Summer will be here before you know it. Why not introduce your kids to a lifelong appreciation for the natural world? Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) offers camps for ages 4 through 13.
The museum’s week-long camps begin June 8 and run through the week of August 17. With Dippy as its mascot, it’s no surprise that many of the museum’s camps focus on dinosaurs. Kids ages 4-5 love the half-day Dino Digs, where they get to discover replica bones like real paleontologists and make fossil casts. For older kids, there’s Land of the Giants (ages 6-7), Jurassic Planet (ages 8-10), and YMI: Paleontology (ages 11-13). While the exact activities differ by age group, each dinosaur camp includes time in the museum’s premier exhibition: Dinosaurs in Their Time.
It’s not all dinosaurs, though. Pop culture and science collide in many of the other camp offerings. Six- to seven-year-old campers can “catch ‘em all” with Pokéteam Carnegie, experiment with sticky green oobleck, and see how their spider web making compares to that of Peter Parker and your friendly neighborhood garden spider. Young wizards ages 8-10 can try their hand at the art of potion-making, study fire-breathing dragons, and dabble in alchemy at Wizard Academy. Meanwhile, older campers (ages 11-13) can design their own fantasy worlds complete with a field guide to magical plants, animals, and insects.
YMI camps for ages 11-13 give campers the opportunity to try something new or dive deeper into existing interests, often with field trips. YMI: Go Pittsburgh! offers daily excursions, including a kayaking trip with Venture Outdoors. Other YMI camps include trips to Rolling Hills Ranch, University of Pittsburgh WISER facility, and the National Aviary.
If you want to make sure your kids spend plenty of time outdoors this summer, the museum’s Powdermill Nature Reserve camps, located in the heart of the Laurel Highlands, are the way to go. Campers will hike, explore the stream, study insects, and track animals—all on the grounds of the nature reserve. Powdermill is a bit off the beaten path in Rector, PA, but well worth the drive to give your kids an unforgettable experience. Powdermill camps are available for kids ages 5-12.
All camps except those at Powdermill Nature Reserve are located at the museum on Forbes Avenue in Oakland, convenient for drop-off and pick-up. For further flexibility, Oakland camps have pre-camp and post-camp care add-ons for kids ages 6-13. Pre- and post-camp help caregivers fit pick-up and drop-off into busy work schedules while giving campers further enrichment experiences including library visits and outdoor activities.
To make camps accessible to all, the museum offers financial aid that discounts the out-of-pocket program cost for eligible families. Scholarships are need-based and dispersed on a first-come, first-served basis. For those who qualify, camp can cost as little as $25 for half-day camps and $50 for full-day camps.
For more information and to book summer camps, visit camps.artandnaturalhistory.org
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