Summer Camps for Kids, Teens & Families in Minnesota

Audubon Center of the North Woods:
The Audubon Center of the North Woods, located in Sandstone, east-central Minnesota, is a private, non-profit, residential environmental learning center (RELC), and it is a leader in offering meaningful nature experiences to people of all ages. Through our Summer Youth Camps Program, we will provide an opportunity to engage kids in nature through immersion in the wild outdoors to promote environmental awareness, compassion and leadership and an ethic of care for the earth. It is also a wildlife rehabilitation facility, and conference and retreat center.

Summer Kids / Youth Camp Programs:

- Outdoor Family Camp: (for families of any size)
A weekend focused on learning basic outdoor skills to help you and your family enjoy the outdoors. Skills taught are related to a variety of outdoor sports and recreational activities. The classes range from archery and fishing to high ropes and orienteering, and many more. Outdoor family workshops are geared toward families that have children between the ages of 6 and 14. Younger children are welcomed to attend the weekend but will not be able to participate in classes.

- Mix & Match Day Camp: (for kids entering 4th through 8th grades)
Pick your mix of exciting adventure (zipline, climbing wall, canoeing & survivor), or wildlife (reptiles & amphibians / frog hunt, fishing, animal signs & stream superheroes) activities and come explore a taste of the many fun activities at the Audubon Center of the North Woods.

- Feathered Friends Day Camp: (for kids entering 1st through 4th grades)
Celebrate our feathered friends by testing out their beaks and feet, experimenting with feathers, and joining a bird birthday party for the birds who live at the Audubon Center all year. Our crow will let you feed him a snack and he may have some new talents to show us all.

- Forts, Fires, & Fishing Overnight Camp: (for kids entering 4th through 7th grades)
Come spend a week learning how to survive in the woods. We’ll start the week off learning the basics of fire-building, how to construct shelters for people and animals, and where to find food in the wild. Throughout the week, we’ll perfect our fort and fire-making skills, cook some of our own meals over a fire, look for wild edibles, catch some fish, and spend a night under the stars. We’ll finish our week with a fish fry for you and your family.

- Ways of Wildlife Overnight Camp: (for kids entering 5th through 8th grades)
Explore the lives of animals at the Audubon Center and around Minnesota. Help care for and learn handling of educational animals at the Audubon Center including frogs, snakes, turtles, and birds of prey. Go behind the scenes at a zoo, aquarium and a wildlife research center. Experience the basics of wildlife rehab and visit a veterinary clinic / wildlife rehabilitation center. Learn the basics of animal training with hands-on experience. Enjoy a variety of field trips and behind the scenes experiences at a zoo, the Great Lakes aquarium, the Wildlife Science Center and a veterinary clinic / wildlife rehabilitation center.

- State Park Sampler Overnight Camp: (for kids entering 7th through 9th grades)
Meet at the Audubon Center in the mornings and travel to 2 / 3 of the area’s beautiful state parks to spend the day hiking and exploring each park’s unique features. Camp overnight at one of the parks and explore more state parks on the way back to the Audubon Center.

K-12 School Programs (Year Round):
We strive to provide the best environmental experiences for the thousands of K-12 students who come to our center from across the state. We offer highest quality environmental education programs in an optimal location. These programs include:
* Wildlife Educational Programs
* Outdoor / Environmental Programs
* Adventure Programs
* Natural History and Science Programs
* Team-Building Programs

College Programs (Spring & Fall):
We offer various undergraduate, graduate, and teacher training opportunities in environmental education. We serve as a field campus for many teacher training opportunities through Hamline University's Center for Global Environmental Education and offer graduate courses tailored to educators seeking either a Certificate or Master's Degree in Environmental Education.