Summer day camps!

PLAY fun yet meaningful activities that deepen your connection to nature!

LEARN naturalist skills that will help you interpret the mysteries of nature!

EXPERIENCE the skills and crafts of nature survival!

If your children love to be outside and are passionate about nature, this is the camp for them! Every day will be filled with nature-inspired activities and games that will stimulate their senses, refresh their bodies, and rejuvenate their relationship with nature. We will offer both high-energy activities to get their bodies moving, as well as quiet time in nature to ground their minds and spirits. They will learn naturalist skills, survival skills, and crafts that will deepen their love for our precious environment. All games and activities are hands-on, and all crafts are earth based. You kids will come home excited, happy…and probably dirty!

We offer 9 weeks of camp, split into three age groups:

• Forest Foxes are for ages 5-7

• Nature Ninjas are for ages 8-12

• Woodland Scout summer camp for ages 12-14

ALL camps run for 6 hours, from 9:00-3:00. We just run one camp at a time, so please see the schedule below to see what works for your family!

All counselors are First Aid/CPR trained and have background checks through the Department of Justice.

What type of activities do we do at camp?

• Games!...but not your ordinary games. All of the games that we facilitate are designed especially to enhance their senses and physical agility. Games that will challenge them to use their sense of hearing, sight, touch, and smell like never before, tuning them in and connecting them more deeply to their own internal devices. Physical games that will improve their agility, reflexes, and their confidence. Games that they will be sure to come home excited to teach and share so they can continue to play them!

• Swimming! Everyone’s favorite pastime in our hot Chico summers. We carefully chose areas that are safe to swim in our local Big Chico Creek, and all instructors are trained in First Aid/CPR.

• Crafts! Your children will have the opportunity to engage in nature-inspired crafts, such as learning to weave rope out of plant material, make toys from nature, and possibly longer-term projects such as making their own field guide, weaving their own basket, a carved woodcraft or rawhide rattle - all depends on the group dynamic and materials available at that time.

• Skills! We specialize in teaching wilderness living skills, it is what we built our foundation on. Ever wanted to learn about building a shelter in the woods, tracking animals, learning about medicinal/dible/poisonous plants, or fire-by-friction techniques such as the hand drill and bow drill? These may be some of what your child can experience during a week of camp with us. These are skills that are ancient and ancestral to us all, and exciting to learn and practice!

• Nature Connection! Just being outside is so important to a child's development (ah-hem, our own as well!) We will give your children tools to interpret the mysteries of nature, so they can enjoy and understand their time outside even more. We will study the language of birds, and how that can reveal to them what is happening around. We will give them the opportunity to sit quietly outside, strengthening their observation and “quiet” skills. We will teach them how to walk silently on the earth so that they cause less ripples around them, quieting their mind and increasing their chances of observing wildlife. All skills that can last far longer than just the week they spend with us - they can last a lifetime!

Curious to know more details, such as what to bring to camp and what our cancellations policies are? If so, please read our Summer Camp Program Details. This is a required reading for registration as well.

SUMMER CAMPS 2025!!

Registration for summer camps for 2025 opens on Thursday, March 13th at 6:00 PM!

Summer Camp 2025 Prices:

• All 5-day camps are $250 + $50 registration fee, paid at the time of your registration, which will reserve your spot.

• The 4-day camp the week of June 30th is $200 + $50 registration fee.

Partial Scholarships and Discounts Available:

• We are so grateful that the AltaCal Audubon Society has offered us scholarship money to go towards families in need of financial assistance.  These scholarships are made possible thanks to a generous donation from the late Elizabeth I. Brown. We have ten $150 scholarships available. Click here to see details and apply for a partial scholarship.

• We are offering a 10% discount to families with multiple siblings attending our programs.  Your first child will be full price, any additional siblings will be 10% off.

• We are offering a 10% discount to any home schooling student who has attended at least 2 sessions with us this school year.

• Discounts are not applicable if you are receiving a scholarship.

Summer Camp 2025 Schedule