Effie Yeaw Nature Center day camp in Carmichael doesn’t just teach nature skills
Looking for a last-minute day camp for your kids? The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is enrolling children for its outdoor day camps. These camps focus on helping kids develop useful skills including local wildlife tracking, science topics, robotics and developing video games.
Here’s what to know:
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What is the Effie Yeaw Nature Center?
Named after Effie Yeaw, a Sacramento educator and conservationist, the center is a living legacy to Yeaw’s commitment to curiosity, learning and stewardship of the natural world, according to the center’s website.
Located along the American River, the nature center provides people of all ages a safe and immersive experience connecting with local wildlife from wild turkeys to woodpeckers to butterflies.
What will my kids learn at the Under the Oaks Nature Day Camps?
The Under the Oaks Nature Day Camps are split into two different sections. The Morning Nature Camps focus on helping children engage with local wildlife under the guidance of camp counselors. The morning day camps’ age limits vary, but are meant for children ages five to 14.
Younger children can enjoy how to be a planet protector or a wildlife investigator, recording findings in a scientific field journal and becoming familiar with animal tracks.
Older children can master the elements as a Junior Ranger. This class focuses on how to understand nature and develop skills from surviving in ancient times to future sustainability practices.
STEM Afternoon Camps engages the campers in hands-on engineering, coding and art. This day camps are designed for children ages five to 12.
Similar to the Morning Nature Camps, classes depend on a child’s age and interests. Younger kids can attend Treasure Island Engineers Camp where they’ll use shipwreck supplies and island materials to build shelters and design pulley and zip line systems.
For older children there is Minecraft Coding Camp as well as Under the Sea Art Camp using what the center’s website describes as “a delightful variety of messy media... from paint to 3-D sculptures and more” to create art masterpieces.
When do the camps take place?
Day camp classes run from mid-June to early August. Camp registration is open until the Friday before the start of each session.
Here is the schedule for morning and day camps at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center.
The Morning Nature Camps:
All morning camps are from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Nature Olympians
- Monday, June 15 to Friday, June 19 | Ages 6–7
Wildlife Investigators
- Monday, June 22 to Friday, June, 26 or Monday, July 27 to Friday, July 31 | Ages 6–7
Outdoor Adventures
- Monday, June 15 to Friday, June 26 or Monday, July 20 to Friday, July 31 | Ages 8–11
Camp 5 – Planet Protectors
- Monday, June 29 to Thursday, July 2 | Age 5
Junior Rangers: Mastering the Elements
- Monday, June 29 to Thursday, July 2 | Ages 12–14
Creature Features
- Monday, July 6 to Friday, July 10 or Monday, July 20 to Friday, July 24 | Ages 6–7
Birds of a Feather
- Monday, July 6 to Friday, July 10 | Ages 8–11
Woodland Tales
- Monday, July 13 to Friday, July 17 | Ages 6–7
Nature-ology
- Monday, July 13 to Friday, July 17 or Monday, Aug. 3 to Friday, Aug. 7 | Ages 8–11
Wildlife Caretakers
- Friday, Aug. 3 to Tuesday, Aug. 7 | Ages 6–7
STEM Afternoon Camps:
All afternoon camps are from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Treasure Island Engineers Camp
- Monday, June 15 to Friday, June 19 | Ages 6–11
Minecraft Coding Camp
- Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26 | Ages 6–11
Under the Sea Art Camp
- Monday, June 29 to Thursday, July 2 | Ages 5–12
Videogame Design Camp
- Tuesday, July 7 to Friday, July 10 | Ages 6–11
Minecraft Modding Camp
- Monday, July 13 to Friday, July 17 | Ages 6–11
Animal Safari Stop Motion Video-making Camp
- Monday, July 20 to Friday, July 24 | Ages 6–11
Space Odyssey Robotics Camp
- Monday, July 27 to Friday, July 31 | Ages 6–11
How much is registration?
Camps are open to both members and nonmembers, though pricing for members are discounted.
- Members: $235 per one-week camp
- Nonmembers: $285 per one-week camp
- Members: $565 per two-week camp
- Nonmembers: $615 per two-week camp
