WHAT: The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center is offering virtual Summer Camps for children ages four through 12, with campers grouped in classes by age. Navigating around Covid 19, this virtual Summer Camp allows families to connect with nature from their own homes, while supporting the Arboretum’s crucial conservation and education efforts.
What to expect from virtual Summer Camp:
- Pre-recorded video lessons from Arboretum Naturalists
- Hands-on crafts and experiments, materials provided
- Daily live virtual instruction with an Arboretum Naturalist
- Fun, family-friendly outdoor activities
- Mindfulness moments to encourage reflection on each day’s theme
- A supplemental list of videos and reading recommendations to build on your child’s interest
WHEN: June 8 – August 7
Summer Camp Programs:
Survivor: June 8 – 12 & July 13 – 17
Come and experience the skills that animals, plants, and people need to survive. Learn how to build a basic shelter, use echolocation to find food, and find out how to navigate with a compass. Enthusiastic instructors will ensure that everyone succeeds in our Arboretum tribes.
WOW! The Wonders of Water: June 15 – 19 & July 20 – 24
Explore the wonderful world of water. Water is practically everywhere on Earth, from inside the planet’s rocky crust to inside the cells of the human body. Water cycles, a wetland safari, water creatures, and water labs will make this week a splash.
Creative by Nature: June 22 – 26 & July 27 – 31
Explore the connections between art and nature as we use the world around us as creative inspiration. Go for hikes to study Arboretum organisms, and then see how nature will inspire campers’ works of art. Explore the use of natural materials to create projects like hiking sticks, mud paintings, and flower presses.
Eat or be Eaten: June 29 – July 3 & Aug. 3 – 7
Why does a cat stalk its prey? Why are some grasshoppers shaped like a leaf? Life on our planet is a never-ending struggle between predators and prey. Come and find out how creatures great and small use smarts, speed, strength, special senses, coloration, and weapons to survive.
Spiders & Arachnids: July 6 – 10
What do the Green Lynx, Brown Recluse, Golden Orb and Black Widow have in common? They are all spiders! Spiders can climb the tallest buildings and creep through the tiniest of cracks. Their silk is stronger than the strongest steel or any other man-made fiber. No wonder they are heroes of lore and literature from mythology to the movies. Explore spiders through stories, hands-on crafts, games, and field investigations.
Registration for the second five weeks of Summer Camp will open on Monday, June 15.
WHERE: Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
4501 Woodway Dr.
Houston, TX 77024
COST: $125 and up. Member rates available. Please go to https://houstonarboretum.org/summer-camp-2020/ to register.
Additionally, the Houston Arboretum offers the following programs in June:
- June 13 – A Bird’s Guide to Gardening (Virtual); 10:30 a.m. – noon
- June 20 – 108 Sun Salutations with Yogaleena; 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
- June 20 – Forgotten Pollinators (Virtual); 10:30 a.m. – noon
- June 25 – Bingo on the Lawn; 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
- June 27 – The Secret Life of Squirrels (Virtual); 10:30 a.m. – noon.
Registration for these programs is available online at www.houstonarboretum.org. Costs vary from $10 – $30, depending on the program and if you are a member or non-member.
ABOUT: The mission of the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center is to provide education about the natural environment to people of all ages and to protect and enhance the Arboretum as a haven and as a sanctuary for native plants and animals. The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, one of the first nature education facilities for children in the state of Texas, provides services to over 400,000 visitors annually. The Arboretum also provides nature education for more than 10,000 children annually. For more information about the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center and levels of membership, visit houstonarboretum.org.
