Get your children outdoors this summer and book them in a Nature Explorers Summer Camp. Our nature camps are hands-on, fun-filled learning at Allan Brooks Nature Centre! Children will learn about our local ecosystems and wildlife through outdoor lessons, play, crafts, games, and activities!
Our Nature Explorers Camp is a day camp for children ages 6 – 8. These are full-day camps that run for 4 days from 9 am – 4 pm, Tuesday – Friday.
Nature Explorers Theme: Birds, Birds, Birds
A big bird adventure packed with outdoor games, birding walks, and hands-on discoveries. Campers make masks and binoculars, investigate clues on a Bird Detective Trail, build nests, and learn about owls and raptors. We’ll finish with a Bird Book and a celebration parade.
Day 1: Meet Birds, Masks and Beaks
Indoor: Welcome and camp culture: Name game and “Bird name”. Craft: make your own bird mask. Beak lab: “beaks do jobs” hands-on activity. Bird art: feather/leaf rubbings, or group makes “giant nest” sculpture.
Outdoor: “Bird chat” what makes a bird a bird? quick “spot a bird” challenge. Migration game (grasslands theatre). “Bird Olympics” outdoor stations (relay-style movement games): flap-and-glide relay, worm pull (tug game), nest delivery (carry “eggs” safely), silent owl step (quiet movement challenge). Reflection: “Best bird moment today”.
Day 2: Pond Birds, Feeders and Bird Detectives
Indoors: Habitat Room introduction and bird scavenger hunt. Make your own bird feeder
Outdoor “Bird Detective Trail”: Look for clues (feathers, tracks, nests, sounds), simple picture matching cards (beaks/feet/habitats) on clipboards, short “sit and listen/look” pauses for bird calls/sightings. Feeder: choose safe feeder locations (windows, cats, wind). Playground game: bird lunch relay race. Reflection: “What clue did you find?”
Day 3: Nests, Owl Senses and Food Chains
Outdoor: Owl games: “silent flight” and stealth challenges. Calm “owl senses” game: eyes-closed listening and stillness challenge. Simple food-chain sorting activity (kid level: who eats what). Scavenge materials for nest building.
Indoors: Build your own bird nest (Scavenged materials). “Nest upgrade challenge” add “camouflage” and “comfort” materials, gentle “wind test” and “rain test” demo, talk about why nests are hidden, high, or in holes. Bird body show-and-tell: owl/bird props, compare wings and feet. Reflection: “If I were a bird, I’d nest in…”
Day 4: Binoculars, Bird Walk and Celebration
Outdoors: Birding walk to key viewing spots (quiet voices, point-and-whisper spotting rules). “Big Bird Quest”: bird bingo with pictures, mini sit-spot (3 minutes still, then share what you noticed).
Indoors: Make binoculars Meet the birds (Discovery Room). Camp wrap project: make a mini “Bird Book” (one page per day: pondside bird, owl, favourite bird, etc.). Celebration: certificates + “migration parade” goodbye game. Reflection: “My favourite bird was…”
Once you are registered for a camp you must fill out this Family Information Form.
For inquiries about our 2026 summer camps please contact the ABNC office. Email: education@abnc.ca Phone: 250-260-4227.
