Survival Rockport Camp for ages 8-13 (7 year olds considered)
Overview: A day camp in a wilderness setting, focused on storytelling, community, and outdoor skills development. At this camp, we will use mostly what we find around us plus a few fun things we will bring, to explore, build, and learn to be comfortable and safe in any weather. Survival Camp comes with hiking and other non competitive challenges to be met at each camper’s own level.
Details: At Survival Rockport Camp, your group will create an adventure in the wilds of a scenic and peaceful forest. Each week we are part of a different story of how we came to be stranded in the woods. We all develop the story as we live it, and along the way, become friends, The first thing we usually have to do is build a little survival village, including shelters, a fire pit, and a group living area. Then we decide what else we need to learn to do, and where we want to go each day. Perhaps we need to learn to purify water, find wild foods, study the ways of turtles, catch and study frogs, photograph wild weasels, learn to walk silently, make up communication codes, or find a way over some cliffs. We might even need to lash logs together to build a raft!
During flexible time blocks, campers can choose to earn stamps in our Forestbook Skills Tracker, advancing in the skills that are of most interest to them. Children that want lots of time to work on skills or scramble on rocks will find this time, and those who enjoy solitude in the wild will find this too. There’s always time for independent nature study or skills practice.
As weather permits, we will make fires without matches and cook marshmallows over them. Several days a week, we voyage to the beach to play in the sand or in the water. At the end of the week, campers will have gained independence, outdoor skills, and new friends, both human and animal.
Survival Camp instructors model and teach acceptance and caring for all, valuing our differences and our commonalities. We also model and teach care for all parts of the natural world, and the belief that we are not visitors in nature, but are inextricably linked to all other living things. We belong in nature and nature is part of all of our lives. Kids should all have a chance to get dirty, climb trees, catch frogs, and forge connections to the natural world.
Survival Rockport Camp is different from most day camps because kids have the freedom to explore wide boundaries, make decisions as a group, work on what they are interested in for hours, or try a bunch of different things. There is no emphasis on encouraging campers to do mostly things they’re already good at and in fact, we believe firmly in trying new things and risking not being good at them…yet! The days are not fully pre -planned by instructors. Instead, the campers are invited to add their voices to the planning of our adventures. They are given trust and leadership responsibilities. We sometimes use knives and make fires. Each day has some skills time, exploration time, and lots of choice time and wild time. We emphasize safety and care for one another, and have a collaborative, empathy-based group management approach. We also have very firm rules around respecting one another and the natural world.
Our sites are the little traveled Gott Lane Woods, nestled in a beautiful woodland alongside several ponds and streams, and Old Garden Beach, both in Rockport, Massachusetts.
Please note that this is an entirely outdoor camp in a primitive setting. Our camp meets in public woods and hikers and their dogs may walk by our group. There is no motorized transportation involved in our program day, and no buildings or plumbing at all. We walk about 3/4 mile to our woodland site each day, and a little over a mile from there to the beach where we end our day (drop off is outside Rockport Elementary School, and pickup is at Old Garden Beach). Sanitation is important to us: There will be a portable toilet and water, soap, and hand sanitizer at our site, along with routines and rules around cleanliness.
Dates and Times
Week One: July 14-18
Week Two: July 21-25
Week Three: July 28-August 1
Price: $400 per week.
Times: 9:00am. to 3:00 p.m.
Enroll in one or two weeks (not all three)
Location:
Meets outside Rockport Elementary School
Adventures sites are Gott-Lane Woods and Old Garden Beach in Rockport.
Price Includes Survival Gear Kit
Full vaccination against covid-19 is required for campers and staff. Waivers considered for health reasons only
Link will become live at 5pm on Sunday, January 12th, 2025
to enroll:
Please note: You must BOTH pay (or contact us to arrange payment plan) AND complete an enrollment form in order to hold your spot. Pay first in order to ensure a spot is available. If you need to be considered for financial aid, get in touch with us and then complete an enrollment form. We cannot hold spots for anyone who has not completed an enrollment form, as this is where we collect all your health and contact information, waiver and permissions.
1.pay at this link first: if you’re able to complete payment, that means your selected spot is available to you.
2.ENROLLMENT FORM: YOU ARE NOT ENROLLED UNLESS YOU COMPLETE THE FULL FORM
3.permissions form: please also complete this required form when enrolling
4. pre order your camp shirt (optional)
Please note that the payment link will become active at 5pm on Sunday, January 14th, 2024
This camp must comply with regulations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and is licensed by the local board of health
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION
All educational and non-academic programs, activities and employment opportunities are offered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, homelessness, age and/or, disability, and any other class or characteristic protected by law.
