Please refer to the online registration system to determine if there is space available in a specific camp. Please sign up on the wait list if a camp you are interested in is ful. Plans change and spaces often open up as the summer progress. We will use our wait lists to fill available spaces.
List of Camps by Week also available. Para español haga clic aquí (muy pronto)!
Minnows (ages 3-4)
SNEAK & SOAR: June 29-July 3, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about how wild animals move and groove. Sprout a fox tail or grow bird wings as you play hide and seek in the shady tunnels, dens, and nooks of the Learnscape. Get your face painted and act like animals!
WIGGLERS & WADDLERS: July 27-31, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Quack, chomp, ribbit! Check out who’s wiggling and waddling in and near the water in Alton Baker Park. Tell water tales and dance with a costumed Kinder Critter! *Four-year-olds can combine this camp with free lunch care and EARTHY ARTISTS Dragonfly Camp in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
CRAWLY CRITTERS: August 10-14, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Go on a crawly critter safari through our Learnscape Garden and park forests. Meet wiggly worms, play bug games, and create critter crafts! *Four-year-olds can combine this camp with free lunch care and ANIMAL ADVENTURES Dragonfly Camp in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
Dragonflies (ages 4-5)
BOUNTY OF BUGS: June 22-26, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore ponds, look under logs, and swing nets through grass as you hunt for bugs of all shapes, sizes, and colors! Meet real insects from Arthropod Ambassadors and do the Dragonfly Dance!
POSITIVELY POLLINATORS: June 29-July 3, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover how plants and animals communicate and cooperate in nature. Catch insects in the meadow and taste goodies from our gardens. Learn how bees make honey! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and PUPPETS, PAINTS, & PAWPRINTS in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
PUPPETS, PAINTS, & PAWPRINTS: June 29-July 3, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Transform yourself into an animal and go nature exploring. Make puppets, pawprints, and Earth art in our outdoor classroom. Get your face painted and meet a costumed Kinder Critter! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and POSITIVELY POLLINATORS in the morning for an all-day experience!
BIRDING BUDDIES: July 6-10, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Get to know the birds that fly in the sky nearby. Check out real feathers and nests, explore bird habitats, discover how beaks work, and hear fine-feathered stories. Sing like a bird, build nests, and visit with our Kinder Critter, Ollie Owl. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and MAGIC FOREST in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
MAGIC FOREST: July 6-10, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Wander woodland trails, build forts in the Magic Forest, and get to know the trees in our Learnscape and park. Tell tall tree tales, create fairy houses, and make wood gnomes from forest finds. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and BIRDING BUDDIES in the morning for an all-day experience!
EARTHKEEPERS: July 13-17, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Bake with sunlight, build recycled art, and play Poohsticks at the park canal! Forage for garden goodies in the Learnscape and make tunes from recycling treasures! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and BUSY BUILDERS in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
BUSY BUILDERS: July 13-17, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Make nests, weave webs, and find signs of busy beavers in this fun camp all about creative critters. Play with giant blocks in our Nature’s Builders Playspace, learn about earth-friendly human homes, and let animals inspire you to build your own mini shelters! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and EARTHKEEPERS in the morning for an all-day experience!
BUDS & BERRIES: July 20-24, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Celebrate summer in our Learnscape Garden. Make flower salads, go on berry hunts, and decorate pies in the Mud Kitchen. Create garden chimes, sing sunshine songs, and hunt for friendly insects hiding in the veggies! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and CAMO CRITTERS in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
CAMO CRITTERS: July 20-24, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore our Learnscape and the park in search of concealed creatures – from birds to bugs. Play hide and seek games, go on a hidden treasures hike, and create camouflage costumes. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and BUDS & BERRIES in the morning for an all-day experience!
EARTHY ARTISTS: July 27-31, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Dig into nature’s treasure chest as we print on fabric with flowers, make Earth Art from our stones and cones collection, and create critters from cool stuff we find in the forest. Enjoy edible art made from Learnscape Garden goodies! *Four-year-olds can combine this camp with free lunch care and WIGGLERS & WADDLERS Minnows Camp in the morning for an all-day experience!
TEDDY BEAR PICNIC: August 3-7, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Look for signs of animals and find fun picnic spots for snacks in the park! Harvest goodies in the garden, make sun tea, eat berries like bears, and play in the Mud Kitchen. On the last day of camp, bring your favorite stuffy for a special Learnscape picnic feast!
ANIMAL ADVENTURES, August 10-14, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Beavers and squirrels and moles, oh my! Learn about park mammals as you hunt for hidden homes, search for tracks and traces, and check out real animal pelt and bone specimens. Tell critter tales, do a Hopsticle Course, and create creature art! *Four-year-olds can combine this camp with free lunch care and CRAWLY CRITTERS Minnows Camp in the morning for an all-day experience!
SUN FUN: August 17-21, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover the rainbow growing in our Learnscape Garden. Make sun prints, bake in our solar oven, and tell sun stories. Walk to the Eugene Science Center for a planetarium show! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and FLUTTER & FLOAT in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
FLUTTER & FLOAT: August 17-21, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Get up and go as you look for critters that float on water or flutter through air. Build a mini boat from natural materials, catch bugs, discover birds in the park, and create fanciful wings. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and SUN FUN in the morning for an all-day experience!
EARTH MOVERS: August 24-28, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Move your body like the rocking and rolling Earth as we explore in the park and Learnscape! Whirl like the wind, grow tall like trees, and roll like the river as you learn kid-friendly yoga moves. Make music on our Star Stage and create instruments with gifts from the Earth – stone, wood, water, and more. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and MAKE A SPLASH in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
MAKE A SPLASH: August 24-28, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover the wonders of water! Make drip sandcastles in our sandbox and pies in our Mud Kitchen. Experiment with model watersheds, play Poohsticks at the canoe canal, and dance in the Learnscape sprinklers. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and EARTH MOVERS in the morning for an all-day experience!
Tree Frogs (ages 6-8)
MESS with MUD: June 22-26, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover what’s going on in the world beneath your feet through the magic of mud. Mix it, model it, squish it, and shake it! Learn about Oregon geology, go on a park fossil hunt, and make critters out of clay. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and BIG ON BUGS in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
BIG ON BUGS: June 22-26, 1-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Crickets and beetles and flies, oh my! Use nets, screens, and magnifiers to find and identify hidden bugs in the compost, soil, and meadows. Create your own cool critter out of recycled materials and meet real insects from Arthropod Ambassadors. *Combine this camp with free lunch care and MESS with MUD in the morning for an all-day experience!
TRAILS & TALES at HENDRICKS PARK: June 29-July 3, 9am-4pm, Hendricks Park: Explore this park from bottom to top with an eye for tracks and traces. Learn from layers in land and discover stories in stones! Create treasure hunts, find new park trails, and enjoy tales under the tall trees.
HAZELNUT HOLLOW: July 6-10, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: All the (outdoor) world is a stage in this fun nature theater camp! Spend the week acting like animals, singing songs, and creating mini-shows inspired by our favorite nature tales. Make masks from recycled and natural materials and perform in the Hazelnut Hollow Theater and on the Star Stage!
NATURE DETECTIVES at MOUNT PISGAH: July 6-10, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Go on a scavenger hunt each day as you hike in the park – and create a treasure map of natural wonders to share with your family! Use magnifiers to look at nature mysteries up close and binoculars to check out what’s happening in the distance. Visit Mount Pisgah’s fascinating outdoor natural history exhibits and cool off in the Willamette River’s Coast Fork. *Students in this camp must be excited to go on daily hikes of up to two and a half miles round trip and willing to follow special Arboretum safety rules regarding river water play and off-trail hazards like poison oak.
FOREST FORTS: July 13-17, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Hunt for animal homes in the park and get inspired to build your own special shelters. Create giant block towers in the Nature’s Builder’s Playspace and build forts in the Magic Forest. Design crazy castles from recycled cardboard boxes and mini build gnome homes in the Learnscape. Climb as high as tall trees at the Crux Rock Gym!
WEB WEAVERS at HENDRICKS PARK: July 20-24, 9am-4pm, Hendricks Park: Diversity is woven into the web of life! Wander park trails and discover the amazing variety of living things that make a forest strong, from the tallest trees to the tiniest fungi. Weave your own community as you build together with everything from sticks to stones, clay to cones. Enjoy creative exploration and expression through cooperative games and kid-friendly yoga.
LET’S GO!: July 27-31, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Get up and GO in this fun bike camp for kids who like to move. Bike to all corners of the park and float in tubes on the canoe canal. Blend smoothies by bike and make mini-boats to launch on the water. Visit the downtown Farmers Market! * Students in this camp must be able to cycle without training wheels up to four miles per day (with rest breaks) and have/borrow a helmet that fits and a working bike (with hand brakes) for this camp. Bike/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
MAGICAL MOUNT PISGAH: July 27-31, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Journey into the magic and mystery of nature as we explore the woodlands and waterways of Mount Pisgah. Learn how leaves change from green to glorious in the fall and how a tiny seed turns into a terrifically tall tree. Play in the Willamette River’s Coast Fork, go on a Gnome Roam, and make fairy houses! *Students in this camp must be excited to go on daily hikes of up to two and a half miles round trip and willing to follow special Arboretum safety rules regarding river water play and off-trail hazards like poison oak.
ROCK-IT!: August 3-7, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Look at the world through a geologist’s eyes as you visit Fossil Beach, do the Rock Cycle Rap, and learn the story of your own special stone. Create volcanoes, splash in the Willamette, and play Mountain Melt. Cool off with a tube float down the canoe canal!
CAMP COOKOFF: August 10-14, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: End the summer with a bunch of munchin’! Bake in a solar oven, create garden recipes, and blend bike smoothies. Go on a who’s-eating-who hike and create silly veggie art!
WILD THINGS: August 10-14, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Spend the week pretending to be a different wild animal every day! Run like a rabbit, build like a beaver, and sneak like a snake. Check out real bones, feathers, and furs. Sing silly animal songs and play fun animal games.
RIVER, RHYTHM, & RHYME: August 17-21, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Get down to the beat of nature in this camp with an ear for the Earth! Whirl like water and get inspired by the river to rap rhymes on our Star Stage. Create instruments from recycled stuff, listen for bird songs, and go with the flow as you float down the canal with your friends in tubes!
CREEPY CRAWLY SLITHERY SLIMY: August 24-28, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Snakes and lizards and spiders, oh my! Discover all that slithers, crawls, and creeps in the park. Play camo games, create slippery-slimy crafts, and weave a giant spider web! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and CAMP TALKING STONES in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
CAMP TALKING STONES: August 24-28, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about our area’s native people, the Kalapuya. Hike to the Kalapuya Talking Stones and learn Kalapuya words, games, and tales. Enjoy a Kalapuya Ways visit from staff from Singing Creek Educational Center! *Combine this camp with free lunch care and CREEPY CRAWLY SLITHERY SLIMY in the morning for an all-day experience!
Blue Herons (ages 8-11)
CYCLE FORCE: June 22-26, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about how bikes go as we explore Willamette River bike trails and visit the downtown Farmers Market. Create bike part art, learn basic bike maintenance skills, and use human power to make bike smoothies. Visit Shift Community Cycles! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day and have/borrow a helmet that fits and a working bike for this camp. Bike/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
ROCK ‘N ROLL: June 29-July 3, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the Willamette River watershed by bike! Pedal next to the rolling river on the Willamette River Bike Path. Get a close up look at local geology when you visit Fossil Beach in Alton Baker Park and the famous rock columns at Skinner Butte. Visit the downtown Farmers Market and geology exhibits at the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day and have/borrow a helmet that fits and a working bike for this camp. Bike/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
LOOK OUT at MOUNT PISGAH: July 6-10, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: It’s a wild world out there! Discover the awesome ways that plants and animals protect themselves and their young, hunt their prey, and defend their territory. Find armored bugs, learn to identify perilous plants, and search for camouflaged critters as you wander the trails and watch the waterways at Mount Pisgah. Explore the farthest reaches of the park and cool off in the Coast Fork of the Willamette! *Students in this camp must be excited to go on daily hikes of up to three and a half miles round trip, including a hike to the summit (weather permitting), and willing to follow special Arboretum safety rules regarding river water play and off-trail hazards like poison oak.
FARM & FOREST ADVENTURE: July 13-17, 9am-4pm, Creswell: Spend the week at a local farm in Creswell learning from an organic farmer – our bike instructor Ben! Discover how soil, water, and all sorts of life forms help feed us in the Willamette Valley and how our climate affects plants. Get your hands in the dirt, explore the forest near the farm, meet Eeyore the donkey, and cool off in the Coast Fork of the Willamette River! *Students in this camp must be excited to go on hikes of up to two miles round trip, willing to follow special farm safety rules, and okay with meeting friendly farm dogs.
CHILL CRITTERS: July 20-24, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Travel back in time to discover the links between today’s cold-blooded critters and their distant dino relatives. Solve scaly mysteries and use your reptile radar to search for herps in nature nearby. Meet real herps shared by volunteers from the Oregon Herpetoplogical Society! Invent a cold-blooded critter of your own and chill out with a tube float down the canal!
RIVER RUNNERS at MOUNT PISGAH: July 27-31, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Discover the wild, watery world of the Willamette River’s Coast Fork as you explore in this amazing park. Wade like a heron and navigate through a salmon migration obstacle course. Sharpen your observation skills as you look for signs of water wildlife and aquatic birds! *Students in this camp must be excited to go on daily hikes of up to three and a half miles round trip, including a hike to the summit (weather permitting), and willing to follow special Arboretum safety rules regarding river water play and off-trail hazards like poison oak.
GREEN TEAM: July 27-31, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Take on a weeks’ worth of earth care projects and learn how kids can make the world a better place! Bake in a solar oven with goodies from our organic garden, test water quality, and create mini-murals for the Learnscape from recycled wood. Do a litter patrol contest along park paths and come up with your own Green Action Plan. Learn about the water cycle and float the park canal in tubes!
DIG IN AND COOK OUT: August 3-7, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Slice, dice, mix, and mash your way through a week of tasty treats made from Learnscape garden goodies. Create paper you can plant, brew herbal teas, dry apple chips, and bake artistic pizzas in a solar oven. Enjoy a camp cook-off and bike-blended smoothies!
WILD WAVES ‘N WHEELS: August 10-14, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Cycle the Willamette River bike paths in search of the best wading, rock-stacking, and stone-skipping spots. Learn about the river’s amazing journey from the mountains to the sea and enjoy your own cool ride as you float in tubes down the canal. Visit the downtown Farmers Market! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day and have/borrow a helmet that fits and a working bike for this camp. Bike/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
DIG IN TO DEEP TIME: August 17-21, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Ever wonder what the Willamette Valley looked like 1,000 years ago? What about a billion? Peer into the past and uncover the park’s hidden history. Explore the beginning of the universe at the Eugene Science Center’s Planetarium, check out Ice Age megafauna at the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and discover evidence of the past at Fossil Beach!
TREE TREKKERS: August 24-28, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover who’s hiding, hooting, and hovering in the forest as you explore our Willamette riverside parks by bike. Find our area’s coolest trees — the towering, twisted, wide, and weird! Look for treetop heron, osprey, and eagle nests as you wander in the woods along the river. Visit the Eastgate Woodlands, Skinner Butte, and the downtown Farmers Market. Climb higher than treetops at the Skinner Butte Rock Columns with experts from Crux Rock Gym! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day and have/borrow a helmet that fits and a working bike for this camp. Bike/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.