Animal Camp and Cold Blooded Camp

Since 2003, the original ANIMAL CAMP!
and now our new COLD BLOODED CAMP!
Super Early Registration opens March 15
Early Registration opens April 1
Open enrollment begins April 15!

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

Designed for adventurous third graders (ages 7-8-9) who love animals and aren't afraid to get dirty! Animal Camp and Cold Blooded Camp are week long, action-packed day camps. 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 camp your child has attended.

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

Due to popular demand, Animal Camp was revised in 2014 and expanded, adding Wilderness Camp for advanced level, returning campers! In 2025 our camps were expanded again to include Cold Blooded Camp, Campfires and Forts, and programs like On the Path and Off The Path. Since Animal Camp sells out quickly every year (usually the first day), we added extra camps to make room for more new kids!

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, has visited the nature preserve, or is adventurous and can easily handle an all day camp with 8 year olds, you might consider Animal Camp, Cold Blooded Camp, or Little Wilderness Camp.

Details (Animal Camp vs Cold Blooded Camp):

Animal Camp is our original, all day summer camp debuting in 2003, open to any kids. We suggest Animal Camp 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 field trips. Kids will learn about the animals at Pet World, beginning with small mammals, birds, everyone's favorite day -- reptiles -- and, of course, fish! They’ll become expert handlers and impress friends and family with their pet knowledge. Daily field trips will expose kids to nature in the great outdoors. We’ll start with smaller, local field trips then work our way up to an all day trip on Friday, visiting places like a park ranger station, public nature trails, Sanders Mound at Clinton Lake, Prairie Park nature center, Mary’s Lake, the Baker Wetlands, and even make a trip to Sunfire Ceramics to paint Animal Camp keepsakes. On fish day, kids will learn about aquarium keeping and, if they pass the Betta fish lesson, they'll earn a gift card for a free betta fish and supplies (to be redeemed at their convenience)! On Friday we’ll spend the entire day at a private nature preserve!

NOTE: Animal Camp is 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 a second summer, but not recommended. In order to make room for new kids, third time repeats are not allowed.

New! Cold Blooded Camp is a very similar experience to Animal Camp but with an emphasis on reptiles, arachnids, and fish. 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. Cold Blooded Camp kids will still take field trips every day like Animal Camp but spend more time "working" with fish and reptiles at Pet World, feeding and caring for the animals, 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, kids will take a long field trip to a private nature preserve and are invited to take their aquatic creations home with them to keep at no extra charge, about $150 value!

If your child has already attended Animal Camp twice they can't attend a third time, so we strongly recommend Wilderness Camp for third time campers. But if they are not able to spend all day outside every day, and they are really into reptiles and fish, Cold Blooded Camp might be right for them.

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 our giant burmese python, Goliath!