Summer Day Camp

Here are our plans for summer sessions in 2021. These plans are greatly modified from past camp sessions. This year, we are offering four 1-week sessions, all of which are open to campers 8 to 16 years old. Campers may attend any number of sessions. In addition to providing greater safety during a pandemic year, the 1-week sessions will allow a greater number of campers to participate (we will be limiting group size) and will also allow siblings to attend together.

SESSION 1:              June 21 – 25, 2021

SESSION 2:              June 28 – July 2, 2021

SESSION 3:              July 5 – 9, 2021

SESSION 4:              July 12 – 16, 2021

Camper participation fee will be $185 per one-week session, and we can usually provide financial assistance if necessary. Camp hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. As always, we will require enrollment and individual health information well in advance of the first day of camp.  We hope that every camper will attend every day, but contrary to our usual policy, attendance will not be mandatory every day. As with last year’s August session, a Camp Nurse will be on site every day, and we will have a procedure worked out for screening upon arrival.  Please see more information about camp and enrollment procedures, as well as the enrollment application, here. (Feel free to contact the Camp Director here with any questions.) Meanwhile, we hope you and your friends will mark your calendars now! And don’t forget—any camper age 8 to 16 can attend any or all sessions. If you are new to Rapp Nature Camp, you may request a copy of our 2021 News from Singing Creek which will provide a good overview of camp activities.

 

 

Rapp Nature Camp is set in southern Rappahannock County, Virginia and is a summertime day camp for boys and girls ages 8 to 16 years old. The 2020 Summer Session was our 35th year!

 

The goals of the camp are:

 

•  to awaken an interest in our wonderfully beautiful and diverse natural surroundings

•  to observe living plants and animals in their natural habitats

•  to understand the role of human beings in this shared environment

•  to have fun and make new discoveries every day

 

Campers explore the forests, meadows, rivers and ponds of the Singing Creek property and surrounding areas, including the Shenandoah National Park which is within walking distance. The camp’s home base is on the Hazel River, two miles west of Route 231. Some of our favorite places to explore are: the Hazel River, Frog Pond, Secret Garden, Puckwudgie Tree, Azalea Rocks and our own individual Quiet Spots.

 

Most of our campers are Rappahannock County residents; some come each year from far away and are visiting grandparents or other relatives who live in the county. Our mission is “to allow individuals, especially children, to discover for themselves the wonder and beauty of the natural world, and to understand what it means to be a part of a community of living things.” The camp’s motto is “Nature lessons are life lessons.” Our activities are almost all outdoors and are focused on community building, nature observation, and respect for the natural environment and its inhabitants.  Everything we do is oriented towards such “life lessons” as developing listening, confidence in public speaking, vocabulary, working cooperatively, art and music, and imagination. Each camper has a special “Quiet Spot” and spends “Quiet Time” alone, just observing nature.  Every year, the campers write and draw for our 16-page annual newsletter.

 

Our on-site staff consists of the camp director, two adult assistant directors, a boys’ and a girls’ counselor, and usually at least one young counselor-in-training. Lyt Wood, the camp’s founding director, is an arborist, forester, alumnus of the Nature Camp at Vesuvius, Virginia (see naturecamp.net), and an experienced teacher and educator of natural history subjects. The camp’s home base is on his property, “Singing Creek,” three miles south of Sperryville on the Hazel River, within walking distance of Shenandoah National Park. 

 

Over the years, Rapp Nature Camp has been made possible by tremendous volunteer support.  Neighbors allow use of their properties, and volunteers have built the camp barn, a footbridge over the Hazel River, and the Frog Pond which is the focus of our habitat studies. Volunteers also help with registration and serve as visiting instructors.  For many years, one former camper’s parents have donated, delivered, prepared, and served all food and supplies for our one night of camp.  So Rapp Nature Camp is a true community effort!