Welcome to Exploring Earth Camp!
Ages 10-14, June 22-27, $375
The SMWC grounds offer a wealth of learning spaces for fun and adventures. We’ll be using the whole campus as our map to explore many of the fascinating wonders Earth has to offer. Each day of camp carries a theme that will focus our explorations for the day. Campers will learn about our local ecosystems, plant and animal life and even what we can do to make sure we keep our planet and ourselves healthy. While environmental issues like pollution and energy use are of great importance (and campers will learn a little about these issues), the primary focus of this camp is to instill wonder, respect, and excitement for the natural world. Out of a love and respect for nature, comes concern and caring for nature and this is the philosophy behind our camp and other education programs.
Each day will have a morning snack time, lunch break, and an afternoon craft period before dismissal. Camp is held rain or shine and campers should expect to dress appropriately for the weather. Since this is a nature camp, we aim to spend most of the day outdoors, weather permitting! This schedule is subject to change and individual daily activities are not listed.
Monday – Wildlife at the Woods
Campers and counselors will get to know each other through some fun icebreaker activities. After we’ve gotten to know one another a bit better, we’ll set out exploring the animal life found on the grounds. We’ll meet the alpacas up close and personal, take a nature walk, and even go “hunting” for some of more elusive neighbors like wood ducks and herons.
Tuesday – Garden Explorations
WVC’s 5 acre orchard/vegetable garden and habitat gardens are a fun and exciting place to learn about insects, soil, plants and how we grow food. We will look at gardens as not just places to grow vegetables or flowers, but primarily as habitats for many insects, birds and other small creatures. Campers will learn about composting, meet the worms in our composting bins, and even get a chance to harvest some of our garden goodies for snacks. Expect to get dirty!
Wednesday – Watery Worlds
Indiana is full of waterways if we know where to look. We’ll spend this day learning about the Wabash River and how we can help to make it a cleaner body of water. We’ll also visit WVC’s wetland to see the many creatures who call it home and learn what makes wetlands so important. Campers will build a watershed to help understand pollution and how it gets into groundwater and we’ll top the day off with a visit to one of our lakes on campus to search for aquatic life. Expect to get wet!
Thursday – Towering Trees
The SMWC campus is blessed with beautiful, high-reaching trees. We will spend this day learning about the many benefits trees provide humans and wildlife as well as what we can do to care for trees. Campers will learn basic tree identification skills, go on a tree ID hike, and top the day off by adopting their own tree on campus. Every camper gets a picture with his/her tree and visitation rights!
Friday – Caring for Earth
We’ll spend our last morning going over many of concepts we learned through the week, paying special attention to what the campers can do to help care for Earth in their own ways. We will go on a final adventure walk and offer a small volunteer service project for Earth (some project ideas include; helping to pull a few weeds in one of the sisters’ gardens, plant flowers near a shrine, or make a sign for our nature trail). We’ll finish the afternoon with a camper-led show and tell family tour of the grounds. We may even have some fresh herbal sun tea and/or garden refreshments!
Please visit the Forms page for all of the necessary forms for Exploring Earth camp.
