Campers get an academic boost while engaging in fun outdoor adventures!

This reading camp merges literacy and outdoor education through playful nature exploration. Curious campers grow their love of reading and writing through garden science, art, games, and more in the gardens at Lake Merritt, the St. Paul’s courtyard, and Fairyland. Our young scientists sharpen their powers of inquiry as they observe, document, and explore both language and nature, with plenty of free time for friendships and play.

Words in the Wild Summer Camp

Learning, fun, curiosity & socialization through meaningful explorations

Campers grow their love of reading and writing through garden science, nature journaling, art, games, and more. Our young scientists sharpen their powers of inquiry as they observe, document, and explore both language and nature.

Hesitant readers and writers thrive in this nurturing environment by using their literacy skills for meaningful activities like reading about the life cycle of worms in order to find information we need to care for our worm bin and then writing a hilarious worm story.

Campers blossom into garden scientists as they explore the natural world in the St. Paul’s Episcopal School courtyard gardens and the diverse habitats of the Gardens at Lake Merritt. This is not just reading camp or writing camp - children will exercise their bodies as well as their brains on the playground and in Lake Merritt's wide-open fields.

Camp is offered in one week sessions for your family’s scheduling convenience but campers are encouraged to attend more than one session. Returning campers build on their experience while exploring new themes including pollinators, life cycles, adaptation, bugs, “plants we eat,” and our own 5 senses. 

With curiosity as our guide, we explore both nature and words - in Words in the Wild reading is an adventure!

Note that St. Paul’s offers early drop off and after-camp care AND a variety of other camps (e.g. art, basketball) for older siblings.

Campers will:

• Grow their love of reading and writing through nature-y and camp-y activities that embed literacy learning

• Improve spelling and reading, expand vocabulary, and deepen reading comprehension through science of reading activities embedded in nature

• Investigate words in context, practice phonological and phonemic awareness and explore stories of words through Structured Word Inquiry

• Draw, write, count, and study plants and animals through guided nature journaling

2025 Dates:

Week 1 June 9 - June 13 (fully outdoors session)

Week 2 June 16 - June 20 (NO CAMP on June 19th)

Week 3 June 23 - June 27

Week 4 June 30 - July 4 CLOSURE WEEK - NO CAMP

Week 5 July 7 - July 11

Week 6 July 14 - July 18

Week 7 July 21 - July 25

Week 8 July 28 - August 1

Week 9 August 4 - August 8

Camp runs from Monday - Friday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
with options for before & aftercare

All of our young scientists sharpen their powers of inquiry as they observe, document, and explore both language and nature. In interactive groups students investigate the stories that words tell, using linguistic evidence to build their spelling, vocabulary, and reading. 

While learning about nature, children develop critical literacy skills in: ​

• reading and understanding text 

• enjoying and using text for a purpose 

• building oral and print vocabulary 

• making connections between spelling and meaning 

• writing independently and fluently

We de-emphasize reading for reading’s sake. Instead children apply scientific practices to studying language AND nature, such as:

• observing closely 

• recording data 

• making predictions 

• comparing evidence to hypotheses

• sharing findings with friends

Children enjoy a well-rounded summer camp experience with: 

• collaborative games and challenges

• art projects like seed mandalas and pop up books 

• dancing and singing along to our favorite Earth science song

• relaxing with friends, telling stories, and sharing meals

• exploring the natural world through bug hunts and food tasting parties

The beauty of this program is that literacy is embedded in hands-on garden science and connected to arts, cooking, and other enrichment activities. Children boost essential reading and writing skills, but it just feels like a fun, messy, and memorable summer camp experience!