Tree Frog Summer Camps
2025 Summer Nature Camps for Ages 5 - 7*
“Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur—this lovely world, these precious days…”
Each of the five weeks of Tree Frog Camps presents a new nature theme for the young child to explore this summer. Sign-up for all five week-long sessions in the series or choose those that match your child’s interests. We’ll be hiking, crafting, learning wilderness skills, and discovering more about our place in the web of life. We like to keep our mentor/child ratio small to allow children to get to know one another and their summer mentors well, so spaces are limited. Parent participation is welcomed but not required.
Tree Frog Camp Info:
Days: Monday - Friday
Time: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Tuition: $435/Week
Location: El Chorro Regional Park and SLO Botanical Gardens
Camps fill up fast. Don't miss out!
*Younger students with prior camp experience may be considered for Tree Frog Camp with mentor approval. Please contact info@outsidenow.org with your request.
Fox Walkers!
JUNE 23 - JUNE 27, 2025
Ages: 5 - 7
Mentors: TBA
Let’s challenge our senses with blindfold and awareness games or learn how to disappear into the landscape with nature camouflage! We will tune into our "body radar" by getting really still and listening to what our bodies tell us. We’ll learn to walk softly over the land to get closer to wildlife (or play the trickster with friends)!
Animal Tracks!
JUNE 30 - JULY 03, 2025 (Mon-Thu with no program on Friday, July 4th)
Ages: 5 - 7
Mentors: TBA
Let’s learn to move like the animals move through games, stories, and tracking adventures on the land. We'll search for tracks and signs that tell us where animals live and how they live–predator or prey? Let’s learn the language of the birds who alert us to the movement of predators. We’ll gain greater understanding of how every living being has a place in the web of life!
Wildcraft!
JULY 07 - JULY 11, 2025
JULY 28 - AUGUST 1, 2025
Ages: 5 - 7
Mentors: TBA
Time to get crafty! Did you know that just about anything we find in nature can be used to make something beautiful, useful, whimsical, and more? During WildCraft! week, campers are invited to imagine and engage with the natural materials we find for crafting.Our experienced mentor team will provide Wildcraft! campers with crafting ideas and skills that are developmentally appropriate for each camper, so we all feel empowered to express ourselves. We will take home our creative keepsakes to remember our summer of connection to nature.
Into the Wild!
JULY 14 - JULY 18, 2025
Ages: 5 - 7
Mentors: TBA
Let’s get on the trail and visit a unique location at El Chorro Park each day: creek spots, climbing trees, Eagle Rock! We’ll figure out the direction we are traveling and compose some wonderful stories and songs of our journeys. When we’re out on the land, we may build shelters, practice sit spots, and play games to orient ourselves in nature. This camp week, we will be moving and strengthening our bodies!
Lizard Catchers!
JULY 21 - JULY 25, 2025
Ages: 5 - 7
Mentors: TBA
Excitement for catching lizards, frogs, and even snakes seems instinctual for young children! While many little creatures can be safely caught, observed, and released; it is also true that some snakes can hurt us, some lizards can bite us, and some spiders we don’t want to catch! What do we need to learn to safely follow natural curiosities on the landscape? As campers gain awareness of these hazards, they are free to follow natural childhood passions on our daily explorations to try and catch those things that are fun and safe to try and catch!