Camp Linden Summer Children’s Program

     The mission of the Children’s Summer Program at Camp Linden is to introduce inner-city children to the wonders of nature. We partner with community organizations which run day camps serving school-age children in low- income neighborhoods. Our partners bring the same group of children to Camp Linden on the same weekday for our  six week program.  Our 2021 Partners. Each day begins with a discussion of Camp Linden Values, and includes environmental education, a swimming lesson and recreational swimming.

     At Camp Linden children from crowded urban settings are exposed to the sights, sounds, and sensations of the great outdoors, and the living creatures inhabiting our wooded campus and creek.  This is beneficial in itself.  A growing body of research links the lack of nature in the lives of today’s children (“nature-deficit”) to disturbing trends, such as the rise in childhood obesity, attention disorders, and depression. See e.g. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv.

     The Camp Linden experience is not just a pleasant day in the country. The goal of our environmental education curriculum is to enable campers to achieve an age-appropriate understanding of the laws and processes of nature, which we believe are truly amazing, as well as an age-appropriate appreciation of the challenges facing our planet. We accomplish this through short lessons and related activities. We also provide our partners with a list of resources they can use to prepare campers for the subject matter of each week.  Link to Environmental Education Curriculum and Resources.