Outdoor science day camp, Stoughton, Wisconsin
Ripstop is a summer day camp for ages 6 to 13 on a creek, a prairie and a camp garden. Campers dig, measure, sample and build, then write it all down in a field notebook, one theme each week.
40
campers a week6
summer weeks6 to 13
ages
The field notebook
Each week is one page of the notebook, with its own question and its own work outdoors. Book one entry or several.
What is under our feet
Dig a pit, sieve and sort what is in it, compare soil from the garden, the prairie and the creek bank, and start a compost jar that campers check all week.
Who lives in the water
Nets, buckets and trays at the creek, in life jackets and closed shoes, with counselors in the water. Count, sketch and put every animal back where it was found.
Reading the sky
Build a rain gauge, a wind vane and a weather log. Each morning campers call the forecast, and each afternoon they check it against the sky.
Plants and pollinators
Sit-spot sketching, a plant press and a tally of which insects visit which flowers. Look, count and leave the prairie as it was.
Shadow, sound and sight
A sundial, a pinhole box, tin-can phones and a shadow map of the camp, each one drawn and measured in the notebook.
Forces and a show
Bridges, ramps and cardboard-tube rockets, each tested outdoors and tested again. Families are welcome at the Friday share.
Sample sessions.
Weeks open, fill and gather waitlists as families register. Our registration page has the latest.
The field kit
Six things get a camper through a day outdoors.
Big enough for lunch, a rain shell and a water bottle, and light enough to carry across the prairie.
Filled and labeled before camp. We refill it at every break.
Light rain is science. A shell lives in the pack from the first day.
A brimmed hat, and sunscreen on before you arrive.
Closed-toe, with a grip. No sandals at the creek or on the prairie.
For ticks and mosquitoes in the tall grass. Both go on at home.
The weather practice
Weather is part of the science, so we treat it that way. Campers read it, call it and check their call, and the plan for the day follows what they find.
A camper reads the rain gauge and the wind vane at the morning circle
Hot days move the field blocks to the morning, with shade and water at every block
Thunder sends everyone inside, and we wait before going back out
Families get a text before 7:30 a.m. when the plan changes
Permit and people
Our permit, the number of campers for each counselor by age, and the routines that shape a day outdoors.
Permitted by Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Camp permit · WI Permit # 000000
1 adult to 8 children
6 to 9 years
Group size: 8
1 adult to 10 children
10 to 13 years
Group size: 10
Capacity
40
Ages 6 to 13
Every morning a camper reads the gauge, the wind and the sky at the circle, and a counselor checks the forecast and the air report. The day's plan follows what we find, and we text families before 7:30 a.m. if it changes.
When thunder is heard, everyone goes inside the pavilion building. We wait until 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back out, and notebooks and sorting trays come out while we wait. In a tornado warning, everyone moves to the shelter room.
On hot days the field blocks move to the morning, shade and water come with every block, and the lab blocks move inside the pavilion. Hats and sunscreen come from home, and campers put them on before they arrive.
Creek days are wading and netting at a shallow spot a counselor has checked that morning. Campers wear life jackets and closed shoes for every water block, counselors stand in the water, and no camper is ever near water on their own.
Sample details.
The team
A director and six counselors run the camp. Here are four of them.
Director and soil and build lead
Jeric started Ripstop to take the science kids do in a classroom out into the weather. He runs the camp, answers the phone, leads the soil and build weeks and reads the sky with the campers each morning.
Creek and prairie counselor
Emoni leads the creek and prairie weeks. She carries the nets and the hand lenses, shows campers how to look before they touch, and keeps the species tally on the pavilion wall.
Weather and light counselor
Bahar runs the weather and light weeks. She builds the rain gauges with each group, checks the forecast before the circle and decides, with Jeric, when the day moves inside.
Build and launch counselor
Ezra helps campers turn a question into something they can test: a bridge, a ramp, a tube rocket. He asks what happened, then asks what to change, and the notebook keeps the answer.
Questions
Ripstop is for ages 6 to 13, in six summer weeks from late June to early August. Each week has its own theme, and campers can book one week or several.
Camp opens at the gate at 8:45 a.m. We start with the weather and the question of the day, spend the morning outside on a field block, eat lunch from home in the shade, write in our notebooks, and spend the afternoon on a lab or build block. Pickup is from 3:00 to 3:15 p.m.
A day pack with lunch, a filled water bottle, a rain shell, a hat, closed-toe shoes that can get wet, long socks and bug spray. Sunscreen goes on at home.
We check the sky and the forecast every morning. Light rain is science, so campers come in rain shells. On hot days the outdoor blocks move to the morning and shade and water come with every block. When thunder is heard, we go inside and wait before going back out. We text families before 7:30 a.m. if the plan changes.
An adult on your list signs your camper out at the gate between 3:00 and 3:15 p.m. We ask for ID until we know you, and we call you if someone new is coming. Campers leave only with a person on the list.
We don't print tuition on this site, because it depends on the weeks you book. It is set by the number of weeks and which ones, and we are glad to go through it by phone.
Registration opens in January. Register on our enrollment page, or call and ask about the weather plan, pickup or a week's theme.