Day Camps 2024


Explore, Experiment & Discover!

Our camps foster children’s love of learning in a safe and friendly environment. Each day children experience a wide variety of hands-on activities that are both educational and fun. Children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and make their own discoveries. For registration information, please see "Registration Details."

 

Summer Day Camp, Create Art at Hildene
Imagine, Discover and Create Art at Hildene
June 24 - 28
For children entering 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 am – 3:00 pm • Instructor: Anharad Llewelyn


Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.

From nature walks, to the formal gardens, to the goat dairy and beyond, campers explore the beauty of Hildene while gathering materials for projects. Campers create colorful drawings, paintings, sculptures and prints inspired by the styles and materials used by artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Picasso, Seurat and Monet.  Their imaginations soar as they learn about new techniques. The week ends with an art show for students’ families, exhibiting work created during this week-long artistic journey.

Hildene Summer Camp, Nets, Buckets & Boots; riverside
Nets, Buckets and Boots
July 1-3, 5 (4-day camp)
For children entering 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade
$200 Hildene member, $240 nonmember
9:00 am – 3:00 pm • Instructor: Diane Newton


Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.
 

Calling all nature explorers! How does a water scorpion breathe, a beaver eat under water without drowning or a Great Blue Heron catch fish? Come and learn the answers to these and other questions during our week exploring and comparing river, pond and wetland communities. We’ll catch and identify aquatic insects, build a river food web, investigate a beaver pond and identify common wetland plants. We’ll also play, do crafts, and read stories.

 

eco explorer 2024
Eco-Explorer Camp
July 8 - 12
For children entering 4th, 5th or 6th
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM • Instructor: Rebecca Allen

 

Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.

Deep dive into exploring the ecosystems of Hildene. Campers learn about the plants that grow and the animals that roam the forests, wetlands and farms through hikes, field study, games, and crafts. How do these ecosystems stay balanced and what can we do to protect the beauty of Vermont’s Green Mountains are among the questions campers explore. Their curiosity and stewardship of nature are inspired during this fun-filled week of adventures!

Youth Corps 2024
Hildene Youth Corps: Creating Access Through a Woodland
July 8 - 19
For children entering 7th and 8th grade
$375 Hildene member, $450 nonmember
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM • Instructor: Lisa Maggio

 

Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.


The 2024 youth corps team will complete a boardwalk on a forested trail that often leaves hikers with soggy shoes. This elevated walkway will better protect the ecology of the surrounding area and make the trail more accessible to hikers During the construction of the project, the Youth Corps team will develop basic carpentry skills under the guidance of Hildene's Building Superintendent, TJ Lillie. The team will also spend time learning about and exploring the ecology of Hildene, helping with chores at Hildene Farm, researching nonprofit organizations and enjoying crafts and games. This is a two-week summer program for 8 highly motivated young people.

Visit: https://hildene.org/learning/youth_corps for more information.

kids and bugs
Bug Bonanza
July 15 - 19
For children entering 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM • Instructor: Diane Newton


Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.
 

Explore the largest group of animals in the world – insects. These six-legged wonders abound in our fields, forests, ponds and rivers. We’ll investigate their amazing adaptations, life cycles and ecology through field investigations, games, stories and art activities. Highlights include wading in a nearby stream in search of aquatic insects, setting up insect motels, creating pattern block insects and celebrating and exploring the vital role of insect pollinators.

Summer Day Camp, wonderful world of plants
The Wild and Wonderful World of Plants!
July 22 - 26
For children entering 4th, 5th and 6th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 am - 3:00 pm • Instructor: Ann Hausslein


Explore gardens, fields and forests of Hildene to discover and learn how the human and natural worlds are interconnected. We will be foragers of the field and forest! As naturalists, we will observe and identify plants through activities, games and projects including hunting and gathering for wild crafting and eating. From teas to dream pillows to terrariums and vine baskets, we will make crafts and foods to eat to become closer to the natural world around us.

 

Farm camp summer 2024
Farm Camp
July 29 - August 2
For children entering 3rd, 4th or 5th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 am - 3:00 pm • Instructor: Lisa Maggio


Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.

Campers tend to the care of sheep, chickens, pigs and cows at Hildene Farm in the Dene. They learn about the importance of composting, while getting their hands in the soil, cultivating and harvesting vegetables. They explore the operations of our greenhouse, including planting and harvesting micro-greens. At the goat dairy, campers learn about raising goats and the cheese making process. Farm-based crafts, stories and foods are also part of the mix, with the week ending in a mini farm-to-table celebration.
Both farm camps are the same. Please register for only one.

Farm camp summer 2024
Farm Camp
August 5 - 9
For children entering 3rd, 4th or 5th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 am - 3:00 pm • Instructor: Lisa Maggio


Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.

Campers tend to the care of sheep, chickens, pigs and cows at Hildene Farm in the Dene. They learn about the importance of composting, while getting their hands in the soil, cultivating and harvesting vegetables. They explore the operations of our greenhouse, including planting and harvesting micro-greens. At the goat dairy, campers learn about raising goats and the cheese making process. Farm-based crafts, stories and foods are also part of the mix, with the week ending in a mini farm-to-table celebration.
Both farm camps are the same. Please register for only one.

 

Forest Camp, 2024; among the trees
Fabulous Forests
August 12 - 16
For children entering 4th, 5th or 6th grade
$250 Hildene member, $300 nonmember
9:00 am - 3:00 pm • Instructor: Ann Hausslein

 

Please Note: Registration is closed. This camp is full.

Come and discover how the forest is more than just trees! Campers explore the forests in and around Hildene and learn about the woodland ecology of the region from the ground up. Through the exploration and identification of the flora and fauna, habitat and life cycle studies, games and wild crafting, we’ll get to know the diverse forest communities of the Taconic and Green Mountains that surround us.