Nature Camps, Inc. - Day Camp Programs

News from Nature Camps

"It's about a sense of wonder!"

February 2009

There is still time to register for all summer sessions. Visit our website for more information or contact us by email or telephone.

don webb

magic girl

Director's Message:

What we have witnessed at camp is the relationship between counselors and children -- how deeply counselors value the magic within children. In looking beyond Nature Camps, here is another recently discovered poem that my mother clipped from Family Circle magazine, and carefully pasted in her green book of poems. It speaks about such a relationship that we have perhaps all dearly experienced. (similar poem)

Mother of a Magic Girl

I can't quite understand my little girl,
She lives in a world I've long since put away
Toddling across a muddy planet
Filled with bugs and caterpillars
To find delight in a rusty water spigot
That drips into puddles by the side porch.

Her language is a foreign tongue to me
The friends she speaks about an alien kind
Humanized giraffes and communicative teapots
And ghosts and witches and goblins;
I never taught her that.
I never even saw the snowman to whom she says hello
Nor the busy chipmunk she's adopted as her pal.

Yesterday she came home all in tears
Her Teddy bear had dared forsake her love
It took all afternoon to win him back
And in the meantime several times the sky fell in.
Miss Muffet sprayed tapioca curds and whey
On the living room ceiling
And I, gross lady, stepped on Henny Penny.

Now she is asleep and I can picture her
Slight smile across her curl-tossed little face
Engrossed in a late late movie all her own
A technicolor dream of circuses and games
While I stand here, an all too human spawn
Long past the fearful birthing door
Now puzzled mother of a magic little girl.

Family Circle 7/72 Written and performed for the
Omni Theatre Club, Inc., of New York City

campers

Come meet us!

Nature Camps will be at the Baltimore's Child Camps and Summer Programs Fair from 12-3 p.m. on March 8, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2004 Greenspring Drive, Timonium, MD.

Come meet our director and several staff members, ask questions, and get answers!

All are invited to attend. See you there!

Nature Camps will again take part it the Johns Hopkins University Worklife Programs Summer Camp Discoveries Fair on February 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This Fair is for Johns Hopkins employees only.

camper

berries

Beat the Rush! Register Now!

Are you tired of the annual rush to set your child's summer schedule? Beat the rush! Nature Camps is currently accepting registrations for the 2009 Summer Season!

We offer the Camper Program for children ages 5-12. In a mixed-age learning environment, children choose their own activities -- Adventure Ropes Course, swimming, horseback riding, canoeing, nature crafts, carving & whittling, hiking, stream exploring, singing, bicycling, new games, etc.

Teen Adventure is for teens 13-16, and offers a four week program of hiking, biking, white water rafting, community service learning, kayaking, and more! Two weeks are spent at Nature Camps, and two five-day away trips take teens to a local farm and to the Appalachian Trail.

Camp Wonder, for 4-year olds is a program designed to be a miniature version of our camper program -- at the relaxed pace of a four-year-old!

Camp Little Feet is for toddlers, aged 2-1/2 to 4, and provides a unique opportunity for the parent and child to explore nature as only toddlers can do -- one wonder at a time.

So, whatever the age of your child, and whatever your summertime schedule brings, Nature Camps has a program just for you!

Register now online.

2009 Calendar

Click here for the schedule for this summer.

Open House

Join us for our 35^th Open House on Sunday, May 17 from 1 – 4.

Returning families, come for an afternoon of reconnecting with the staff, enjoying the woods, and welcoming new families.

New families, you'll have the chance to meet Don, other staff, and veteran NC parents. You can also tour the grounds, ask questions, swing on the tall swings, and visit NC's unique Adventure Challenge Ropes Courses. NC water bottles and Camper T-Shirts will be available for purchase.

New NC Brochure

Look for our new, smaller, greener brochure in your mailbox this week. If you do not receive one, please let us know.

Nature Camps Welcomes Our New Neighbor: Camp Winwood

A Camp for Middle School Boys!

On the campsite on Blue Mount Rd (Camp Dancing Bear sign), our associate, Jeff Gunther will be directing a camp just for middle school boys.

Highlights of Camp Winwood will be:

Leadership development
Team Building activities
Swimming and instruction
Overnight campout
Tubing and canoeing on the Gunpowder
And much more!

Jeff has a strong background in training, coaching athletics, and working with this age group. He is excited about sharing the 230 acres of woods and the river with us.

Look for Jeff Gunther's booth at the March Baltimore Child's Summer Camp Fair Camp Winwood . You can email Jeff at jeff.gunther@comcast.net, or by phone at 804-739-1483 or visit them on the web.