Since last spring, my daughter Katie has been thriving at a small alternative school on a wooded seven-acre campus in Pflugerville known as The Inside Outside School. Every day my high-energy kid comes home tired, happy and increasingly confident after a day spent on a variety of fun activities, including building forts and shelters along the school’s year-round creek, collaboratively writing and then acting out a play, helping with the birth of several baby goats, cooking wood-fired pizzas, learning fractions and even conducting independent research on animal intelligence.
This summer, the school will be offering two amazing camps for kids ages 5-12 led by my daughter’s nature and science teacher, Helen Snook, who holds an MS in Ecology from the University of Tennessee and has taught kids and adults biology, agriculture, wildlife conservation, gardening, backyard chicken basics, and how to keep an elephant out of your farm.
Here are the camp descriptions:
Session One: African Safari: June 9-20, 2014
Get ready for African adventures at the Inside Outside School’s “savanna” and “lodge.” Outdoor games and activities will turn your child into a big-eared elephant, a spear-toting Masaai warrior, an organic farmer and a photo safari tourist. Stories, songs, material recycling and food preparation will teach about African culture and language. Kids will also tend to the livestock and cool off in the creek. Karibu! (Welcome.)
Session Two: Cowboys and Tonkawas: July 7-18, 2014
Come experience all things Texas on our prairie homestead. Step back in time and hunt Columbian Mammoths with an atlatl and gather edible native plants. Then, experience Tonkawa, pioneer and rancher times while farming, tending livestock, singing, “do-se-doing,” roping and preparing pioneer foods before cooling off in our creek. Don’t forget your cowboy hats!
For more information, visit Inside Outside School on Facebook.
Free Fun in Austin has one spot in Camp I.O.S. to give away (a value of $550!)For your chance to win, simply fill out the form below. By submitting the form, you are agreeing to the Sweepstakes Official Rules. One winner will be selected using random.org on Monday, April 21, 2014 and contacted by email.
