Preschool Nature Camp offers morning half-days or full-days of outdoor play and exploration to 3 to 5 years old campers in our Education Barn at 255 Sherman Hollow Road.  Our time is filled with stories, nature walks, puppet shows, games, and full-sensory immersion in the natural world. View the 2020 brochure (coming soon).

Looking for camps for someone older? View Ecology Day Camp here.

On this page for Preschool Camp:

• Camp Structure
• 2020 Camp Calendar + Program Descriptions
• Camp Fees, Scholarship Information, and Ways to Save
• Camp Details
• Registration

Preschool Nature Camp Structure

Preschoolers can join us for either a full day or half day at camp:

Half Day: mornings 9am-12pm, bring a snack but no lunch break.
Full Day: campers join us from 9am-4pm. We take a 1 hour hibernation break at noon when our half-day friends leave to sit in the shade, eat lunch, and take advantage of quiet activities.
Aftercare Available: 4:00pm - 5:00pm, $8/day for preschoolers enrolled in a full day camp. Add it to your cart at check-out!We will charge an additional $1/minute for late pick-up. (We are human too and understand that things happen that could cause you to be late. We reserve the right to charge this fee if caregivers arrive late more than once.)

Members, save 5% starting on 2/1 by entering Thrush20 at checkout!

 

2020 Preschool Camp Calendar

2020 Dates	Session	Camp Theme
July 6-10	Full Day: 9am-4pm Morning: 9am-12pm	Enchanted Forest. Do you know anything miniature and made of magic? Uncover the magic of the woods at Audubon’s most enchanting places. Fairy tales will send you on new adventures every day!	Waitlist
July 13-17	Full Day ONLY: 9am-4pm	The Chickadee Tree. What is it like to have feathers and a beak? In this classic Audubon camp we'll build nests, guard our eggs, and learn to fly during a week of avian adventure. We'll share secret bird calls and find hidden perches.	Waitlist
July 20-24	Full Day: 9am-4pm Morning: 9am-12pm	Creepers and Crawlers. As quiet as a mouse, as slowly as a slug, as patient as a spider. This is a week of creeping and crawling! Come make slug slime, feel snake skin, and sneak around Audubon!	Waitlist
July 27- 31	Full Day: 9am-4pm Morning: 9am-12pm	Splish Splash. Get your water boots on because this week will be a wet one! We’ll find ourselves at the water’s edge as we visit all the wonderful watery worlds of Audubon. Take a close-up look at the plants and animals that live in the water and play in the mud. Be ready to get wet!	Waitlist
August 3-7	Full Day: 9am-4pm Morning: 9am-12pm	Mud Magic. This week is about all things sticky, mucky, and wet. We'll search for animal tracks, see which animals use mud to build their homes, then we'll build a place of our own. Bring your mud boots!	Waitlist
August 10-14	Full Day: 9am-4pm Morning: 9am-12pm	At Home in a Habitat. Join us for a week of exploration of the swamp, river, meadow, and forest to discover the plants and animals that call Audubon home! Food, water, shelter, and space make a happy living place. We’ll use scientific tools like binoculars, hand lenses, and nets, to explore our ecosystem.	Waitlist

Camp sessions fill up quickly.  Sign Up for email updates to learn about other Audubon education opportunities and to receive Summer Camp updates.

 

Camp Costs

Half-day $165/week
Full-day $285/week

Looking for ways to make camp more affordable? Here are some options:

• Audubon Members save 10% on registration fees during early-bird registration, 1/18-1/31 and 5% thereafter!

• Become an Audubon Member online now (Choose "Family Membership").

• We have scholarships available. To apply, please download the Scholarship Application and return to the Summer Camp Director BEFORE YOU REGISTER and as soon as possible. We try to give out as many partial scholarships as possible to make sure that everyone has access to the outdoors.

• -Payment and Cancellations:
   *Full payment is due by June 19th, 2020.*  
   **Cancellations made within 30 days notice of the first day of the program will receive a full refund less a $30 administrative fee. Cancellations made at least two weeks before the first day of the program will receive half of their tuition less a $30 administrative fee. Cancellations made less than two weeks before the first day of the program will not receive a refund.**

Preschool Camp Details

• Campers must be potty trained by their first day of camp
• A gear list will be emailed to the email address we have on file. View our welcome letters here:  https://www.facebook.com/GreenMountainAudubonCenter/
• A note on age. If your child is 6 but has not yet entered Kindergarten and you don't think they are ready for ecology camp, you are welcome to sign-up for preschool nature camp. Likewise, if your 5 year old has been to Audubon camp before and is ready to move up to Ecology Camp we have a week just for campers aged 6-8 that might be a good fit. Speak to either our Summer Camp Director or Assistant Director for more information and to make these changes in registration.
• What does a typical day at camp look like?
  Our camp week will be filled with games, crafts, stories, songs, puppet shows, and lots of exploration and play. Our daily schedule goes something like this: 

9:00 – Sign-in and playtime outside the Education Barn (with crafts, coloring, books and toys)
9:15 – Opening circle and game
9:30 – Introduction to the day (morning meeting, welcome song/game, puppet show or story)
10:00 – Snack then Morning adventure: We might build fairy houses in Hemlock Swamp, follow a gnome trail to a magical part of the forest, or gather materials to make fairy crowns.  It’s different every day!
Noon – Lunch time for our full-day campers; pick-up for our half-day campers
12:30 – Hibernation. Our time to take a break and rest our bodies with quiet activities
1:00 – Game and bathroom break 
1:40 – Hike to our activity location for the afternoon
2:00 – Afternoon snack and story time
2:20 – Afternoon adventure: more sleuthing! Each day will bring something new.
3:45 – Closing circle back at Education Barn
4:00 – Pick-up time. Aftercare begins
5:00 - Aftercare ends

• Open House. On Fridays, we will host a closing circle beginning at 11:30 am and 3:30 p.m.  Friends and family members are invited to join us.  This gives your camper(s) the opportunity to share their experience at camp with you.  We strongly encourage you to participate in this closing event. Please note that this is the same time but a different location than our closing circle for Ecology Day Camp. You are welcome to bring your preschooler down to ecology camp for the closing circle with them or vice versa.​

Registration

To REGISTER FOR SUMMER CAMP:

1. We are moving to a new camp registration system, Camp Doc. They have excellent user guides to help you navigate their system.
2. Apply for scholarships before registering online.
3. Go here: app.campdoc.com/register/audubon/greenmountain
4. Apply and pay online. Please enter information as accurately as possible as this is how we will contact you in the future. 
5. Your registration is not complete until you have submitted your camper release form—which requires a doctor’s signature. Your child will not be able to participate without this on file. The form is available in the online registration portal.

 Your health form must be in by June 1st. 

Questions? View answers to FAQ here.

Meet the Nature Camp Staff