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A sense of wonder that lasts a lifetime

ACA accredited, nature-oriented, and non-competitive – summer day camp for children & year-round workshops for people of all ages

In 1985, our founder Ed Bieber was approached by parents asking him to begin a summer program based not on sports or competition, awards, color wars, or pressured schedules, but instead one that was based on cooperation and each child’s inherent connection to nature. Family-owned and operated for 34 years, The Nature Place has grown into a vibrant community of campers, families, staff, alumni, and friends. Our mission, which feels more important than ever, is to foster connections – to ourselves, to each other, and to earth.

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Summer Camp

The Nature Place Day Camp

June 29 – August 7, 2020

On 200 beautiful acres in Rockland County, New York, we bring you The Nature Place Day Camp, 6 weeks of summer camp for children ages 4-16 (shorter enrollments available). Campers come to us (we bus) from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Rockland, Westchester and Bergen.

Connecting to nature through outdoor play and hands-on experience is the heart of our camp. The nature of our camp is cooperative: the games we play, the way we (campers, staff, administration) interact with one another, and the way we treat the earth. Hiking, earth art, swimming lessons, mucking in the stream, camping, canoeing, climbing, farming and gardening, meeting animals, storytelling, music, archery, cooking and drama, are some of the many ways we engage with each other and the earth.

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Farm & Garden Days

August 10 – 14, 2020

A small, specialized, hands-on farm, garden & nature experience for children ages 5-13.

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Passages

August 9 – 14, 2020

A week-long overnight wilderness experience that provides a nurturing and meaningful rite-of-passage experience for adolescents ages 13-16.

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Art & Earth

August 10 – 14, 2020

An art & nature-based program for young people ages 9-14 who have a passion for visual art and who find inspiration in nature.

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Music & Movement

August 10 – 14, 2020

Designed for campers ages 8-14, this program focuses on traditional African drumming and movement, culminating in an end-of-week performance.

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Year Round

Free Public Events

Ongoing events for the whole family

Get a little taste of summer at one of our free year-round events. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to tap a maple tree, learn some African drumming skills, forage for wild edibles and more!

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Earth Living Skills

Fall 2019 sessions now enrolling

An immersive, hands-on program designed to build a foundation in knowledge and techniques that have been passed down for generations – sessions for families, children & adults.

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Visit Us

The best way to get a sense for our camp is to come visit. Private tours are scheduled to fit with your schedule. We also offer free events for the whole family throughout the year. Dates and more details here.

Finding Us

Located on the campus of the Green Meadow Waldorf School and the Threefold Educational Center, we explore, play in, and learn from 200 beautiful acres of farmland, gardens, trails, woods, fields, streams, ponds, and swamps. Find more ways to meet us here.

From the Blog

The Gardener and the Cook: Garden Time + SAUERKRAUT recipe

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Our cooking instructor, Eva Sziegti, encourages us to take a gardener’s approach to the changing of the season, and shares a delicious sauerkraut recipe that is also zero-waste! Cycles It is fall. It is harvest time. For a gardener, the stage is set for the finale. It is the time of fulfillment, maturity, and abundance. […]

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@thenatureplacedaycamp

“Direct sensuous reality, in all its more-than-human mystery, remains the sole solid touchstone for an experiential world now inundated with electronically generated vistas and engineered pleasures; only in regular contact with the tangible ground and sky can we learn how to orient and to navigate in the multiple dimensions that now claim us.”

David Abram