Discoverers Camps
Discoverers camps are held Monday-Thursday with full day or half day options.
Discoverers full day camps are offered to children ages 6 & 7. Afternoon half-day camps are offered in combination with the Critters age group for ages 4-7.
Pricing
4-day camp sessions
Half day (1-4:00 p.m.): $120.00
Full day (9 a.m.-4:00 p.m.): $240.00
3-day camp session:
Half day (1-4:00 p.m.): $90.00
Full day (9 a.m -4:00 p.m.): $180.00
Registration
Summer 2025 registration opens 9:00 a.m. on February 11.
2025 Discoverers Camps
Half-day camps
Green Thumb Gardeners PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
June 23-26, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Did you know good gardeners have “green thumbs”? Develop your green thumb by digging into our garden to get the dirt on seeds, plants, fruits, and vegetables. Play garden games, make fresh snacks, and plant seeds to grow your very own box garden to take home.
Mudpuppies PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
June 30- July 2, 2025 (3-day camp)
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$90.00
When you’re a kid there’s nothing better than mucking in the mud! Look for critters at the bottom of the marsh, make mud nests like the birds and wasps do, and try your hands at mud sculpture. Have no fear — we’ll arrange for the mess, mud, mayhem and best of all, the cleanup. If you like feeling the mud squish between your toes, this camp is for you.
Animal Superheroes PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
July 7-10, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
What can cut through trees, breathe underwater, and fly through the sky? Animal superheroes! Explore the world through compound eyes, study creatures up-close, and master a super-skill obstacle course. Discover your superpowers to become a superhero-in-training.
Dinosaur Adventure Camp PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
July 14-17, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Why did the dinosaur go to adventure camp? To have a “T-rexiffic Time” of course! You will too as we delve deep into the timeline of the dinosaurs. Become an official nature time-traveler as we explore the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic time periods. Along the way we will find “fossils” and have fun prehistoric play.
Frog Facts and Turtle Tales PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
July 21-24, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Jump, splash, glub…. Scour habitats, make crafts, and meet TNC’s animal ambassadors. Test your skills at the froggy leap and the turtle trudge while you learn more about Minnesota’s cold-blooded friends.
Itsy-Bitsy Wonders PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
July 28-31, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Bring your magnifying glass and be amazed when you find miniscule water bugs, tiny ant worlds, and petite plants. Create teeny treasures to take home and enjoy. How many mini miracles will you find?
Whose Clues PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
August 4-7, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Whose clues are these? Someone keeps leaving clues around the nature center! Follow them to figure out where those clever clues lead us. Complete tasks, find animals, and solve puzzles as we work together to find the clue master!
Gardens Galore PM (Half-day)
Critters & Discoverers (ages 4-7)
August 11-14, 2025
1:00-4:00 p.m.
$120.00
Our garden has been growing fast all summer. Now is the time to dig, pick, and pull up all the wonderful fruits of the season for our very own farmer’s market! Eat garden veggies fresh off the vine, follow simple garden-variety recipes, and create “green” art projects.
Full day camps
Hideouts and Habitats
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
June 23-26, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00p.m.
$240.00
Everyone has a habitat — even you! Find hideouts and habitats in ponds, forests, and fields while learning about the creatures that call them home. Run an obstacle course, play a predator/prey game, and build a home of your very own.
Creature Feature
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
June 30- July 2, 2025 (3-day camp)
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$180.00
What if you were a spider using silk to catch your prey or a bird with only a beak to build a nest? What special skills would you need to be like the animals? Learn all about adaptations and put them to use to get special jobs done. Then, meet some special critters up close and personal to see what you can learn from their special powers! What if?
Woodland Safari
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
July 7-10, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
Find our fantastic forest and the animals that live there! Search through leaf litter and undergrowth for animal signs, become the parts of a tree, and build forts and shelters with tree branches and twigs. You’re sure to have a tree-rific time at this camp!
Slime, Ooze, and Goop
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
July 14-17, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
Does slime help a slug slide or a frog flip? Go on an ooze cruise in the marsh and discover the fun of slippery, gooey mud and muck. Get creative in our slime science lab and get sparkling clean with some water play.
Forestland Fantasy
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
July 21-24, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
Was that the flutter of fairy wings in the trees? Is that a gnome hiding behind a log? Explore the enchanted forest as we build forts and investigate all the creatures – real or not – that reside within the forest. Who knows what creatures you’ll spy!
Natural Treasures
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
July 28-31, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
Embark on a treasure hunt as you follow nature’s mystery map. “X” marks the spot on this quest for natural treasures. Decode curious notes, debunk mysteries, and decipher clues until the treasure is found.
Great Nature Geek-Out
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
August 4-7, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
We are all things nature around here. Team up with others who like to play in the woods, harvest the garden, and explore from prairie to pond. Get your nature geek on!
Best of Discoverers
Discoverers (ages 6 & 7)
August 11-14, 2025
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$240.00
Celebrate the end of summer with a grab bag of camp fun. We’ll keep track of the best, most popular activities and recreate the magic of summer. Stay tuned, you never know what’s going to make the “best of” list.