A wonderful San Diego Summer Camp where kids connect with animals!
June 5th – August 25th 2023
Preschool through 8th grade
Daily and weekly sign ups available
Summer Critter Camp is San Diego’s best animal camp for kids preschool through 8th grade! Children will experience daily animal interactions that will amaze them as they get up close and personal with a variety of species including birds, small mammals, reptiles, large mammals, and invertebrates. Our summer camp activities are different each day and include animal themed games, crafts, songs, and more! There’s something for everyone at Summer Critter Camp, and a great time for all!
Camp Times, Rates, Discounts, and Details
We offer registration in both a daily and a weekly form. Please pay close attention to the text for the dates you sign up for to ensure you’re selecting the option you want.
- Daily registration: a single day and applies the daily rate, regardless of how many days you register for. Allows flexibility to fit your schedule needs!
- Weekly registration: a single week and applies the weekly rate, but we do not prorate or transfer credits if you don’t attend all the days of that week. Best value option and campers receive a free t-shirt!
We also offer camp for 7th-8th graders on select weeks!
- Weekly registration on 6 select weeks only.
- Theme is the same each week and different from the weekly themes the other grades follow. Their themes focus on animal careers.
Preschool
- Daily: $75 per child, per day
- Weekly: $300 per child, per week
- 9:00am – 1:00pm
- Extended Care option: 8:00am drop off for $12 per day. No late pickup available for Preschool.
- Must be at least 4 years old and able to use the bathroom independently.
Kindergarten – 8th Grade
- Daily: $95 per child, per day
- Weekly: $380 per child, per week
- 9:00am – 3:00pm
- Extended Care option: 8:00am – 5:00pm for $24 per day
- Be aware that camp has frequent transitions that can make an aide more necessary during camp than at school.
Discounts
- 15% off camp tuition for active military. Call us at 858-756-4117 ext. 318 for the coupon code before you book.
- Automatically receive $5 off the daily tuition or $25 off the weekly tuition when registering siblings. Must register siblings at the same time. Applies to the second or more siblings only.
- Your child may be eligible for a scholarship! Please visit our website by clicking here to find out more.
Your camp fee may provide a partial tax credit. Check with your tax professional to see if you qualify.
Details
- All campers must be able to use the restroom confidently and on their own.
- Must be at least 5 years old to pet reptiles.
- Animals assigned to a theme may vary depending on animal health, safety, and availability.
- Please provide your child with a snack and water bottle each day.
- Lunch can be purchased at $10 per child, per day. It includes a main entrée and two sides.
- Hot Lunch option (Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays): cheese pizza
- Hot Lunch option (Tuesdays and Thursdays): bean and cheese burrito
- Cold lunch option (Mondays-Fridays): turkey sandwich
- Sides: a piece of fresh fruit or applesauce and a cheese cracker variant
- We know that camp sounds fun for kids and adults, but this camp is for kids only! If your child has an aide at school and you plan to have them come to camp with your child, please call us at 858-756-4117 ext. 318 so that we can help them complete the fingerprint process. All aides must be fingerprinted through us in order to attend camp, which can take 2 weeks or more. Be aware that camp has frequent transitions that can make an aide more necessary during camp than at school.
Summer Critter Camp Themes
In Your Wildest Dreams – Odd Weeks
From sculptures and songs, to fables and folklore, animals have provided inspiration for many forms of art for thousands of years! Join us this week for camp as we tap into our creative sides and explore the fantastic links between animals and our imaginations.
Different days of the week follow different daily themes depending on grade. Below is a list of all the daily themes for the In Your Wildest Dreams weeks. All grades will also visit our Adoptions department, and some older grades will visit other departments of the Center on select days.
Fables and Folklore Day
For thousands of years, humans have used animals in fables to explain some of life’s biggest lessons. Each animal encounter will relate to a fictional tale the group will read! Campers will meet a dog, rabbit, pigeon, California desert tortoise, and Madagascar hissing cockroach.
Animals through the Ages – Even Weeks
Travel back in time as we discover the many adaptations that have helped animals to live on this Earth during the past, present, and future! During this week of camp, learn about how fossils can unlock keys to a certain animal’s history or how their amazing adaptations can inspire the designs of tomorrow!
Different days of the week follow different daily themes depending on grade. Below is a list of all the daily themes for the Animals Through the Ages weeks. All grades will also visit our Adoptions department, and some older grades will visit other departments of the Center on select days.
Stone Age Day
Delve into the different ways animals approach problems and how we measure their intelligence. Much in the same way our human ancestors in the stone ages began to develop early tools to help us survive, animals have unique and creative ways they solve life’s challenges! Campers will meet a dog, small parrot, rosy boa snake, turtle, and a hermit crab.
Bronze Age Day
Explore the ways animals and humans have shaped history together, especially those species that we domesticated, how that separates them from tamed or wild animals, and how important of a role that partnership played in the development and continuation of society. Campers will meet a mini horse, guinea pig, pigeon, bearded dragon, and ball python snake.
Critter Careers – 7th-8th grade (same each week)
Explore the different ways you can work with animals, some of which include direct care of the animals, while others mean supporting them through the work you do at a distance. Campers will earn an hour of community service each day of camp by assisting our animal care team, plus they will meet professionals in the animal industry, and develop lifelong leadership skills during their time here at Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego.
Monday – Veterinarian
Animals communicate in a variety of ways which can tell us if they’re happy and healthy, or need medical attention. Discover the different ways veterinarians work with different species and what the path towards that career looks like. Campers will meet a sheep, chinchilla, small parrot, turtle, frog, bathe a large mammal, and visit a different department at the Center.
Tuesday – Keeper
Animals and humans have a lot of different relationships worldwide but one that is always needed is a keeper to care for the daily needs of animals. Explore the variations of needs different animal species have and how that translates to caring properly for them. Campers will meet a mini horse, guinea pig, dove, bearded dragon, and blue tongued skink. They will also wash rabbit or bird enclosures and visit a different department at the Center.
Wednesday – Trainer
Because humans and animals don’t speak the same language, we can develop a way to communicate through a new language, training! Learn the fundamentals of shaping behaviors and pairing them with signals, and understand why this is so important for animal happiness and health. Campers will meet an alpaca, dog, large parrot, leopard gecko, and a millipede. They will also clean out a large mammal pen and visit a different department at the Center.
Thursday – Research
To best understand animals and learn from them, we need to research them. Careers are widespread and varied with this need, and can include field work or lab work. Understand the important role animals play in science and how we can make ethical decisions when studying. Campers will meet a goat, rabbit, medium sized parrot, tortoise, and a Madagascar hissing cockroach. They will also walk a large mammal, and visit a different department at the Center.
Friday – Influencer
Media and education are both crucial to supporting animals because they connect people and animals and the challenges they face, which generates better understanding and solutions based on positive change. Campers will meet a Flemish giant rabbit, chicken, pigeon, snake, and a hermit crab. They will also socialize our chinchillas and visit a different department at the Center.
Critter Camp Frequently Asked Questions
Authorized Pick Up & ID CheckingFor safety purposes we do not release children at pick up time to anyone not listed on the “authorized to pick up” list. We check ID daily at checkout time.
- To add someone to the authorized list, we must confirm you are one of the parents/guardians and then we can add any additional names, or you can log into your account and add more in yourself.
Making sure certain children are in the same group
During registration there is a section for “my child would like to be in the same class as” and that is where you should add the first and last names of other children to group with, if any. We group children into classes by grade level first; if we have multiple classes of the same grade level then we’ll pair requests together.
- We generally group classes as follows: PreK/Preschool, Kinder, 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, 7th-8th. Depending on registrations for each grade level we may combine nearby grade levels into one class, such as a Kinder-2nd class.
- We only move older children down into the younger groups.
- If you need your child with another child regardless of grade level, please contact the office by email or phone to escalate your request to a need. Please do this before the start of the camp week you’re attending so that it can be taken care of prior to the start of grouping for that week.
Extended Care
You can add extended care as late as day of by contacting the office about adding it at any time, or sign into your account and add it yourself. Extended care includes AM Care and PM Care (AM Care is the only option for Preschool).
- AM Care is 8:00-8:45am early drop off. Children will mostly free play with camp staff supervision. This is the only option available to children younger than Kindergarten.
- PM Care is 3:00-5:00pm late pick up. Children will do a craft or activity, have some guided games, help check on our outdoor animals for the night’s close, and free play under the supervision of camp staff. It is advised to pack extra snacks so your child has food for PM Care.
Camp Lunch
You can add lunch as late as morning of, as long as you do it before 9:30am when the lunch order is placed. Camp lunch includes an entrée and two sides.
- You can contact the office about adding it day of or sign into your account and add it yourself (but please only add it yourself if its 24 hours’ notice otherwise it may be missed – we print rosters each morning at 8am).
Cancellation Policy
Please stay home if a member of your household is sick. We can transfer registrations which haven’t started to another day if that day has room.
- If you need to cancel and can provide more than 24 hours’ notice to the start of the camp day, we can refund you minus a $10 cancellation fee per day.
- If you need to cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice to the start of the day you will not receive a refund.
Your program fee helps support all of our adoptable animals, as well as the many human and animal services that Helen Woodward Animal Center provides.
For more information:
Please contact us at education@animalcenter.org or 858-756-4117 ext. 318
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