School Break Camps

Registration opens in mid-January. Join our mailing list to get notified!

Schoolhouse camps

You can find our summer camps in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties at the following sites:

We run single-day camps (Discovery Days), track-out, intersession, and early release (half-day) camps to cover your family’s child care throughout the school year. Campers get to enjoy adventuring through the changing forest, building fires and forts, whittling, and playing plenty of games. Nature-based themes change each week, so a new adventure is always in play. We’ve set up our school break camps to accommodate as many Triangle school calendars as possible. Sign up for as many as you need to cover your camper’s time out of school!

Brumley Forest Preserve, Chapel Hill

Umstead Park: Loblolly, Cary

Umstead Park: Whispering Pines, Cary

West Point on the Eno Park, Durham

Spring Camp Activities

Summer Camp Activities

Our campers participate in a wide range of activities, from outdoor exploration and adventure to arts and crafts, music, and more. We believe in the power of play and creativity to inspire learning and growth. Our low camper-to-staff ratio allows a sense of freedom and adventure while providing a nurturing and supportive environment.
Adventurous Play

Some perceive activities like tomahawk throwing, climbing trees, swinging on a vine, and whittling to be too risky for kids. We believe that supervised risk-taking is an essential part of growing up and that these activities not only provide valuable experiences and opportunities to build skills and confidence—they’re fun!
Games

Games played during a Schoolhouse of Wonder summer camps might include Kick the Can, Scout Mission, Sock Wars, Backweli, Werewolf, Six Feathers (a Schoolhouse original!), Park Ranger, Beckon, Dragon’s Egg, Jump the Creek, Camouflage, and Defeat the Lich (another Schoolhouse original)!
Wilderness & Homesteading Skills
Stories

Storytelling has always been a sacred and beloved tradition at Schoolhouse, and we believe there is a storyteller in all of us. Campers who attend our outdoor camp are invited to immerse themselves in the exciting and ancient art of storytelling by listening to old tales and helping to spin new ones.
Music
Arts & Crafts

The sky is the limit and nature is our canvas when it comes to creating one-of-a-kind nature art, including fanciful creations like leaf art, mud faces, fairy and troll houses, monster masks, corn husk dolls, pine cone bird feeders, mmmand whatever else our imagination can conjure!

Campfire Cooking

Outdoor cooking combines adventuresome elements — fire, knives, hot pots, etc. — in a controlled environment to keep kids safe while learning valuable life skills, allowing them to step outside their comfort zones in the midst of enjoying time with their friends.
Paddlesports & Water-Play

Many of our activities center around our various waterways, including kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding, rock skipping, building stick boats, identifying animal tracks in the mud, learning to observe and safely handle some of the animals we find, and of course—wading, splashing, and floating!
Animals, Insects & Environmental Education

Through intentional, experiential learning opportunities campers experience and learn about the environment in ways that improve their lives and the health of our planet. Campers learn to respect, locate, and identify local critters like crawfish, salamanders, snakes, turtles, toads, and more.
Plant Identification
Growth Rings

Campers (7-12 years old), Counselors in Training, and staff can also challenge themselves to grow and learn by earning “Growth Rings” in areas like fire making, whittling, plant lore, and snake identification and handling. We use these “Rings” to encourage positive growth and development by setting appropriate goals and practicing follow through in a supportive environment. These levels are not meant to be earned with speed, but rather with patience and practice.
Team-building
Special Projects

Browse Spring Camps

We’re on a mission to shape kind, curious, & confident kids through nature-based outdoor adventures.

Camp Finder

Preparing for Camp

Find our camp handbook, details about what to bring, when to drop off and pick up, and more.

Guidebook

Fall Camp Activities

Browse Fall Camps

Winter Camp Activities

Browse Winter Camps

The Schoolhouse “Dirty, Tired, Happy” Guarantee

Our Schoolhouse guarantee is simple: DIRTY, TIRED, & HAPPY. Every single day.®
Or your money back.

We don’t know a better way to demonstrate the confidence we have in our summer programs than by putting our money where our mouth is. This means that, if you and your child decide that our camp is not the right fit and choose to not return, we’ll refund your camp registration for the remaining days of the camp week.

Learn More

School Break Camps

Schoolhouse camps

You can find our summer camps in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties at the following sites:

Spring Camp Activities

Fall Camp Activities

Winter Camp Activities

The Schoolhouse “Dirty, Tired, Happy” Guarantee

Our Schoolhouse guarantee is simple: DIRTY, TIRED, & HAPPY. Every single day.®
Or your money back.

Programs

About Us

Connect

School Break Camps

Schoolhouse camps

You can find our summer camps in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties at the following sites:

Spring Camp Activities

Fall Camp Activities

Winter Camp Activities

The Schoolhouse “Dirty, Tired, Happy” Guarantee

Our Schoolhouse guarantee is simple: DIRTY, TIRED, & HAPPY. Every single day.®Or your money back.

Programs

About Us

Connect

Our Schoolhouse guarantee is simple: DIRTY, TIRED, & HAPPY. Every single day.®
Or your money back.