Our Day Camp Themes (2024)
Story Camps
Get inspired! Use your imagination and practice skills in a fictional context that mirrors the real world!
Earth Ninja
Discover stillness, awareness, and stealth. Being an Earth Ninja means living closely with the plants and animals that surround us. By understanding movement and camouflage we learn to travel unseen and unheard in any environment.
Earth Ninja: Wildlife Within (age 5-7): Are you ready to get muddy and play outside? Explore stillness and awareness by pretending to be the different wild animals you observe. Make new friends and play games!
Earth Ninja (age 8-10): Find a hidden hideout and use natural camouflage to disguise yourself as you sneak through the woods. Play games to practice awareness, silence and stealth but beware…there are rumors of another group traveling in the forest!
Earth Ninja: Forest Mission (age 11-13): Travel silently through the forest, working with your fellow Earth Ninjas to complete an epic mission. Work on advanced earth ninja skills including tracking, stealth, teamwork and trap setting!
Elven Caravan
In Elven Caravan, not all those who wander are lost. Travel the land in search of the special plants that provide healing, food, or craft materials. Deepen your connection to nature through participating in a stewardship project and celebrate with your new friends at the end of week Elven Festival!
Elven Caravan: Fairy Friends (5-7): Can you befriend the magical fairies that live in the woods? Build fairy homes, create nature inspired art and make music while exploring the natural world.
Elven Caravan: Elven Archers (8-10): Slow down to craft, sustainably harvest wild plants, and enjoy nature’s beauty. Explore your creative side with clever elven travelers who craft from wild plants! Learn basic archery skills or work on improving your aim.
Elven Caravan: Elven Adventurers (11-13): Venture off on an epic journey with your fellow Elven Adventurers! Work as a team to decipher clues and use your navigation skills to lead the way on an adventure to a peak of Mount Pisgah. Craft from wild plants, play archery games with our foam arrows and work on carving projects.
Living with the Land
In Living with the Land, we ground ourselves in nature wherever we are. Only when we know our environment intimately can it care for us and can we care for it. Deepen your connection to nature and your new friends by working on a stewardship project together!
Living with the Land: At Home in Nature (5-7): Make new friends, sing songs and feel at home playing in nature! Pretend to be the plants and animals you meet and explore what they need to thrive in their homes.
Living with the Land: Stewardship and Survival (8-10): Settle into earth-time and a lifestyle of working with nature and each other to meet all of your needs. Build a shelter, sing songs, sustainably gather wild plants and make delicious concoctions. Play the game of kube to practice your rabbit hunting skills and lookout…there have been sightings of invasive “jug bunnies” across Mount Pisgah!
Skill Camps
Already inspired? Pursue a passion to a deeper level, with greater challenge and greater reward, and come away with confidence in your skills.
Village Craft
Explore the natural world around you and become skilled at the crafts that can sustain a community. Make what you need and add your own creative flair!
VillageCraft: Leatherwork (11-13): Join a community of crafters and learn how to make cool stuff out of leather! We will be using a variety of tools and techniques to create bracelets, wrist guards, and pouches, you’ll even have the chance to design your own leather project! Leatherwork Camp is for students who love to really focus, work hard and hone their skills. By the end of the week, you’ll have a lot to be proud of! There is an additional $29 materials fee for this camp.
Village Craft: Whittling (8-10): Spend the week carving! Learn how to whittle awesome projects safely. What will you create?
There is an additional $12 materials fee for this camp.
Village Craft: Knifemaking (11-13): Make your own knife including rasp, sand, and customize your handle. Then you get to place your blade into the handle and craft your own sheath. You’ll get to learn how to use all sorts of tools and even get tons of great carving practice!
There is an additional $29 materials fee for this camp.
Wildlife Encounters
Get to know real animals of our local parks and explore what they need to thrive. If you love field guides or drawing in your journal, these are the camps for you!
Wildlife Encounters: Tracking (8-11): Roam the land looking for signs of animal and insect life. Use field guides to identify animal tracks and draw what you observe in your journal. Your final mission will be to track a mysterious being across the park!
Wildlife Encounters: Friends of the River (11-13): Get to know different parts of the riverbank as you race boats crafted from natural materials, build rock sculptures, observe wildlife in & around the water, look for tracks and have lots of opportunities to wade (no higher than your knees!). Head inland to explore where rainwater meets the river and look for wildlife. Work together with your new friends to help the river through a stewardship project!
Wildlife Encounters: Fish Finders (11-13) (14-17): All about fishing from start to finish. Bait a hook, find a hole, cast your rod, reel in your catch. Spend the week on the river, fishing with friends!
*Oregon fishing license required for campers 12 and older.
There is an additional $29 materials fee for this camp.
Social Camps
Build community in a camp that focuses on your personal growth, connection with peers, and kinship with nature.
Young Mentors (12-16*): Begin your journey from camper to counselor! Young Mentors will have the opportunity to discover what leadership development means and deepen their skills in communication, group dynamics and team building. Learn how to teach new things to younger campers, what your strengths & skills are and how best to utilize them. Practice outdoor skills and games that can be taught to campers and learn to moderate conflicts through effective communication. Bond with your peers and take on challenges as a group. This is a great opportunity to discover your leadership potential!
Young Mentors is an in-depth opportunity for teens to receive training on the skills and knowledge involved in mentoring younger campers and leading them on epic outdoors adventures. To register for this training, students must first apply to join our CIT program. Applications will be available by February 1st. CIT Applications are due by February 19th. Applicants will be selected based on their ability to demonstrate a high level of maturity, as well as on their experience as campers with Whole Earth. No previous leadership experience is required. Accepted applicants will receive a Young Mentors registration link by March 1st.
Please note: Although most students completing the Young Mentors camp will earn the opportunity to become a CIT, Young Mentors participants who are unable to meet the behavior expectations of a CIT may be asked to not participate in the CIT program. Visit our Student Leadership Opportunities page to learn more about the expectations and awesomeness of being a CIT!
*11 year olds are eligible to participate in Young Mentors and be a CIT if they are recommended by an instructor. Email contactus@wholeearth.org if your 11 year old would like to be a CIT.
Epic Quest Camp (11-13) (14-17): It’s right there in the name! Inspired by ideas from tween and teen campers, this camp mixes imaginative live action role play with wilderness skills. You’ll begin your journey by creating a fantasy character and then you’ll set off on an epic quest with your adventuring party. Campers will take the lead, working together to decipher clues, figure out where to go & what to do next and use their skills to overcome the many obstacles & adversaries they’ll encounter on this epic adventure. When not battling the forces of evil, campers will have a chance to slow down and engage in classic nature camp activities like river time, carving and relaxing outside with new friends.
Daughters of Artemis (7-10) (11-17): Enter a world of magic and stories, watched over by Artemis– the Greek Goddess of archery and wild animals. Join other girls* your age for a week of transformation, empowerment and grounding in nature.
You’ll begin your adventure by creating a fantasy character to help you re-imagine who you can be and who you want to be. Find your Nature Ally and discover your unique strengths as you learn real wilderness skills like shelter building, plant ID and safe tool use.
Featuring:
- Storytelling and roleplaying
- Crafting from natural materials
- Becoming one with mud and leaves
This camp makes a great stand-alone adventure for girls during their transition to womanhood as well as an awesome introduction to Camp Artemis for girls who might join us at the overnight camp in the future!
*All girls are welcome at Daughters of Artemis (including those who are transgender and cisgender) as is anyone exploring their gender identity or expression. Please see additional information about gender at camp below.
Rainbow Society (7-10) (11-17): A camp for gender diverse campers where everyone is welcome to join.
Rainbow Society is the least exclusive club anywhere. Rainbow Society is designed for gender diverse campers, but anyone is welcome to join. It’s a place where diversity is celebrated and all can feel safe. In fact, diversity is what makes us resilient. It’s also what makes nature resilient. Diverse ecosystems support thriving communities of living things. In the Rainbow Society we will explore the diversity of nature and our place in it.
Along the way, you will explore and experience some awesome wilderness skills. Study the art of camouflage to blend into your surroundings. Practice the art and craft of archery. Connect with and learn about the community of plants and the ways in which they provide food, medicine, fiber and more.
*Please see additional information about gender at camp below.
Sons of the Forest (7-10) (11-17): Celebrate what it means to be a boy*! If you like to climb trees, carve on sticks, play games with bows and safe foam arrows, track animals, sneak through the woods, use safe foam swords, build forts, or just run, this camp is for you. This week we will explore honor, self-respect, wisdom, and the responsibility that comes with being a boy*.
Activities like climbing trees and archery will become opportunities to have fun while learning about setting safe and appropriate boundaries for ourselves. We will have lots of fun going on adventures and bonding with our peers!
*All boys are welcome at Sons of the Forest (including those who are transgender and cisgender) as is anyone exploring their gender identity or expression. Please see additional information about gender at camp below.
Camp Terance (14-17): A camp designed exclusively by Whole Earth’s most notorious instructor, Terance. If you want to learn the art of the Terance directly from the man himself then this is the camp for you. Learn a wide variety of new skills as you begin to understand the Way of the Terance. Expect to work hard and play hard outside while bonding with your peers!
Featuring:
- Carving projects
- Big group project
- Challenges that make you a better person
- Gnarly off site adventures
- Bonding with an amazing team of peers
Wild Moves: Nature Connection Dance Camp (8-10) (11-13): Experience kinship with nature through dance! Inspired by the wisdom of trees, the flow of streams, and the pathway of creatures, discover the enchantment of dance while immersed in nature. Guided movement activities and exploration of dance fundamentals, such as Space, Time, Force, and Body, will expand students’ sensory awareness and connection to nature.