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Explore, learn, and grow at Camp Balcones - Camp Fire's Summer Camp at Emma Long Park!Austin’s premier urban nature and science day camp sparks curiosity and inspires learning in kids ages 6 – 12 years old while preventing summer learning loss. Each week features a nature or science theme in addition to swimming, hiking, games, archery, creative expression, and other fun-filled activities.



Camp Balcones has five unique weekly STEM-based themes which incorporate hands-on, project-based activities. Your child will explore nature, identify plants and animals, and have fun with unstructured play in a safe environment with new friends and camp instructors.



The 2018 Weekly STEM themes are:

Week of Wings

Animal Adaptations

Shark Week

Sky Search

Camping 101

Camp Balcones runs for 10 weeks during the summer, beginning on June 4, 2018. Camp Balcones is available Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm.

Ages 6 - 12 Please note: Camp is for campers who have COMPLETED Kindergarten

Week of Wings
Birds and butterflies and bats, oh my! Oh and we forgot to mention bees! This week we’ll investigate our flying friends here in Texas, and also discover how integral they are to food webs and to natural cycles, including much of our own food production via pollination. We’ll also learn how we can protect these increasingly rare animals through conservation, education, and cultivation of habitat.Animal Adaptations
Animals have developed all sorts of fascinating ways to survive in the wild. We will explore some of the more obscure of these methods, such as body morphing, hive-mind decision making, having feet that can smell – yes that’s right, feet that can smell! All kinds of natural mysteries will be revealed as we investigate the incredible skills of animals great and small 

Shark Week
What kid (or adult, for that matter) hasn’t at one time been fascinated by sharks? They are marvels of evolution (living fossils), apex predators, and, unfortunately, the cause of much undue terror and hysteria ever since that movie came out. Sadly, sharks are also often the victim of overfishing, pollution, and other man-made dangers in the world’s oceans. We will go behind the movie myths to learn more about these beautiful but endangered creatures.

Sky Search
You don’t need a telescope to be an astronomer (although it helps). We will learn that even in the daytime, you can make key observations about the solar system and beyond. We’ll ask questions such as “How did ancient people tell time?” and “What happens on the solstice?” The investigations of questions like these will lead to even more questions about the sky above and our little corner of the universeCamping 101
We’ll practice basic outdoor skills one would need to safely and confidently camp in a park or natural area, such as setting up tents, starting and managing campfires, hiking and navigating, tying useful knots, and more. We’ll also learn how to be good stewards of the environment by practicing Leave No Trace principles. By the end of the week, we won’t quite be ready to tackle the Appalachian Trail, but we will be able to safely enjoy any city, state, or national park!

Camp Fire Central Texas

Garrison Park

Main Office

Emma Long Metropolitan Park