Summer Camps for 2012
Brookside Nature Center's camps are designed to fit a parent’s busy schedule and keep a camper excited about being outside all summer long. All camps include Naturalist-lead activities, hikes, crafts, and games designed to inspire and foster a love for nature. Register for up to seven weeks of concurrent camp sessions for children entering grades 1-3 and/or grades 4-6. Camp sessions run Monday through Friday from 9 – 3:30, and extended care in the morning and afternoon is available for an additional fee.
There are a variety of full day summer programs and some half-day opportunities as well.
Partial Day Camps
- Ages 3-6
Full Day Camps
- Ages 6-10
- Ages 8-12
- Ages 13-16
Scout Badges
- Ages 11-17
Brookside Nature Center believes in sharing a passion for the natural world with others and modeling that passion through respect for all living things. Our camps are well known for high quality nature education delivered by professional teachers and naturalists.
To make registration easier
Make note of the course # and register at ParkPASS or click the links below.
Full Day Camps for children ages 6-10 / 9:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.
View a typical day at camp
- #174899 Forest Acrobats June 25-29
Animals are natural acrobats - swinging leaping, gliding, and maneuvering through the forest tree tops and meadow's edge. COme to a camp whre it's OK to act like an animal as we learn about these forest performers, how they travel and why! - #174549 Fire Works! July 2-6 Ages 6-10
Every time you strike a match or light a candle you're receiving a gift from our ancient ancestors - fire! During this four day camp we'll explore the remarkable role this gift has played in shaping civilization, and how different cultures have used fire to heat, cook, fight, manufacture, and to illuminate thier world. We'll se who can start a fire quickest without the use of matches; we'll take apart firecrackers; we'll cook our own food over open flames, and bake our own clay pots. In the process we'll learn what fire actually is. And most importantly, we'll hear from the experts how to best keep all fires, safe fires. - #174849 Expedition Force Northwest Branch July 9-13 Ages 6-10
Where are the headwaters of Northwest Branch and where does this stream end? Who and what inhabits this body of water flowing by Brookside Nature Center? Join us and find out! Just like the intrepid explorers of the past, we'll venture forth tracking the creek from beginning to end. - #174600 Native Ways Camp July 16-20 Ages 6-10
Long before Europeans came to this land the Native Americans knew it, revered it and were shaped by it. Learning through experience, campers will gain an understanding of the Mid-Atlantic tribes' way of life, their pasttimes, beliefs, diet, traditions, crafts and skills. Special activities may include primitive fire-starting, weaving, pottery making, wood crafts and fishing. A special full day trip to a reconstructed Piscataway village on the Patuxent River will also be part of our exploratory journey. Registration of $285 covers the cost of the field trip. - #190599 Nature Tales July 16-20 Ages 8-12
Learn how to tell the stories of nature through puppetry. Make different types of puppets, create your own show and perform to rave reviews! - #175149 Splish, Splash, Drip, Drop July 23-27 Ages 6-10
Come investigate the wonders of water! We'll explore the nature center's streams and ponds -Pine Lake, Glenallan Tributary and Northwest Branch - to find out how they were formed and who lives in them. As junior naturalists we'll scout for frogs, fish, ducks and dragonflies and learn how to catch, identify and safely releas other aquatic critters. As water admirers, we'll create artwork and crafts, and study water with simple scientific tools. Be prepared to get wet and muddy! - #174799 Little House in the Big Woods July 30-August 3
The recollections of Laura Ingalls Wilder so charmingly preserved in her Little House books give us a glimpse of what it was like to grow up at a time when America was forging its identity and growing up too. During this camp we'll engage in many of the activities with which Laura would have been familiar, from cooking over a fire, to washing clothes on a washboard and making toys out of wood. But, we'll also explore America's story during the late 1800s to learn what life was like beyond the big woods. Registration of $285 covers the cost of a back-in-time field trip. - #175200 Naturally Creative August 6-10 Ages 6-10
Explore nature through art and art through nature! Visit a different habitat each day to investigate who lives there. We'll go dip netting in the stream, catch insects and butterflies in the meadow and hike through the forest looking and listening for signs of insects, birds and mammals. Afterward, using different art and craft media, we'll draw, paint and construct our view of nature. Projects include a birdfeeder, a gnome home, a tree-craft, fish art and rock art. Each camper will take home an art supply set to continue having fun creating nature art all year long.
New! Full Day CIT Training for Teens/ 9:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.
July 16-20 Brookside Nature Center Counselor-In-Training Ages 13-16 #174900 Do you have hopes of being a Brookside Nature Center Camp Counselor? This camp is designed to prepare you for filling just such a role! As a counselor-In-Trining (CIT) camper, you will learn about environmental monitoring, animal tracking, plant/animal identification, and tried and true nature crafts as well as practice teaching your new-found knowledge to younger campers. You will shadow park naturalists, camp teachers and counselors as they work with our camps. learn about group dynamics, exercise decision making skills and learn to effectively lead a group while still having fun in the park. It's a resume building experience that will last a lifetime.
Partial Day Camps
Half-Day Camps for the Younger Set ages 4-5 / 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 noon
June 4-8 Ages 3-5 Parent and Child Nature Camp #175099 Have summer camp fun with your child as you explore nature together! Investigate the woods, stream, pond and forest edge to discover and learn about the amazing plants and animals that live here and finish up the week with a field trip to hunt for fossil shark teeth at the Bay. On this day we'll meet from 10:30-1:30 at the field trip site.
August 13- 16 (Mon-Thurs) Ages 4-6 Parent and Child Nature Art Camp #175199 Share nature and art with your child! Discover the plants and animla of the forest, stream and meadow while creating nature artwork and projects to treasure. Campers will each take home and art set to continue exploring and creating nature art throughout the year
Boy Scout Badge Fullfillment Camps /Session ages 11-17 / 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Spend time this summer earning your Boy Scout Badges at Locust Grove Nature Center. Sign up for one course or all! Bring a bag lunch and dress for the weather. Some badges require assignments that can be acoomplished prior to or after class time. In such cases, badge approval will be given once all necessary requirements are documented by the scout and reviewed by the naturalist.
- June 19 #174949 Birds $50
- June 20#174950 Geology $50
- June 21 #174951Nature $50
- June 22 #174952 Environmental Science $75
Camp Tuition
Full week 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $275 per week / 4 Days 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $200 / Early Bird Drop off 5 days $25 / Night Owl late care 5 days $50 Camps with field trips have an additional fee to cover the cost of the bus.
Schedule
Early Birds: Morning early drop off care from 8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
Camp: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Night Owls: Late care from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Staff/child Ratio : 1:5
Talk to our staff! We are always ready to answer your questions and invite you to call us at 301.962.1480 or email us with your questions.
A typical day at camp!
| 8:45 – 9:30 | Morning Assembly: Sign – in, free time |
| 9:30 | First Activity Period: Craft, Recreation, or Naturalist Program |
| 10:00 | Morning Snack Break |
| 10:30 | Second Activity Period: Craft, Recreation, or Naturalist Program |
| 12:00 | Lunch (Friday is a campfire lunch so pack something to cook over the fire!) |
| 12:45 | Hiking out and about in the park |
| 2:00 | Third Activity Period: Craft, Recreation, or Naturalist Program |
| 3:00 | Meet for snack and story under the great sycamore |
| 3:30 | Time to go home! |
Summer Employment Opportunities!
Brookside Nature Center is looking for energetic, naturalist minded teachers to make the summer memorable for campers. Call 301-962-1482 for more information.
Date of last page update: January 20, 2012
Montgomery County Department of Parks