YMCA campers will have a Dino Experience at Field Station

Facing unprecedented demand for its summer camps The Meadowlands Area YMCA is partnering with Field Station: Dinosaurs in Leonia to bring 60 additional registrations and two full weeks of programming to the Y’s summer camp calendar. YMCA campers at Field Station will experience a full range of dinosaur educational experiences including fossil digs, a paleontology laboratory, along with live music and shows with over 30 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs.

“Adding Field Station Dinosaurs as a summer camp partner as well as other offsites was not only a response to the increase in demand, but also our commitment to providing a wide array of enrichment programs to help children learn in a fun way during the summer months away from school,” said Andrea Fernandez, Senior Child Care Director at the Meadowlands YMCA.“Our camps provide opportunities for kids to make lifelong memories, build self-confidence, independence and friendships that will last a lifetime.”

Located in Bergen County’s Overpeck Park Field Station: Dinosaurs is opens to the general public on May 27 with the YMCA camp running from July 24 - August 18, 2023.

"As the dad of a kindergartner, I know how hard it is to find a great camp you can trust," says Guy Gsell, Executive Producer at Field Station: Dinosaurs. "To combine the experience of the YMCA with the fun and learning of Field Station: Dinosaurs is every parent's dream. We're taking campers 65 million years back in time to play, laugh and, most importantly, to learn from the dinosaurs. "

"To combine the experience of the YMCA with the fun and learning of Field Station: Dinosaurs is every parent's dream. We're taking campers 65 million years back in time to play, laugh and, most importantly, to learn from the dinosaurs. "

The Meadowlands Area YMCA’s summer programming is filling up at record pace as Northern New Jersey parents search for quality camps that offer a wide array of options. Of the 400 spots available 286 are already filled with more children being registered every day.

“Last year parents were scrambling trying to find quality camps that still had availability and a lot of them were left without many options. This year we opened registration on January 1st in anticipation of another rush,” said David Kisselback, CEO of the Meadowlands Area YMCA. “In responding to the community by opening registration early, combined with expanding our programming in education and activities, we’ve never seen such high demand for our summer camps. We are filling up faster than ever before and if the trend continues, we will be completely booked within the next few weeks.”

The lingering effects of the pandemic are still reverberating through Northern New Jersey and the surrounding area. Summer camps that were forced to close are either unable to re-open or have had to reduce capacity in order to operate. Combining that with more parents being called back to the office for work, the decrease in supply has them searching for summer camp options much earlier than usual.

Along with Field Station the Y also added two additional off-site locations in two other counties. The Meadowlands Y offers several programs for children from ages three to 11 years old. Summer camp options include Summer Seedlings for preschoolers, travel camp, sports camp, and education enrichment programs that teach literacy, science, technology, engineering, math, art, and music. The travel camp also includes field trips to Dorney Park, Liberty Science Center, and the Jersey Shore.

The Meadowlands YMCA is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in a service area of 50,000 households with more than 300,000 guests per year. With an 83,200 sq. ft. central facility and 30+ offsite locations across two counties, the organization is committed to nurturing the potential of children, promoting healthy living, and fostering a sense of social responsibility. The Y offers a wide variety of wellness and enrichment programs designed to benefit infants to seniors that positively impacts the community.