Champaign County Forest Preserve District

Summer Youth Programs

Registration Form
Printable Brochure
Summer Employment and Volunteer Opportunities

Eco-Adventures Day Camp	(Age 3 - Grade 5)
Full-Day Camps	(Grades 2 - 5)
Grand Prairie Kids	(Ages 5 - 11)
Garden Adventures Day Camp	(Grades K - 5)
Tiny Tot Garden Adventures	(Ages 3 - 5, PreK with adult)
Junior Golf Lessons	(Ages 8 - 17)

Eco-Adventures Day Camp
June 11-July 26 (no camp week of July 2-5)
Age 3-Grade 5*		$35 per child
T,W,Th or F (choose one)		10-11:30am & 1-2:30pm**
Tuesday, Wednesday at Homer Lake
Thursday, Friday at Lake of the Woods
Must be 3 years old by first day of camp; grade is grade completed in May 2012 *Afternoon programs limited to children age 3-Grade 2
June 11 - 14: WILD ABOUT WILDLIFE What makes a wild animal wild? What wild animals live at the forest preserves? We will learn all of this and more this week of camp.
June 18 - 21: NATURE'S PROTECTORS Come ready to give back to nature and protect if for the future. We will learn to take small steps to make the world better for everyone.
June 25-28 NOTES OF NATURE Did you know that nature creates music? We will explore nature noises and make some music of our own.
July 2 - 5: NO CAMP
July 9-12 GEOLOGY ROCKS! Come prepared to learn about fossils and the rock cycle, and use the tools of a geologist. See how geology rocks your world!
July 16-19 WILD AND WACKY WEATHER Weather can be wonderful or wicked. Have fun learning all about weather through hands-on activities.
July 23-26 ANIMAL ATHLETES Can you jump farther than a frog? Run faster than a deer? Find out this week at camp as we go head to head against some of Illinois’ wildest animal athletes.
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Full-Day Camp
July 2nd Homer Lake Interpretive Center, Homer Lake, Homer
July 3rd Elks Lake Pavilion, Lake of the Woods, Mahomet
10am - 2pm	Grades: 2nd-5th	$15 per child
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS Come with us on a journey as we learn all about biomimicry, using nature as an inspiration to solve human problems. We will discover that lots of inventions around us are based off of nature by performing experiments, building a few nature-inspired inventions of our very own, and much more! For kids who have completed 2nd-5th grade. $15 per child. Registration is required; 217-896-2455 or sclementz@ccfpd.org
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Grand Prairie Kids
Museum of the Grand Prairie, Lake of the Woods, Mahomet How did people of the past travel from one place to another without cars or planes? Come explore with activities, exhibits, stories and take home crafts in this latest edition of Grand Prairie Kids. Ages 5-9.
Wednesdays, 9:30-11am
For kids age 5-12		$5 per child per session
June 12- Have Feet, Will Travel How long would it take you to walk everywhere? What did people do before they had cars? What shoes would you wear if you lived long ago? Explore the world of walking in this program.
June 19- Buggies and Wagons and Carts! Oh My! Bump along in Lincoln’s buggy, pack enough supplies to make it across the prairie in your wagon, and learn about horse drawn vehicles in this program.
June 26-Sink or Sail! Learn about all the types of boats that early settlers used in this program about canoes, flatboats, steamboats and more.
July 10 - Choo-Choo Trains gave us time zones and wristwatches, and made it possible to have all kinds of things from chocolates to oysters. Come learn about the sights and sounds, and stuff associated with trains in this program.
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Garden Adventures Day Camp
Discovery Garden, Lake of the Woods
Mondays, 9-11 a.m.		June 10-July 22 (no camp July 4)
Grades K-5 (Grade completed in May 2013)		$35 per child
June 10-SALAD DAY Campers will learn everythign related to salads. Salad history, what plant parts are used, how to make a tasy salad, and then they will make and eat a salad. Decorative garden stepping stones will also be constructed to take home. Gardening work will be included.
June 17-POTATO & ONION DAY Campers will enjoy lots of potato and onion activities, including harvesting, seeing differnt kids of potatoes and onions, starting potato plants, mashing and eating potatoes, and building a potato clock. Gardening work will be included.
June 24—DON'T BUG ME DAY This day will be filled with bug activities. Live bugs will be captured and observed. Campers will make strange-looking bugs to take home. Creepy games and gardening will be included.
July 8—COMPASS PLANT DAY Campers will learn how a prairie compass plant can be used for making rope and finding your way home too. Campers will use a real compass to find their way around the Botanical Gardens on a scavenger hunt to collect scientific information on lots of plants. Prizes will be awarded for good work. Campers will help work in the garden too.
July 15—AWESOME BLOSSOM DAY It’s all about flowers today. Campers will learn about flowers, pollinators, and plant reproduction. They will even “bee” the pollinators. Parents should “bee” prepared for some colorful bouquets their campers will make for them using craft materials and real flowers. Campers may even try to eat some flower blossoms from the garden this week.
July 22—WET FROGS, WET PLANTS, and WET KID DAY Water, clouds, ice, and snow; Campers will get wet from head to toe. After learning much about water, garden frogs, and toads, campers will go on a walkabout to the Botanical Gardens pond to find frogs lounging on lily pads. The day will include frog related games, picking weeds in the garden, watering plants, and then cooling off in our wading pools and sliding down the slip’n slide. Campers can wear swimsuits for this day of water fun.
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Tiny Tot Garden Adventures
Discovery Garden, Lake of the Woods
Wednesdays, 9-10:30 a.m.		June 12-July 24
3-5 year olds (PreK) & adult		$30 per child
June 12- SALAD DAY Campers will learn everything related to salads. Salad history, what plant parts are used, how to make a tasy salad, and then they will make and eat a salad. Decorative garden stepping stones will also be constructed to take home. Gardening work will be included.
June 19-POTATO & ONION DAY Campers will enjoy lots of potato and onion activities, including harvesting, seeing differnt kids of potatoes and onions, starting potato plants, mashing and eating potatoes, and building a potato clock. Gardening work will be included.
June 26—DON'T BUG ME DAY This day will be filled with bug activities. Live bugs will be captured and observed. Campers will make strange-looking bugs to take home. Creepy games and gardening will be included.
July 10—COMPASS PLANT DAY Campers will learn how a prairie compass plant can be used for making rope and finding your way home too. Campers will use a real compass to find their way around the Botanical Gardens on a scavenger hunt to collect scientific information on lots of plants. Prizes will be awarded for good work. Campers will help work in the garden too.
July 17—AWESOME BLOSSOM DAY It’s all about flowers today. Campers will learn about flowers, pollinators, and plant reproduction. They will even “bee” the pollinators. Parents should “bee” prepared for some colorful bouquets their campers will make for them using craft materials and real flowers. Campers may even try to eat some flower blossoms from the garden this week.
July 24—WET FROGS, WET PLANTS, and WET KID DAY Water, clouds, ice, and snow; Campers will get wet from head to toe. After learning much about water, garden frogs, and toads, campers will go on a walkabout to the Botanical Gardens pond to find frogs lounging on lily pads. The day will include frog related games, picking weeds in the garden, watering plants, and then cooling off in our wading pools and sliding down the slip’n slide. Campers can wear swimsuits for this day of water fun.
Stitch in Time
Museum of the Grand Prairie, Lake of the Woods
Saturdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m.		June 8-June 22
Ages 5-12		$5 per child
June 8 - FASCINATING FASCINATORS In Victorian times, a fascinator was a light and lacey knitted or crocheted headscarf. Today, the word has come to mean a feathery and fancy hairpiece worn for a special occasion as an alternative to a hat. Make you own beautiful hairclip or headband fascinator in a few easy steps!
June 15 - SAMPLING SAMPLERS As early as the 16th century, young girls were making samplers to practice the stitching techniques they were expected to know in adulthood. By Victorian times, stitched samplers included alphabets, numbers, and verses that included a morality lesson. Learn different stitches to create your own personal sampler, as young women did long ago.
June 22 - WORDS TO LIVE BY Morality mottos stitched on perforated cardboard were a necessary decoration in Victorian homes. Learn some basic cross-stitch techniques as we create our own Victorian-style mottos.
Archaeology Camp
Museum of the Grand Prairie, Lake of the Woods
Tuesday-Friday, 9-11 a.m.		July 16-19
Grades 1-5 (grade completed in May 2013)		$35 per child
How do we learn about the lives of early settlers who came to Illinois from the eastern states or from overseas? Historical archaeology is one way we learn the stories of early settlers’ lives. It combines documentary evidence (maps, letters, diaries, photographs, etc.) with excavation and the study of artifacts to piece together the details of daily life in the mid-19th century. A variety of hands-on activities are planned to show children how archaeologists use science to discover information about how people lived in the past.
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Junior Golf Lessons
Junior Golf Clinic
Lake of the Woods Golf Course	Ages 8-9	1:00–1:55 p.m.
Tuesdays, June 4, 11, 18, 25	Ages 10-12	2:00-2:55 p.m.
Option 1: $40 per Junior Includes instruction and handout materials. Option 2: $50 per Junior Includes option 1 plus 2 range buckets and 2 rounds on par 3. Option 3: $60 per Junior Includes option 2 and individual lesson with golf pro.	Ages 13-17	3:00-3:55 p.m.
Get your youngsters involved in the wonderful world of golf. Our golf professionals will provide them with all the skills they need so they can enjoy this game at any age.
Junior Golf Camp
Lake of the Woods Golf Course	8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
July 8-12
$100 per junior
This camp is for ages 10-17 and is a more hands-on and in-depth teaching of the game of golf, its rules and proper etiquette. Limited to first 25 participants.
Camps meet at the Lake of the Woods Golf Course. For more information and to register, call (217) 586-2183 or e-mail: lakeshop@ccfpd.org.

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Be Part of a Great Team!
Counselor-in-Training Program
If you are 11 years or older, you may apply to be a Counselor-in-Training for Eco-Adventures, Garden Adventures and Grand Prairie Kids. For more information and an application form, contact Emily at ehenson@ccfpd.org or call (217) 896-2455. Candidates are selected through an application and interview process.

Download a CIT Brochure
Download our CIT Application

Adult Volunteer Opportunities
Our adult volunteers play a valuable role in our summer programs! You may volunteer for Eco-Adventures, Garden Adventures and Grand Prairie Kids. Please contact Stacey Clementz or call (217) 896-2455 for more information.

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