Meander through mud, wallow in the wetland, and frolic in the forest at our summer EcoCamp! Our exciting, unique, and hands-on activities allow campers to engage with nature at their own pace, by providing a welcoming and safe environment to explore. Campers learn about nature and gain outdoor skills through hiking, swimming, playing games, fishing, and creating crafts. Small groups of campers will discover the wetlands, forests, creek, and pond along with an experienced counselor and EcoCamp alumni (our enthusiastic Junior Naturalists). Test your skills at spotting wildlife, playing camouflage, catching frogs, building forts, and canoeing.
Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s EcoCamp has a philosophy that campers will have rich learning experiences in a fun and safe outdoor environment. EcoCamp’s small groups and low student to instructor ratio provide for an exceptional outdoor summer camp experience. Camp leadership has significant experience leading the Center’s ever popular summer programs and this summer’s camp staff features a number of excellent returning staff. Pickering Creek offers exceptionally well-trained and experienced instructors and leaders for all its programs.
Each camp is one week long and focuses on a unique nature-inspired theme. Pickering Creek offers camps for two groups: Fledglings (students entering K-1st next fall) and Larks and Shrikes (these groups are mix of students entering 2nd -7th grades). All camp days operate from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Fledglings will get a gentle introduction to the outdoors through hikes and activities especially tailored for their abilities. Walks are shorter in length and activities vary throughout the program to keep them interested and active. Fledglings spend some quiet time outdoors away from the older, more active campers after lunch and have an optional snack time in the afternoon.
The Larks and Shrikes campers engage nature with longer hikes, free explorations, and lessons on identifying the many animals that call Maryland home. Campers hike and play throughout the Center’s 450 acres, and seine for aquatic wildlife in Pickering Creek. These older campers will hone their survival skills with shelter building, orienteering, canoe trips, tracking, and camouflage games.
Week 1 (June 16-18+20): Pollinator Power: The bees are buzzing, and the butterflies are fluttering! Come explore the world of pollinators as the summer flowers bloom all around us! Along with our usual camp explorations and water days, enjoy games and activities designed to help campers learn how important pollinators are to the world we live in and observe the beautiful varieties that call Pickering Creek home; from the bright Tiger Swallowtail to the bee-utiful honeybees! Note that this is a four day camp with no camp on Juneteenth.
Week 2 (June 23-27): Science Explorers: Who says science is boring? Naturalists are a kind of scientist who explore the world of nature! Campers will explore nature through experiments, observations and science-based games. Dig through an owl pellet to decide what it ate; keep count of animals we see in our habitats and discover the biodiversity all around us. Join us for a week of discovery and hands-on science fun!
Week 3 (July 7-11): Secret Forest: Walk where few have walked before and explore the lesser-known spaces of Pickering Creek. Campers will find spaces where the wild things are, the trees are taller, and the mud is deeper! We’ll try to spy new wildlife and use navigation skills to make maps and keep track of the places we explore. Campers will visit off-trail parts of the New Forest, yet to be explored by any camper!
Week 4 (July 14-18): Nature Ninjas: We are Nature Ninjas! This week, we’ll practice the art of camouflage and close observation. Answer questions like: What kind of wildlife lives here, how can we tell, what does it eat? We’ll learn how to be calm, quiet, and prepared. We will be “One with Nature” and learn to activate our Quiet Mind.
Week 5 (July 21-25): Unhuggables: This week we will explore our forests in search of salamanders and bugs, our wetlands to find frogs and crayfish and our creek front in the hopes of catching fish and turtles! Join us as we celebrate all the creatures that call Pickering Creek home, including reptiles, amphibians and insects. Campers this week will have a special animal talk about reptiles and the ways they move!
Week 6 (July 28-Aug 1): Wet & Wild: It’s getting hot! Come explore the muddy freshwater wetlands, look for the little streams and puddles to play in and fish in Pickering Creek. This week campers will spend a lot of time playing water games and cooling off in all the different kinds of water at EcoCamp. Be prepared to get wet and muddy as we wade through these habitats collecting and watching wildlife, creating dams and new pools, and learning how water is the center for all habitats – big and small!
Week 7 (Aug 4-8): EcoCamp Village: Imagine a home-away-from-home for campers. If we lived at Pickering Creek, how would we live? We’ll build shelters in the forest, make baskets from vines and gather acorns and walnuts in the forest. As we seine in the creek, we will learn about all the animals that depend on the fish in the water for food. Skills like knot-tying and face-painting will abound as we learn to work together in our exploration of Pickering Creek!
Optional van transportation for a fee will be available from the Kohls parking lot in Easton to Camp each day on the following weeks: June 23-June 27, July 14-July 18, July 28- Aug 1.
Online registration will begin on March 3, 2025 at 10:00am. Find information on transportation, registration, and scholarships at www.pickeringcreek.org. Contact Susanna Scallion, camp registrar at [email protected]
Juanita Robbins says
The best headline I’ve read in ages!
Do you offer this delightful camp for 65 year olds?