Flat Rock Brook Summer Day Camp

(201) 567-1265 X 203

Website

443 Van Nostrand Ave, Englewood, NJ 07631

Flat Rock Brook’s Summer Day Camp is an active, educational camp which is certified by the State of New Jersey. This Nature themed camp is designed for campers ages 4 to 14. Campers will spend most of their time outdoors, weather permitting, on our 150 acre forest and wetland preserve. We start and end each day in our centrally located Nature Center building. Children will hike, use our new playground, take a canoe ride, meet our ambassador animals including several birds of prey, and have a great time appreciating the great outdoors.

Camp begins at 8:30 am and runs to 3:00 pm with a chance for "after-care" until 5:00 pm. Campers are grouped by age into Flat Rock Finch, ages 4-5: Flat Rock Fox, ages 6 - 7; Coyote Kids, ages 8 to 10; and Junior Naturalists, ages 11 to 14. Our camp has an 8:1 ratio for all ages, small groups, and lots of fun!

Camp activities vary by the day and by the session topic. All campers will hike daily (weather permitting - but come dressed for the weather!), have some unstructured play time and participate in a variety of crafts, games and hands-on activities related to the day’s topic of study. Some examples of activities include: playing a migration game to learn about the incredible journeys taken by birds, hands-on experiments, planting a garden, studying the critters found in the pond and stream, creating and decorating plaster animal tracks, group games, and more. As always, campers may “opt-out” of most activities. Some campers might choose to use their time to read a book, look at Exhibit Hall displays or color. While we ask campers to leave their devices at home, they are welcome to bring quiet activities to enjoy during unstructured time.

Campers will have a snack in the late morning. Lunch is in the afternoon, depending upon the age group. Snack and lunch time might be indoors or out on the trail. Campers should plan to bring one snack (labeled “snack”) and a healthy lunch each day.

Campers will have some activities that require things to be brought from home. On very hot days, we have fun with sprinklers and water games as well as an exciting trip around the pond in our canoe! Some campers like to have an extra set of clothes to put on afterwards. Please ALWAYS wear comfortable walking shoes, NO CROCS or open toed shoes as we will be hiking. We suggest good sneakers or hiking boots. Please bring bug spray, refillable water bottle, sunscreen, and a hat. Feel free to keep a bathing suit, towel, extra shoes that can get wet, and anything else they might need for a wonderfully wet day (this is usually Friday but may vary depending upon weather, heat, and schedule).

Each week we have a different theme:

• Week one: Wind and Sea will have you acting like a pirate and learning about the conservation and ecology of NJ shore line.

• Week two: Mud, Muck, and More will take a deep dive into all things dirt

• Week three: Dragons and Damselflies will appeal to your flights of fancy while we learn about flying insects as well as a few fun activities that will let your imagination soar.

• Week four: STEM in the Forest, get your science on! we will learn about the forest through hands on experiments and activities.

• Week five: Outdoor Explorers will give campers a chance to explore our 150-acre forest and wetland habitats while only being a few miles from NY City

• Week six: Jersey Jones Archeology Base Camp curriculum was written by one of FRB's good friends, an archeologist currently working in Italy and France digging up ancient civilizations.

• Week seven: Birds of a Feather, Flock to Flat Rock Brook! is an exciting week long bird hunt to find Great Blue Heron, woodpeckers, mallards, Black Crowned Night Heron, hawks, and more.

• Week Eight: Wacky, Wet, Weather will take a look at weather and climate as well as fun experiments to learn basic and advanced weather concepts.

• Week nine: Fly Me To The Moon! is an out-of-this-world week of nebula, Goldilocks planets, meteors and more. Our wide range of topics should appeal to all your little ones.