Fresh Air Family to host 2 outdoor summer camps
Fresh Air Family, an outdoor-based education nonprofit based at Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, will host two camps this summer.
This will be the 10th year for the Gross Out Camps, which began in 2008 after receiving grant money to implement the program at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
“We wanted to have a camp filled with adventures to introduce children to the wonders of the great outdoors while learning from it,” said Verna Gates, founder and executive director for Fresh Air Family.
The Gross Out Camp teaches science through hands-on field biology. Campers, who are rising first- through fourth-graders, perform science experiments and learn scientific terms. The camp is held in eight weekly sessions, from May 29 through July 23, with a different theme each week.
The second camp — Be Prepared, Not Scared — for rising fourth- through sixth-graders, will take place July 16-20 at the Trussville Athletic Center. Focusing on life skills and safety, students will learn how to find clean water, what to include in a safety kit, how to start a fire, how to deal with bullying and how to forage for food. They will track the legendary Bigfoot aswell.
“Kids come back session after session and year after year,” Gates said. “We have a lot of junior counselors who have come to 10 or more camps. It is hard to mess up when you are outdoors and free to explore. Some of them, who may not be achievers in the classroom, can be leaders outside. I believe they keep coming back to these camps because it is the first time they have really been kids.”
In addition to the Ruffner Mountain and Trussville Athletic Center sessions, there will be three others throughout the summer at Red Mountain Park and Tannehill State Park.
Camps are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Scholarships and before and after care are available.
“Nothing is more fun than education when you make it about the learner,” said Gates. “Kids love to explore and discover. They are naturally curious and born scientists and love learning new skills.”
More information is available at grossoutcamp.org and freshairfamily.org/prepared-not-scared.