Summer Camp

Ages 4 – 12
June 3 – August 9, 2024
Children are taught in classes by age: 4, 5 – 6, 7 – 8, and 9 – 12

Register your kids for our fun-filled, week-long camps that explore the natural world through active, hands-on indoor and outdoor adventures at this 155-acre nature sanctuary.

Looking for summer opportunities for different age groups or time frames? Check out Animal Tales and Tiny Trekkers for preschoolers, Teen Volunteer Opportunities for ages 13-17, and Discovery Days for camp-age kiddos who can only come for a few hours each week.

Extended Day After Camp

Ages 5-12
Monday – Friday, 3:00 – 5:30 pm

Campers will enjoy outdoor nature walks, games, or time on the Nature Playscape and indoor activities like crafts, board games, and card games. In the event of weather advisories, students will have the option to watch child appropriate nature videos or movies.

After Camp is not a standalone program and is only available to students registered for that week’s camp.

Summer Camp registration will open Tuesday, February 6 for Arboretum Members. Nonmember registration will open Tuesday, February 13.

Pricing

The week of July 4th will be prorated – please see below for pricing.

Family Tree membership level and above required for member discount.

Registration Notes

• The Houston Arboretum Nature Camps are primarily focused on education and follow a curriculum-based approach. To ensure proper registration, campers are required to enroll based on their age at the time of the camp. For instance, 4-year-old campers must be at least 4 years old to participate.
• Classes are separated by age and feature age-specific activities. Half Day classes and Full Day classes are also separate, even if they serve the same age group.
• Every camper is expected to demonstrate respectful behavior and be able to attend independently without the need for assistance. This guarantees a safe and inclusive atmosphere for all participants.
• For a comprehensive understanding of our Waitlist, Transfer, or Cancellation policies beforehand, please visit the Cancellation Policy page on our website.

Prior to finalizing your purchase, please ensure to review your shopping cart for any campers who may be waitlisted for camps. This step is crucial, especially for siblings. Once the registration fee has been paid, the registration process is deemed complete.

Sensing Nature

Naturalists use a variety of gadgets and gizmos to explore the natural world but rely mostly on the tools they are born with, their senses! Using sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste, we will explore the Arboretum while learning about incredible animal adaptations like bugs that taste through their feet and predators with radar-like hearing. Join us for a week of sensory exploration!

Fairy Trails, Prairie Tales

Explore the natural world through multicultural myths and legends, tall tales, folklore, and fairy tales, both traditional and modern. Let your imagination be your guide to creative storytelling activities and scientific investigations. We’ll put on puppet shows and go “stargazing”, make masks and maps, go on scavenger hunts, and try orienteering to find our way through the forest, meeting some of our ambassador animals along the way.

Students in our 7-12 year old classes will also get to enjoy a special virtual visit from Kelly Milner Halls, a children’s nonfiction author who is known for books such as Albino Animals, The History of the Titanic, and Tales of the Cryptids.

Grossology

It may be disgusting, but feces, blood, and regurgitation are all important elements in nature. Students will identify animal scat, learn why some animals regurgitate, why some animals suck blood, and why some people EAT bugs! Oh, that’s gross!

Bug Basics

Bug lovers, unite! Search for insect homes, meet insects up-close, make your own insects, and go on six-legged safaris at the Nature Center. Get to know the little creepy crawlies around you. During this exciting week we will make our own entomology field kits to collect and study insects.

Aquanauts

Join us in discovering the fascinating world of underwater organisms. From the largest whale to the smallest plankton, you will investigate life in oceans, ponds, and even puddles. Get up close and personal with aquatic creatures by pond dipping, dissecting a squid, and making your very own ecosystem-in-a-jar.