Vacation Week Camps at Boston Nature Center

Boston Nature Center’s school vacation week camps in February and April offer invaluable opportunities for children to follow their curiosity about the natural world in a safe and inclusive environment. In a camp-like atmosphere, children play, make new friends, and have fun all while learning about science and nature.

In their small groups led by teacher naturalists, children delve into a science topic for the week. They take part in hands-on experiments, outdoor explorations, observations and reflections, dramatic play, and much more. As their group spends time on the wildlife sanctuary, the teacher naturalist follows their lead, exploring their curiosity and finding the answers to questions together as a group. All of this builds on the knowledge that children learn in school but now have the chance to observe or put into practice in real world settings.

Benefits of Nature Play

An integral part of each day is the unstructured time participants spend outdoors. Children are given numerous opportunities to direct their own experience and choose to spend more time outdoors or pursue other activities. This practice promotes self-confidence, self-regulation, and a feeling of ownership of their experience. 

Unstructured nature play has numerous benefits for children of all ages including:

• Intellectually: Children design, build, create, and problem-solve as they build structures, imagine new games, and make mud pies and other fun creations. Children practice language as they direct other children in dramatic play, explain rules to each other, or negotiate play.   
• Socially: Unstructured activities give children the chance to play with both older and younger children, practice friendship skills, and try new things.
• Physically: Children are running, jumping, climbing, balancing, sledding, dancing, and doing many other healthy physical activities. Being outdoors naturally reduces a child’s stress and revitalizes them for the rest of the day. 

Vacation Week Camp Details

• A safe environment with a high staff to child ratio
• A four-day program for ages 5-14
• Drop off between 8:30 am–9:30 am
• Pick-up between 4:30 pm–5:30 pm
• Extended day options
• A family showcase on Friday afternoons

Sliding Scale Payment Options

In an effort to ensure finances aren't a barrier to your child's outdoor education, we offer sliding scale payment options for vacation week programs. 

To access sliding scale pricing, identify your tier from the graph below. Relevant gross family income includes the income of the parent(s) or caregiver(s) living with the child; child support is not included while determining your sliding scale tier. Household size refers to all of the family members living with the child (parents or legal guardians, their children/dependents, and the camper being registered).

When checking out, you'll be asked to pay a minimum deposit of $25 and have until 2 weeks before the first day of vacation week to pay the remaining balance relevant to your tier. Income verification for tiers 1-3 will be requested along with your child's medical and other information via CampDoc. Tiers 4-5 do not need to provide verification. Sliding scale options are available on a first come, first serve basis.