June 21-August 27: 2010 Summer Daycamps

Nearby Nature's 2010 summer daycamps begin June 21 and end August 27! Check out the list of our offerings below. If you would like to receive a copy of our brochure in the mail, please let us know by email: info@nearbynature.org.

Camps serve four different age groups: Minnows (3-4 1/2), Dragonflies (4 1/2-5), Tree Frogs (6-8), and Blue Herons (8-11).

For a detailed list of camps organized by age group click here. For a summary list of camps by week click here. For more general details about our camps, see Nearby Nature Summer Daycamps.

To register and for EWEB Scholarship information see our Summer Daycamp Registration Form. Note that some camps are FULL. These camps are marked in the list below. Please feel free to call and get on the wait list for these camps as a new space does occasionally open up when families change their summer plans.

Camps Listed by Age Group:

Minnows (ages 3-4½)

DOWN in the DIRT

June 21-25, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Discover the hidden world below your feet. Go on a bug hunt, build sandcastles, and create with clay. Meet a friendly costumed Kinder Critter!

GROWING UP GREEN

July 5-9, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

From the tiniest seed to the tallest tree, discover the world of plants through games, songs, and stories at our Learnscape. Meet our favorite green Kinder Critter!

WIGGLERS and WADDLERS

July 26-30, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park      

Check out what’s wiggling and waddling in and near the water. Play fun water games and tell water tales. Do the Dragonfly Dance with a costumed Kinder Critter!

NATURE in a NUTSHELL -- FULL

August 23-27, 9:00 am-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!

Dragonflies (ages 4½-5)

CIRCLE of LIFE -- FULL 

June 28-July 2, 9:00 am-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 baby bugs. Do the Frog Hop rap and act out the Great Big Sun Song!

POSITIVELY POLLINATORS -- FULL

July 12-16, 9:00 am-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. Enjoy a visitor from the School Garden Project and meet our Kinder Critter, Bella Butterfly!

BUSY BUILDERS -- FULL

July 19-23, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Learn how animals make their homes. Check out nests, watch webs, and find beaver sticks. Make your own miniature houses using lessons learned from animals!

MAGIC FOREST

July 26-30, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Explore the magical world of a green, growing forest. Tell tall tree tales, make wood gnomes from forest finds. Build fairy houses and name your favorite park tree.

BUTTERFLIES to BEAVERS      

August 2-6, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Go on critter patrol! Catch pond bugs, find beaver trees, make bird nests, tell animal tales, and create wildlife art. Pick flowers in the Learnscape Gardens!

SUN FUN

August 16-20, 9:00 am-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)

CREEPY, CRAWLY, SLITHERY & SLIMY

June 21-25, 9:00 am-4:00 pm Alton Baker Park

Explore the ponds, look under logs, and swing nets through the grass. Discover bugs that eat fish, frogs that eat birds, and more! Go on a tracks and traces hunt with Rees Maxwell, co-founder of Whole Earth Nature School. Meet the Bug People with their giant millipede and other live creepy crawlies!

GO GREEN

June 28-July 2, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Dig, plant, and harvest during this fun camp hosted by the School Garden Project of Lane County. Collect veggies in our Learnscape Gardens and prepare a garden fresh feast! Hike to the UO Urban Garden. Catch garden creepers and crawlers, learn garden songs, and make paper you can plant!

MESS WITH MUD -- FULL

July 5-9, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Discover the magic of mud! Mix it, model it, squish it, and shake it. Learn about what’s going on in the world under your feet. Do the Rock Cycle Rap, make critters out of clay, go on a fossil hunt, and make a landform layer cake...yum!

LET’S GO! -- FULL

July 12-16, 1:00-4:00 pm, Alton Baker Park

Learn how things go—from bikes to birds, salmon to seeds. Create art that flies, rolls, and hops. Make boats to race in the canal. Design a model battery-powered car and see how fast you can make it go with help from EWEB.

RIVER, RHYTHM & RHYME -- FULL

July 19-23, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Alton Baker Park

Discover your rhythm and rhyme with Rhian Pyke, the drummer from Dance Africa. Create instruments from recycled stuff, learn new dance moves and drum beats, and discover the song of the river as you canoe in the park’s canal with Oregon River Sports! *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.

FISH TALES

August 2-6, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Learn the salmon’s life story and we explore the watery world of the river. Meet a salmon expert from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and catch bugs—salmon’s dinner! Enjoy a visit to the Science Factory Planetarium to learn about fish tales in the stars

NATURE DETECTIVES -- FULL

August 9-13, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park      

Unearth compost critters, go on a fossil hunt, and find camouflaged aquatic insects. Use magnifiers to solve mysteries up close and binoculars to check out what’s happening in the distance. Go on a treasure or scavenger hunt every day!

RIVERS and ROCKS

August 16-20, 1:00-4:00 pm, Skinner Butte Park

Hike the butte, play games, and build a volcano. Learn about pioneers and hear Esther Stutzman’s Kalapuya tales. Check out Eugene’s famous rock columns and the River Play playground. Visit Crux Rock Gym for an introduction to indoor climbing! *Extra fee for rock climbing. See registration form.

WORLD OF WATER -- FULL

August 23-27, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Alton Baker Park

Build a solar still, make terrariums, and learn about salmon migration. Make drip sand castles and experiment with watershed models. Visit the Willamette River and play Mountain Melt. Canoe in the canal with Oregon River Sports. Discover how ice and salt turn milk into ice cream! *Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.

Blue Herons (ages 8-11)

GREEN TEAM

July 5-9, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Alton Baker Park

Go green in this arts and adventure camp for kids who love to work and play with their hands. Create a masterpiece at MECCA and make mosaics in the Learnscape. Enjoy a team building blind rope walk in the park and try out part of the Spencer Butte Ropes Challenge Course. Hike Spencer Butte! *Extra fee for this camp. See registration form.

EARTHWORKS

JULY 12-16, 9:00 am-noon, Alton Baker Park

Discover urban farming in this camp hosted by the School Garden Project! Learn about bee keeping, spinning rabbit hair, and growing a garden. Create garden art and harvest garden goodies in our Learnscape. Take a field trip to the Living Earth Farm to meet dairy goats and hunt for chicken eggs.

WET and WILD  

August 2-6, 1:00-4:00 pm, River House

Dive into the world of water! Learn all about salmon migration and aquatic insects. Work on a Maurie Jacobs Park restoration project with the Stream Team. Experiment with model watersheds and go rafting down the Willamette River with guides from the City of Eugene Outdoor Program! *Extra fee for rafting trip. See registration form.

WINGED WONDERS

August 9-13, 1:00-4:00 pm, Cascades Raptor Center

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 hike the Ridgeline Trail. *Extra fee for this camp. See registration form.

ROCK, RIVER, and ROLL

August 16-20, 1:00-4:00 pm, Skinner Butte Park

Climb the butte and wander the riverside. Make volcanoes, check out fossils, and learn about Oregon geology. Hear Esther Stutzman’s Kalapuya Indian tales and learn about pioneer history. Try climbing at Crux Rock Gym! *Extra fee for rock climbing. See registration form.

WHEELS to WATER -- FULL

August 23-27, 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Alton Baker Park

Explore the Willamette riverside by bike. Watch birds, wade in the water, and catch bugs. Learn to fix a flat tire and bike around town safely. Go on a field trip to Co-Motion Cycles to learn how bikes are made. Use water quality testing tools and enjoy canoeing on the canal with Oregon River Sports. *You must have or borrow a bike for this camp. Extra fee for canoeing. See registration form.

Daycamps Weekly Summary

WEEK 1: June 21-25

• DOWN in the DIRT (Minnows), 9-noon, ABP
• CREEPY, CRAWLY, SLITHERY, SLIMY (Tree Frogs), 9 am-4 pm, ABP

WEEK 2: June 28-July 2

• CIRCLE OF LIFE (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP -- FULL
  
• GO GREEN (Tree Frogs), 9-noon, ABP

WEEK 3: July 5-9 

• GROWING UP GREEN (Minnows), 9-noon, ABP
• MESS WITH MUD (Tree Frogs), 9-noon, ABP -- FULL                         
• GREEN TEAM (Blue Herons), 9 am-4 pm, ABP

WEEK 4: July 12-16

• POSITIVELY POLLINATORS (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP -- FULL
  
• LET’S GO (Tree Frogs), 1-4 pm, ABP -- FULL                         
• EARTHWORKS (Blue Herons), 9-noon, ABP                          

WEEK 5: July 19-23

• BUSY BUILDERS (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP -- FULL
  
• RIVER, RHYTHM & RHYME (Tree Frogs), 9 am-4 pm, ABP-- FULL
  

WEEK 6: July 26-30

• WIGGLERS and WADDLERS (Minnows), 9-noon, ABP
• MAGIC FOREST (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP

WEEK 7: August 2-6

• BUTTERFLIES to BEAVERS (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP
• FISH TALES (Tree Frogs), 9-noon, ABP
• WET and WILD (Blue Herons), 1-4 pm, River House

WEEK 8: August 9-13

• NATURE DETECTIVES (Tree Frogs), 9-noon, ABP -- FULL
  
• WINGED WONDERS (Blue Herons), 1-4 pm, Cascades Raptor Center

WEEK 9: August 16-20

• SUN FUN (Dragonflies), 9-noon, ABP
• RIVERS & ROCKS (Tree Frogs), 1-4 pm, Skinner Butte
• ROCK, RIVER, & ROLL (Blue Herons), 1-4 pm, Skinner Butte

WEEK 10: August 23-27

• NATURE in a NUTSHELL (Minnows), 9-noon, ABP-- FULL
  
• WORLD of WATER (Tree Frogs), 9 am-4 pm, ABP -- FULL
  
• WHEELS to WATER (Blue Herons), 9 am-4 pm, ABP -- FULL
  

Return to list by age group.

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Click Registration Forms to sign up.