Summer
Every week runs Monday to Friday and follows the same day. The question changes, and so do the field and lab blocks.
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.
Inside a week
Monday is observing, Tuesday measuring, Wednesday sampling, Thursday testing and Friday sharing. The theme changes what campers look at, and the order stays the same.
One question to start the week
A field block outdoors every morning
A lab or build block every afternoon
A Friday share, with families welcome
Registration opens in January. Weeks open in the order families register, and full weeks have a waitlist.