Discoverers Camps

2024 camp schedule

Ready, Set, Grow!

June 24-27
1-4 p.m.
How do you make a garden grow? Explore the Discovery Hollow garden and unearth the secrets that make gardens so special. We’ll make seed art, dig in soil and develop your green thumb. Dress to get dirty!

Play Patrol

June 24-27
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
This patrol will search high and low for all the best play places Tamarack has to offer. Combine imagination and friends to make games and play magical. What will be your favorite?

Making Sense and Nonsense

July 1-3 (3-day camp)
1-4 p.m.
All aboard for a “sense”ational adventure! Can you find your way down a path by smell alone? If you close your eyes can you tell one animal's fur from another? Let's explore the world through your five senses to learn how animals survive.

A Bug's Life

July 1-3 (3-day camp)
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Bizarre and beautiful bugs abound at the nature center. Get up close and personal with insects as we search for their homes in the grass, water and wood. We may even unravel the mystery of a monarch’s life or uncover the secrets of a queen ant’s kingdom.

Animal Superheroes

July 8-11
1-4 p.m.
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.

Prairie Pioneers

July 8-11
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
How well would you fare in a world without electricity or plumbing? Could you grow your own food and snag a good deal at the trading post? Rewind the clock this week as we build a wikiup, make candles and learn how to survive off the land like the pioneers that called Minnesota home.

Spy Kids: Eco Agent

July 8-11
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Ready to become a certified Eco Agent? It’s time to dis­cover new tricks from the animal and human world. We’ll study camouflage, silent prowess and the stealthy senses of animals before adding in new spy skills like making invisible ink and secret codes!

Slithering Secrets: Salamanders & Snakes

July 15-18
1-4 p.m.
What does it feel like to slither like a snake or smile like a salamander? Discover the secrets of how these amazing critters get around through games, live animal encounters and trail treks.

Creature Feature

July 15-18
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
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 in getting special jobs done. Then, meet some critters up close and personal to see what you can learn from their special powers! 

Ready, Set, Explore!

July 22-25
1-4 p.m.
Grab your backpack and field journal and get ready for adventure. Lead the way on daily discovery hikes to meet plants and animals that call the nature center home. Create a spotting scope, join a sing-along, play games and of course, explore!

Water You Up To?

July 22-25
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Welcome to the amazing world of water! Water can cool you down, warm you up, quench your thirst and take you for a wild ride! Discover the many ways water rules the world.

Wild for Water

July 29-Aug. 1
1-4 p.m.
Join us as we go wild for water! We'll play games, ex­periment with and learn what lives in—you guessed it—water! Have you ever played with snow in summer? If not, this camp is your chance!

Forestland Fantasy

July 29-Aug. 1
9 a.m.-4 p.m. 
Was that the flutter of fairy wings in the trees? Is that a gnome hiding behind a log? Explore an enchanted forest as we build forts and investigate all the creatures – real or not – that reside there. Who knows what creatures you’ll spy!

Dino-Mite!

Aug. 5-8
1-4 p.m.
Learn all about the different types of dinosaurs in this prehistoric camp. Can you walk like a Wuerhosaurus? Dine on a Diseratops? Leap like a Leptoceratops? We'll take a trek back in time and delve into the world of dinosaurs. You may even meet a present-day dino cousin!

Animolympics

Aug. 5-8
9 a.m.-4 p.m. 
Who will win this Animolympics? Learn about different animal adaptations and prove that you can learn from the best teacher – nature! Have fun with this game-packed camp and test your animal instincts.

Forestland Fantasy

Aug. 5-8
9 a.m.-4 p.m. 
Was that the flutter of fairy wings in the trees? Is that a gnome hiding behind a log? Explore an enchanted forest as we build forts and investigate all the creatures – real or not – that reside there. Who knows what creatures you’ll spy!

Best of Discoverers

Aug. 12-15
9 a.m.-4 p.m. 
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.