Animal Camp 2 (Advanced, cold blooded focus)

Since 2003, Lawrence has celebrated our original ANIMAL CAMP (Week 1 Intro) and now, by popular demand, check out our revised ANIMAL CAMP (Week 2 Advanced) with longer field trips and more emphasis on cold blooded critters!

Super Early Registration opens March 15 ($75 extra fee)
Early Registration opens April 1 ($50 extra fee)
Open enrollment begins April 15! (no extra fee)

Please e-mail questions to 
info.NatureObjective @ gmail . com
All Invoices, forms, registrations, and payments are handled electronically in the order received. Please allow 24 hours to process your invoice.

Designed for adventurous third graders (ages 7-8-9) who love animals and aren't afraid to get dirty! Animal Camp 1 Intro and Animal Camp 2 Advanced are both week long, action-packed day camps. Hosted mostly at our sister company, Pet World Lawrence, kids learn about nature and animals, work and play with animals, and take field trips every day! We promise our summer camps are unlike any day camp your child has attended.

Friday is an all day outing at a private nature preserve including hiking, creek exploration, frog and snake hunting, and more! The Friday field trip gives kids a glimpse of what they can look forward to at Wilderness Camp when they outgrow Animal Camp.

Due to popular demand, Animal Camp was revised in 2006 and expanded, adding a second week (Animal Camp Week 2 Advanced) for returning AC kids and then, in 2014, we added a third week (Wilderness Camp) for advanced level, returning campers who already had two years of AC. Our second year Animal Camp kids always want more time outdoors and with reptiles and fish so we've made more time for longer field trips and cold blooded critters during AC Wk 2 Advanced. We also expanded our programs to include Campfires and Forts, and adventures like 2 Hour On the Path and 3 Hour Off The Path to accommodate the growing need for nature camps.

Since Animal Camp Week 1 (Intro) sells out immediately every year, we've added these extra camps to make room for more new kids! Even if your child did not attend Animal Camp 1 last summer, you can still enroll first timers in Week 2 Advanced. We will take time to catch them up on last year's instruction so they'll fit right in!

NOTE for 7 year old children:
If your child is a very young 7 year old, fresh out of first grade, with a birthday not long before June, (or a first time participant) you might seriously consider Big Critter Camp. If your child is an older 7 year old, soon to be 8, who has done at least one of our camps before, or is adventurous and can easily handle an all day camp with 8 year olds, you might consider either week of Animal Camp or Little Wilderness Camp.

Details on AC 1 Intro vs AC 2 Advanced:

Animal Camp 1 Intro is our original, all day summer camp debuting in 2003, open to any kids, but it always sells out first every year, usually the first hour. We suggest Animal Camp 1 for former campers who have completed half day Critter Camp or our Off The Path program, and are now ready for all day Animal Camp. It's also for kids who are completely new to the day camp experience who really enjoy animals, nature, learning, and daily field trips. But if Animal Camp 1 is already sold out or if your child wants longer field trips, is more into reptiles and fish than birds and bunnies, try Animal Camp 2 Advanced!

NOTE: Even though many kids attend Animal Camp at age 7 then again at age 8, AC 1 and 2 are each designed for one-time attendance. If your child attended Animal Camp at 7 or a very young 8 and was new to our camp experience, it's possible to repeat the same week again for a second summer but not recommended because the program is exactly the same. In order to expand children's interests and make room for new kids, third time repeats are not allowed.

Week 2 Animal Camp (Advanced) is a very similar experience to Animal Camp 1 but with an emphasis on reptiles, arachnids, and fish with longer outdoor field trips (hence, the nickname Cold Blooded Camp). It's perfect for new kids who particularly enjoy fish and reptiles or last year's Animal Camp kids who wanted more cold blooded time indoors and are not quite ready for Wilderness Camp. Kids will still take field trips every day like Animal Camp 1 but they will be longer. They'll also spend more time "working" with fish and reptiles at Pet World, feeding and caring for the animals starting Monday (instead of waiting until Wednesday), and, instead of just doing the "betta lesson" to earn a free betta fish coupon and then painting a keepsake at Sunfire Ceramics, they'll actually create their own betta scape aquariums during the week, testing their water and building them a little each day, until they're ready to add a live betta fish. On Friday, AC 2 Advanced kids will take the same long field trip to a private nature preserve but are invited to take their aquatic creations home with them to keep at no extra charge -- (donated by PW sponsors) easily $150 value!

If your child has already attended Animal Camp twice, we strongly recommend Wilderness Camp for third time campers unless they simply can't be outdoors all day.

Has your child already been through Animal Camp at least once? Were they obsessed with the private nature preserve?
Check out Wilderness Camp!

Campers hanging out in the creek at the tortoise farm.

Camper proudly showing off how muddy she got during camp!

Campers observing and handling newly hatched baby snakes.

Camp counselor showing campers a worm snake found while herping.

Campers holding PW's giant Burmese python, Goliath!