June 17-August 23: 2013 Nearby Nature Daycamps!
| What |
|
|---|---|
| When |
Jun 17, 2013 from 09:00 AM to 04:00 PM |
| Where | Various Local Parks |
| Contact Name | Katie Bennett |
| Contact Phone | 541-687-9699 |
| Add event to calendar |
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iCal
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Click here to go straight to 2013 Summer Daycamp Listings and here for Daycamp Registration-Scholarship Forms or to make a payment!
Nearby Nature daycamps are a medley of adventure, discovery, art, and science. We hike, bike, raft, and canoe. We play games, plant gardens, and do experiments. We tell stories, create art, act, sing, and write. We emphasize respect: of ourselves, each other, and the Earth. Many camps also include special guests or neat field trips! This summer, we’ll take trips to the Science Factory Planetarium, Crux Rock Gym, the UO Bike Barn, the Cascades Raptor Center, and the Spencer Butte Challenge Course. We'll canoe in Alton Baker Park and raft the Willamette River! We’ll also enjoy visits from WREN, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Kalapuya storyteller Esther Stutzman.
Small Group Size
Nearby Nature believes that each child in its camps should get lots of personal attention. We therefore limit each camp to a maximum of twelve kids. In addition to a lead instructor, most camps have an adult volunteer or an intern as well as a teen Outdoor Leader.
Local Parks
Nearby Nature’s daycamps are all based in local parks and natural areas or at schools—Alton Baker Park, Skinner Butte Park, and the Cascades Raptor Center. Water and bathroom facilities are available. Activities take place outdoors, rain or shine. Specific information about drop-off and pick-up points is provided in confirmation materials.
The Learnscape
Nearby Nature's site in Alton Baker Park features the Learnscape.
Much more than a simple landscape, the Learnscape has outdoor
classrooms, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, murals, a covered bike rack, native
plant landscaping, compost bins, a 
Experienced Instructors
Each lead instructor is an experienced naturalist educator and most are certified teachers. All lead instructors are certified in First Aid and CPR and have passed background checks. Resumes are available upon request. Information about our staff is also available by clicking here.
Times and Dates
Camps for 2013 start the week of June 17th and run through August 23rd. Each camp is one week long and has its own unique theme. Many camps run three hours per day, 9 am-noon or 1-4 pm. We also offer all day camps that run from 9 am-4 pm! Lunch care from noon-1 pm is available for most camps.
Ages
Campers are divided into five age groups: 3-4½ year olds (Minnows*), 4½-5 year olds (Dragonflies), 6-8 year olds (Tree Frogs), 8-11 year olds (Blue Herons), and 12-15 year olds (Owls). We offer many weeks with concurrent sessions for different age groups! Parents of children enrolled in Minnows camps (as well as parents of kids in higher level camps) are welcome to stay for all or part of any camp session.
*Note: Children enrolled in Minnows camps need to be potty trained.
Costs
Week-long, half day camps (3 hours) cost $100 per session for members and $115 for non-members. Week-long, all day camps (7 hours) cost $200 per session for members and $235 for non-members. Owls teen camps (4 hours) cost $135 per session for members and $155 per session for non-members. Additional $10-$25 fees are charged for some camps with special activities.
Lunchtime care, from noon-1 pm, is available for $20 per week, or $5 per day drop in. See camp descriptions for specific weeks.
Each child who enrolls in our camps will get a FREE t-shirt at his or her first camp!
Scholarships
Nearby Nature believes that all children should have access to outdoor adventures in nature nearby. Thanks to a generous grant from EWEB, scholarship assistance is available for camps that include activities focused on watershed ecology or resource conservation. Thanks to the Nearby Nature's Youth Scholarship Fund, limited assistance is available for other camps as well. To apply for a scholarship, fill out the appropriate section on our daycamp registration form.
Registration
To sign up for camps, please fill out both sides of our daycamp registration form. To join Nearby Nature and receive a camp 
Adult and Teen Volunteers Needed
Nearby Nature volunteers are an integral part of our programs. These dedicated and fun folks come from all walks of life and have all sorts of skills and interests to share with our campers. Some of our teen Outdoor Leaders were once campers themselves! Many of our interns go on to share what they have learned from working with Nearby Nature in other communities all over the country. Our adult volunteers often work with our school nature walks program as well. If you are interested in joining us as an adult assistant, an intern, or a teen Outdoor Leader, let us know by calling 541-687-9699 or emailing info@nearbynature.org. Volunteers are needed for each camp. Training for 2013 happens on June 14 and 15. Click Outdoor Leader for a teen volunteer application. Click Internships for more information about summer internships.
Specific Daycamp Topics, Dates, and Times
Nearby Nature's 2013 summer daycamps begin June 17 and end August 23. Topics include everything from bugs to bikes, rivers to rocks, wheels to wings!
Remember, camps serve five different age groups: Minnows (3-4 1/2), Dragonflies (4 1/2-5), Tree Frogs (6-8), Blue Herons (8-11), and Owls (12-14).
For registration and scholarship information see our Summer Daycamp Registration Forms. If you would like to receive a copy of our printed brochure in the mail, please send us your address at info@nearbynature.org. Full camp details are posted below.
Daycamps Listed by Age
Group:
Click here to go to Daycamps by Week.
Click here for Summer Daycamp Registration and Scholarship Forms and On-Line Payments.
Please note that we do maintain a waiting list for camps that fill. Please call 541-687-9699 or email info@nearbynature.org to be put on a specific wait-list. Enrollment information last updated 5-20-13.
Minnows (ages 3-4½)
HOP, SKIP, and JUMP
June 17-21, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about wild animals and how they go! Play animal games and sing animal songs. Make music with one of our costumed Kinder Critters!
WIGGLERS and WADDLERS
July 8-12, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Check out what’s wiggling and waddling in and near the water. Play fun water games and tell water tales. Dance with a costumed Kinder Critter!
GROWING UP GREEN--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 22-26, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Get to know
plants through 
NATURE in a NUTSHELL
August 12-16, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Celebrate the senses in our Learnscape Gardens. Listen to singing birds, touch friendly bugs, smell colorful flowers, and watch wiggly worms. Meet a costumed Kinder Critter!
GREEN GARDENERS
August 19-23, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Dig in the dirt, plant seeds, and harvest delicious garden goodies. Sing songs, play games, and create garden art. Meet a friendly costumed Kinder Critter!
Dragonflies (ages 4½-5)
CIRCLE of LIFE--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
BUSY BUILDERS
July 1-5 (4-day camp, no camp 4th of July), 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how animals make their homes. Check out nests, watch webs, and find beaver sticks. Learn about earth-friendly human homes and build your own miniature house using lessons learned from animals!
MAGIC FOREST
July 15-19, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Explore the magical world of a green, growing forest. Tell tall tree tales and make wood gnomes from forest finds. Build fairy houses and name your favorite park tree.
POSITIVELY POLLINATORS
July 22-26, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how plants and animals cooperate in nature. Look for butterflies in our Learnscape Gardens and discover how bees make honey. Meet our Kinder Critter Bella Butterfly!
BOUNTY of BUGS--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 29-August 2, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Explore
ponds, look 
EARTHKEEPERS
August 5-9, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Bake with sunlight, create recycled art, and play Poohsticks! Harvest garden goodies from the Learnscape, make tunes from trash, and catch cool creepy crawlies.
SUN FUN
August 12-16, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how the sun helps plants grow. Make sun prints, create seed art, tell sun stories, and build homes for flower fairies and wood sprites. Harvest garden goodies!
Tree Frogs (ages 6-8)
NATURE TRAILS & TALES
June 17-21, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Look for and identify tracks and traces in Alton Baker Park and use them to read nature’s tales! Cast tracks, sing songs, and illustrate a tracking journal. Learn star stories at the Science Factory Planetarium and Kalapuya tales with storyteller and elder Esther Stutzman.
LET’S GO!
June 24-28, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Learn how things go—from windmills to wheels, salmon to seeds. Design art that flies, rolls, and hops. Help build and race model cars that are powered by the sun!
WATER WORKS
July 1-5, 9-noon (4-day camp, no camp 4th of July), Alton Baker Park: Dive into a watery world! Check out the mighty Willamette River, play Mountain Melt, and create things that are moved by water. Discover how ice and salt turn milk into ice cream and build boats out of recycled materials to launch in the canal.
July 8-12, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Get to know your rhythm and rhyme with Rhian Pyke, the drummer from Dance Africa. Create instruments from recycled stuff, learn dance moves and drum beats, and feel the rhythm of the river as you canoe in the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours. *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
ROCK-IT!
July 15-19, 1-4 pm, Skinner Butte: Explore the butte, check out Eugene’s famous rock columns, and enjoy the River Play playground. Use what you learn about local rivers and rocks to build a volcano. Visit Crux Rock Gym for an introduction to indoor climbing! *Extra fee for rock climbing. See registration form.
HAZELNUT HOLLOW THEATER--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 22-26, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: All the (outdoor) world is a stage in this fun nature theater camp! Spend the week acting like animals, singing water cycle songs, and working on a play called The Earth on Turtle’s Back. Make masks from recycled and natural materials and present your production in the Hazelnut Hollow Theater!
FOREST FORTS--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 29-August 2, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Go on an animal homes hunt and get inspired to build your own special shelters! Create castles from recycled materials and forts from things you find in the forest. Play games, build sand sculptures, and have fun in the Squirrel Kitchen!
SUN CATCHERS
August 5-9, 1-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover how the sun can power an oven, move model cars, and grow plants. Collect veggies in our Learnscape and prepare a fresh feast. Catch garden creepers and crawlers, learn garden songs, and make paper you can plant. Learn about beekeeping from an expert beekeeper!
ECO EXPLORERS--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
August 12-16, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore off the beaten path in Alton Baker Park! Go on a fossil hunt, unearth compost critters, and find camouflaged aquatic insects. Use magnifiers and microscopes to solve mysteries up close and binoculars to check out what’s happening in the distance. Use maps and compasses for treasure and scavenger hunts!
SCALES, TAILS, and SAILS--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
August 19-23, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how aquatic critters—from scaly salmon to flat-tailed beavers—make waves in the water! Learn how boats float and build your own creations that sail in the water and soar on the wind! Canoe in the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours. *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
Blue Herons (ages 8-11)
RIVER RACERS
WINGED WONDERS
July 8-12, 1-4 pm, Cascade Raptor Center: Go behind the scenes and enjoy close-up encounters with hawks, vultures, and owls hosted by staff from the Cascades Raptor Center! Learn about a new bird of prey every day, create raptor art, and share raptor tales. Dissect owl pellets and go on a scavenger hunt on the Ridgeline Trail. *Extra fee for this camp. See registration form.
WHEELS to WATER, SESSION ONE
July 15-19, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the
Willamette riverside by bike and watch water wildlife. Visit the UO Bike Barn,
take apart old bikes, and learn to fix flat tires. Us
DIG IT!
August 5-9, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover urban farming! Sing, do yoga, garden, and harvest in our Learnscape. Cook in the solar oven, make plantable paper, and create illustrated recipe booklets. Hang out in the bean tipis and catch garden bugs. Visit a working farm and learn about beekeeping from an expert beekeeper!
WHEELS to WATER, SESSION TWO
August 19-23, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the Willamette riverside by bike and watch water wildlife. Visit the UO Bike Barn, take apart old bikes, and learn to fix flat tires. Use maps to pedal yourself to some of Eugene’s best outdoor adventure spots. Canoe on the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours! *You must have or borrow a bike and helmet for this camp. Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
Owls (ages 12-15)
NEW! TEEN LEADERSHIP CAMP
June 24-28, noon-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn to lead nature games, tell stories, bicycle, and explore the outdoors safely with little kids. Work as a team as you take on the Spencer Butte Ropes Challenge Course! Get real first aid/CPR certification and a certificate for completing this course. Hone your skills for babysitting, working as a camp counselor, and increased independence. *Extra fee for challenge course. See registration form.
Daycamps Listed by Week:
Click here to go to Daycamps by Age Group.
Click here for Summer Daycamp Registration and Scholarship Form and On-Line Payments.
Please note that we do maintain a waiting list for camps that fill. Please call 541-687-9699 or email info@nearbynature.org to be put on a specific wait-list. Enrollment information last updated 5-20-13.
June 17-21
HOP, SKIP, and JUMP (Minnows)
June 17-21, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about wild animals and how they go! Play animal games and sing animal songs. Make music with one of our costumed Kinder Critters!
NATURE TRAILS & TALES (Tree Frogs)
June 17-21, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Look for and identify tracks and traces in Alton Baker Park and use them to read nature’s tales! Cast tracks, sing songs, and illustrate a tracking journal. Learn star stories at the Science Factory Planetarium and Kalapuya tales with storyteller and elder Esther Stutzman.
June 24-28
CIRCLE of LIFE (Dragonflies)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
June 24-28, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about nature’s cycles. Do the Water Cycle Boogie, search for nature’s recyclers, explore our Learnscape Gardens, and look for crawling critters. Do the Frog Hop rap and act out the Great Big Sun song!
LET’S GO! (Tree Frogs)
June 24-28, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Learn how things go—from windmills to wheels, salmon to seeds. Design art that flies, rolls, and hops. Help build and race model cars that are powered by the sun!
NEW! TEEN LEADERSHIP CAMP (Owls)
June 24-28, noon-4 pm, Alton Baker
Park: Learn to lead nature 
July 1-5 (no camp July4)
BUSY BUILDERS (Dragonflies)
July 1-5 (4-day camp, no camp 4th of July), 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how animals make their homes. Check out nests, watch webs, and find beaver sticks. Learn about earth-friendly human homes and build your own miniature house using lessons learned from animals! (prorated fee for this camp)
WATER WORKS (Tree Frogs)
July 1-5, 9-noon (4-day camp, no camp 4th of July), Alton Baker Park: Dive into a watery world! Check out the mighty Willamette River, play Mountain Melt, and create things that are moved by water. Discover how ice and salt turn milk into ice cream and build boats out of recycled materials to launch in the canal. (prorated fee for this camp)
RIVER RACERS (Blue Herons)
July 1-5, 1-4 pm, (4-day camp, no camp 4th of July), Alton Baker Park: Explore the wild world of water! Build a water wheel, siphon, and ferry boat. Create a candle-powered steam boat and float it down the canoe canal. Explore the Willamette River and raft its waters with guides from the City of Eugene Outdoor Program! *Extra fee for rafting trip. See registration form. (prorated fee for this camp)
July
8-12
WIGGLERS and WADDLERS (Minnows)
July 8-12, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Check out what’s wiggling and waddling in and near the water. Play fun water games and tell water tales. Dance with a costumed Kinder Critter!
RIVER, RHYTHM & RHYME (Tree Frogs)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 8-12, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Get to know your rhythm and rhyme with Rhian Pyke, the drummer from Dance Africa. Create instruments from recycled stuff, learn dance moves and drum beats, and feel the rhythm of the river as you canoe in the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours. *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
WINGED WONDERS (Blue Herons)
July 8-12, 1-4 pm, Cascade Raptor Center: Go behind the scenes and enjoy close-up encounters with hawks, vultures, and owls hosted by staff from the Cascades Raptor Center! Learn about a new bird of prey every day, create raptor art, and share raptor tales. Dissect owl pellets and go on a scavenger hunt on the Ridgeline Trail. *Extra fee for this camp. See registration form.
July
15-19
MAGIC FOREST (Dragonflies)
July 15-19, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Explore the magical world of a green, growing forest. Tell tall tree tales and make wood gnomes from forest finds. Build fairy houses and name your favorite park tree.
ROCK-IT! (Tree Frogs)
July 15-19, 1-4 pm, Skinner Butte: Explore the butte, check out Eugene’s famous rock columns, and enjoy the River Play playground. Use what you learn about local rivers and rocks to build a volcano. Visit Crux Rock Gym for an introduction to indoor climbing! *Extra fee for rock climbing. See registration form.
WHEELS to WATER, SESSION ONE (Blue Herons)
July 15-19, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the Willamette riverside by bike and watch water wildlife. Visit the UO Bike Barn, take apart old bikes, and learn to fix flat tires. Use maps to pedal yourself to some of Eugene’s best outdoor adventure spots. Canoe on the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours! *You must have or borrow a bike for this camp. Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
July 22-26
GROWING UP GREEN (Minnows)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 22-26, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park:
Get to know plants through games, songs, and
POSITIVELY POLLINATORS (Dragonflies)
July 22-26, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how plants and animals cooperate in nature. Look for butterflies in our Learnscape Gardens and discover how bees make honey. Meet our Kinder Critter Bella Butterfly!
HAZELNUT HOLLOW THEATER (Tree Frogs)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 22-26, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: All the (outdoor) world is a stage in this fun nature theater camp! Spend the week acting like animals, singing water cycle songs, and working on a play called The Earth on Turtle’s Back. Make masks from recycled and natural materials and present your production in the Hazelnut Hollow Theater!
July
29-August 2
BOUNTY of BUGS (Dragonflies)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 29-August 2, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Explore ponds, look under logs, and swing nets through grass as you hunt for bugs of all shapes and colors! Learn about insects and do the Dragonfly Dance!
FOREST FORTS (Tree Frogs)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
July 29-August 2, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Go on an animal homes hunt and get inspired to build your own special shelters! Create castles from recycled materials and forts from things you find in the forest. Play games, build sand sculptures, and have fun in the Squirrel Kitchen!
August 5-9
EARTHKEEPERS (Dragonflies)
August 5-9, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Bake with sunlight, create recycled art, and play Poohsticks! Harvest garden goodies from the Learnscape, make tunes from trash, and catch cool creepy crawlies.
SUN CATCHERS (Tree Frogs)
August 5-9, 1-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover how the sun can power an oven, move model cars, and grow plants. Collect veggies in our Learnscape and prepare a fresh feast. Catch garden creepers and crawlers, learn garden songs, and make paper you can plant. Learn about beekeeping from an expert beekeeper!
DIG IT! (Blue Herons)
August 5-9, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker
Park: Discover urban farming! 
August 12-16
NATURE in a NUTSHELL (Minnows)
August 12-16, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Celebrate the senses in our Learnscape Gardens. Listen to singing birds, touch friendly bugs, smell colorful flowers, and watch wiggly worms. Meet a costumed Kinder Critter!
August 12-16, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how the sun helps plants grow. Make sun prints, create seed art, tell sun stories, and build homes for flower fairies and wood sprites. Harvest garden goodies!
ECO EXPLORERS (Tree Frogs)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
August 12-16, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore off the beaten path in Alton Baker Park! Go on a fossil hunt, unearth compost critters, and find camouflaged aquatic insects. Use magnifiers and microscopes to solve mysteries up close and binoculars to check out what’s happening in the distance. Use maps and compasses for treasure and scavenger hunts!
August 19-23
GREEN GARDENERS (Minnows)
August 19-23, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Dig in the dirt, plant seeds, and harvest delicious garden goodies. Sing songs, play games, and create garden art. Meet a friendly costumed Kinder Critter!
SCALES, TAILS, and SAILS (Tree Frogs)--THIS CAMP IS FULL! Please contact us to get a spot on the waiting list.
August 19-23, 9-noon, Alton Baker Park: Discover how aquatic critters—from scaly salmon to flat-tailed beavers—make waves in the water! Learn how boats float and build your own creations that sail in the water and soar on the wind! Canoe in the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours. *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.
August 19-23, 9 am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the Willamette riverside by bike and watch water wildlife. Visit the UO Bike Barn, take apart old bikes, and learn to fix flat tires. Use maps to pedal yourself to some of Eugene’s best outdoor adventure spots. Canoe on the canal with Northwest Canoe Tours! *You must have or borrow a bike and helmet for this camp. Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form
Click Registration Forms to sign up.
Click here to return to Daycamps by Age Group.
Click here to return to Daycamps by Week.
