2013 Jr. Nature Explorers Camps for children ages 4-5
Join us for another year of fun-filled outdoor adventures at Magnuson Park! This year, we are delighted to bring back our popular “Pollinator Power” camp and to debut the brand new “Amazing Animals” camp. Once again, we are offering 3-day, 4-day, and 5-day camps, each with a different theme and all filled with hands-on nature exploration, songs, games, and nature crafts. Our camps are designed to encourage curiosity and bonding with the natural world, and to develop big motor skills as well as dexterity.
Camp fee includes an official Jr. Nature Explorers bandana- sign up for one or several! Children should bring a small morning snack, nutritious lunch and a child-size water bottle.
Camps are filling up quickly, so register soon to reserve a spot in your child’s favorite theme! Visit our Registration page for all the details!
Camp Director: Emily Bishton
Instructors: Emily Bishton and Magnuson Nature Docents
Sign-in Location: Magnuson Brig/Ravenna Room
6344 NE 74th St.
Seattle, WA 98115
2013 Schedule:
Roots and Shoots Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF GARDEN EXPLORERS!)
Mon. June 10th – Wed. June 12th
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $97
Camp #97523
Early summer is a time when plants are growing rapidly all over the Community Garden and nearby park areas. Every day brings new more lushness into easy view at each place we take a stroll! In this 3-day camp, our activities will focus on the first 3 plant parts that emerge from every seed: the roots, stems, and leaves. They’ll plant seeds in the garden, discover the important “jobs” that roots, stems, and leaves do for every plant, and delight in harvesting and eating fresh organic crops from our p-patch. They will also add plant-part pages to their Nature Journal, and create nature crafts to take home such as root viewers, bark collages, and leaf prints. Short hikes, songs, and games will round out this 3-day adventure in the world of plants!
Wiggly World of Worms Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF WORM BIN AND LOG PILE EXPLORERS!)
Mon. June 17th – Wed. June 19th
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $97
Camp #97522
The soil underneath our feet is an amazing world of worms and other soil creatures, just waiting to be discovered. Perhaps because children live closer to the ground than we adults, they absolutely love to explore and experience this wonderful world. This 3-day camp is filled with adventures such as digging in the garden to search for earthworms and ground beetles, and exploring our worm bin which is home to red wigglers pillbugs, and millipedes. Children will harvest its rich compost and sprinkle it through our vegetable garden, carefully returning any stray worms back to the bin. They will add fresh bedding and leftover food scraps from our lunches to feed our worm friends, and examine the stumps in our “messy materials” area for other decomposers at work! Be aware that children will come home from this camp with extra amounts of dirt on their knees, matched by the giant smiles on their faces!
World of Water Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF WETLAND EXPLORERS AND WATERSHED BUILDERS!)
Monday July 1st – Friday July 5th (no camp on July 4th)
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $127
Camp #97527
This 4-day camp is held when the heat of summer begins to take hold, which makes the world of water an even more inviting subject to explore and experience. The Magnuson Wetlands Complex is typically still full from the spring rains, making our hike through its trails- including the new Shore Ponds area- a lively place for seeing frogs, dragonflies, songbirds and waterfowl! Children will learn about the water cycle and the value of clean water for all creatures through songs, dances, and games. They will build a “dam”, “creek” and “lake” to understand how a watershed works, and make sure all our thirsty garden plants get a good long drink. This camp is sure to make a splash with all!
Pollinator Power Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF BUTTERFLY AND BEE-FRIENDLY EXPLORERS!)
Mon. July 15th – Wed. July 17th
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $97
Camp #97524
Pollinators are the hardest working creatures in the garden, and on mid-summer days they are in abundance on the flowers and food crops in the Children’s Garden and P-Patch. In this 3-day camp, we’ll learn about bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles, and other pollinators while practicing safe ways to watch them work, do the “bee dance”, and sing plenty of pollinator songs! We’ll also plant pollinator crops, pick bouquets, examine the “pollinator evidence” in the wide variety of developing fruits in the nearby Demonstration Orchard, and sample the bonanza of vegetables and fruit in our P-Patch plot. Perhaps a “pollinator parade” would be fun too…!
Winged Wonders Camp (THANKS FOR A GREAT CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF BIRD AND BAT-FRIENDLY EXPLORERS!)
Monday July 29th – Friday Aug. 2nd
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $152
Camp #97529
Magnuson Park is home to a wide variety of resident birds all year round, and in the summer the number of bird species increases greatly. Four species of Swallows dart above the meadows and wetlands, Savannah Sparrows hop through the grasses, and Warblers sing from the treetops. In this 5-day camp, we’ll take short hikes to the nearby grassy meadows and shady glens, have fun stretching our limbs to do the “swallow swoop”, “robin hop”, and “butterfly dip”. We’ll also explore the Community Garden perennial borders in search of Hummingbirds, Swallowtail Butterflies, Dragonflies, Bees and other pollinators, as well as the annual arrival of the Grasshoppers. Building birdbaths, puddling ponds, and dust bath bowls in the Children’s Garden will give them lasting landmarks that they can check on anytime in the future while visiting the park!
Beetles on Parade Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A DELIGHTFUL GROUP OF EXPERT BEETLE EXPLORERS!)
Mon. Aug. 12th – Wed. Aug. 14th
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $97
Camp #97525
During the sun-filled days of mid-summer, it’s easy for children to find a wide variety of delightful beetles “parading” around in the park. Besides being interesting to observe while feeding on wildflower nectar, Ladybugs, Soldier Beetles, and Ground Beetles also feast on the pest insects and slugs that would otherwise plague our garden plants! In this 3-day camp, we’ll go on “bug hunts”, follow ant trails on the paths that wind through Community Garden, and learn how to “bee safe” around all insects that have stingers. Learning the who/what/why of garden flowers that attract beneficial insects and building beetle houses in the Children’s Garden will give them much news to share when they return home from their adventures!
NEW! Amazing Animals Camp (THANKS FOR A FULL CAMP AND A FUN GROUP OF AMAZING EXPLORERS!)
Mon. Aug. 19th – Wed. Aug. 21st
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee: $97
Camp #97526
Besides its well-known populations of birds and frogs, Magnuson Park is home to an interesting variety of other wildlife, such as otter, coyote, squirrels, bats, field mice, garter snakes, and even some northwest native lizards! In this brand-new 3-day camp, we’ll explore the park trails while learning about the daily life of these amazing creatures plus other commonly-seen animals that are native to the Pacific Northwest such as deer, opossum, and seals. We’ll play-act, sing songs, and create some brand-new habitat features in the Children’s Garden to celebrate the debut of this new camp!
Flowers and Fruits Camp (this camp is FULL, but the wait list is open)
Mon. Aug. 26th – Friday Aug. 30th
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Fee $152
Camp #97532
Late summer is a time when hundreds of wildflowers and cultivated plants are ending their flowering time, and ripening their fruits and seeds. It’s a great time to explore and experience the second half of the plant cycle: flowers, fruits, and seeds! In this 5-day camp, we’ll gather flower bouquets, gather wild blackberries, and plant new seeds for the fall vegetable garden. Each day’s Sensory Walk is a chance to get to know these plant parts with all 5 of their senses!
Making flower “burritos” in our organic vegetable garden, collecting seeds to take home, and a “garden harvest party” are all part of what makes this adventurous camp a special way to wind up summer vacation!
