As we reach the end of 2024 summer camps, we are happy to have spent another summer joyfully outside with campers of all ages! It has been wonderful to see new and returning faces enjoying all kinds of outdoor activities.
Looking at the numbers, close to 70 campers joined us, some multiple times, over the last two months. We ran 10 camps in total, gave out 9 scholarships, and ironed (what felt like) millions of Perler bead designs! New full-week camp themes included Creative Critters and Pirate Camp. We also tried a new day-long Family Camp!
Some of our favorite activities from each camp this summer:
- Dino Camp (Full and Half-Day): Experiencing the great dinosaur egg hunt through the prairie and watching campers chisel their way into the eggs to find tiny dinosaurs!
- Creative Critters Camp: The art show! The campers were so proud of their art and loved sharing it with Pirate Camp and their parents at the end of the week.
- Pirate Camp: Attacking the “enemy” pirate crew (Naturalist Sam) at their base with water balloons to win back their treasure.
- Outdoor Explorers Camp: Foraging for berries and/or dandelions to make fritters to try with Ney Maple Syrup.
- Ultimate Adventure Camp: We ran around the yard, playing night games with glow sticks, and had s’mores before bedtime at the overnight.
I was incredibly lucky to grow up with parents who sent me to a full summer of camps every year until I was old enough to volunteer and then work at them myself. There were science camps, Spanish camps, art camps, rock band camps, overnight camps, and more. When I had to decide what I was interested in studying after high school, we did an exercise in one of our classes where part of the prompt was to reflect on some of our favorite childhood memories and places that gave us the most joy. Summer camps at Warner Nature Center, YMCA Camp Menogyn, and the Science Museum of Minnesota stood out as not only my favorite memories but also some of the most joyful places I could think of.
Summer camp pushes you out of your comfort zone in many ways. It is, of course, a lot of fun, but you are being dropped off in a new place with new people to try brand-new things. It is stressful for a lot of kids that first morning at camp. However, having those moments of discomfort but then learning how to make new friends, pushing yourself to try those new things, and having fun while doing it? It makes those non-summer camp moments of discomfort a little easier in life. Starting a new school year with new classmates, joining a new club, or visiting a new city, you have more confidence to enjoy those moments even if you’re nervous.
As camp leaders, it is our job to make sure that campers are as comfortable as possible. We learn their names, play games to loosen everyone up when they get here, show them where everything is, etc. They meet our other staff members, but they have the same counselor the entire week, so they have someone they always know and feel comfortable asking for help from. We ask parents on our forms about their child’s personality and if there is anything we can do to make them more comfortable at camp. So, if those campers are feeling more nervous than excited, we are doing all we can to make them feel confident that they can still have fun even if they are a little unsure at the beginning.
One of the other things that we are consciously working towards is accessibility for all families to attend camp. We have lengthened our summer camps to 4 days and expanded the hours to 9am to 4pm. We began offering scholarships that have given families who haven’t attended camp before a chance to register and families who have come to camp before but couldn’t afford to go to multiple sessions that opportunity as well. Ultimately, we outspent what we raised at the fall fling for scholarships to ensure we could give scholarships to everyone who applied, but it was completely worth it to have those kids enjoy camp with us. If you want to support our camp scholarship program, please consider donating at https://ney-nature-center.square.site/#tEfcWr.
Maybe we’re biased, but summer camp is an incredibly valuable experience for kids of all ages and backgrounds. Nature and environmental education-based activities are especially great in an age of increased screen and indoor time. Why not encourage your child to get outside and try something new? Muddy shoes and scraped knees from playing outside and building forts are some of our education team’s favorite childhood memories, and they have inspired our continued love of the outdoors to this day. Being connected to the planet we live on and valuing the natural spaces that we have inspires a feeling of stewardship for the tiniest creatures, the wildest flowers, and the habitats all around us.
Summer camp season may be over, but Fall and Winter camp registration opens soon! Members, look out for sign-ups to open on September 9th, with registration being open to everyone on September 16th. Visit https://neycenter.org/camp to learn more and mark your calendar! – Eva Clelland, Programs and Marketing Coordinator