From digital photography to GPS units and more, this camp will be sure to spark the interest of any tech-savvy girl! Of course, there will be plenty of time for cookouts, campfires, and swimming, and hanging out with your new friends too!

As the moon comes up, get ready to explore the mysteries of the night. Stay up late to check out the camp night life, stargaze, plan a night feast, or a sunset canoe. Let the darkness capture your imagination. Of course you will still have time for swimming, campfires, cookout and other camp fun!

Where the sidewalk ends, the fun begins. How old is that tree? What about those bugs? Come explore and help us figure out the mysteries of nature at Camp Daisy. Discover new things about plants, bugs, water, and critters while leaving time for everything else camp has to offer.

Paddle away your days on Lake Odanata. What better way to stay cool on those hot summer days! You will spend time each day developing basic canoe and kayak paddling and safety skills. Of course, you'll still have time to enjoy hiking, cooking, swimming and other great camp activites too!

If you love the water and are ready for an adventure, then grab your paddle and go! Spend the week perfecting your canoe and kayak skills. A wet and wild week designed for those who are looking for something a little more challenging-remember to take a break from the lake to go hiking, build a campfire and go swimming!

Get wet, have fun, and enjoy your days in the sun. Learn strokes, prefect a dive, have a polar bear breakfast- you and your patrol will choose how to spend your time in the water while drying off in time to take part in other camp activities like hiking, crafts, canoeing, kayaking and more.

Get a strong start down the path towards becoming a lifeguard! Learn about preventing aquatic emergencies, leadership and professionalism in lifeguarding. (This program does not give participants the information and skills they need to be certified as a lifeguard. It DOES prepare you to excel in a certification program offered frequently through local chapters of the American Red Cross.) Make sure to save time to participate in other camp activities like crafts, hiking, and cooking out, too!

Prerequisite: Swim the front crawl for 25 yards continuously while breathing to the front or side. Tread water for 1 minute using arms and legs. Submerge and swim a distance of 10 feet underwater.

Thinking about becoming a Counselor-In-Training sometime in the future? Challenge yourself to a fun filled adventure as you use your leadership skills in an outdoor setting! Hang out with girls your own age while being a role model for younger campers at Camp Daisy. You'll also have time to check out many of the great activities Camp Daisy has to offer! Requirements for Leadership U will be completed in this session.

Sign up for our biggest adventure-a six-day backpacking trip on the Ozark Trail through Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest! This trip means primitive camping, serious hiking, bushwhacking, river crossing, land navigation…and fun! There will be a MANDATORY pre-trek orientation, menu and equipment planning meeting on Tuesday, June 23rd from 7:00-8:30p.m. at the Kansas City Girl Scout Headquarters. Please note: Bus service is not available for the trip home from camp for this program.

Prerequisite: Beginning Backpackers or documented backpacking experience, map and compass skills, good physical condition.

Be a part of the Canoe Trek patrol on the Current River in the Mark Twain National Forest. You will use your paddling skills and primitive camping skills as you navigate a six-day, 70-mile route. There will be a MANDATORY pre-trek orientation, menu and equipment planning meeting on Tuesday, June 23rd from 7:00-8:30p.m. at the Kansas City Girl Scout Headquarters. Please note: Bus service is not available for the trip home from camp for this program.

Prerequisite: Outpost, successful completion of swimming skills evaluation and Canoe Crew 2 or Out There-Paddlesports and good physical condition.