July 17-21, 2023: Wildlife Search & Rescue Day Camp in Puyallup

Give your child the gift of our Wildlife Search & Rescue day camp which is excellent for exploratory learners 7-13. Please Note: Autisum spectrum students are encouraged to enroll our Wildereness Survival Craft or Wild Cooking & Herbology camp earlier in the summer to get used to Wolf Camp before attending this week: our wildlife tracking curriculum requires a lot of flexibility as we follow tracks and bird calls.

Instruction runs from 9:00-4:00 with drop off between 8:30-9:15, and pick-up between 3:30-4:30. Campers are grouped with others closest to their age within our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s so critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences this year. You can also check out our day camps at Lake Sammamish.

Camp Description

Wildlife Search & Rescue is or original day camp theme and will celebrate its 27th summer in 2023. Camp takes place at the wild Clark’s Creek Park where animals hide in their dens during the day before coming out at night to roam the fish hatchery and neighborhoods. Yes, we’ve found resident bear dens, investigated cougar scratching posts, watched bobcats hunting rabbits, heard coyotes yipping after catching prey, foxes marking their trails, owls dropping countless pellets, meditated on osprey diving for salmon … and those are just the big creatures.

Each day, we will explore the field for wildlife tracks and sign. Every find will be used as a lesson to gain better understanding of who made the track; why it made the track; where it made the track; when it made the track; and what it was doing when it made the track. You will discover what it is like to be a bird or other animal by using sensory awareness skills to interpret what is happening around you. Participants will learn to understand and use the language of the birds and will practice interpreting bird language through a series of experiments.

We will work together to make plaster casts of our favorite animal tracks; craft tracking sticks; safely move through the woods; and investigate trails, lays, larders, and other signs of life. This camp is full of exciting, interactive, challenging and cooperative games. Campers will learn to work as a team to develop skills of leadership, cooperation, patience, orienteering, dexterity, and fun. Additionally, our staff, some of whom are Search & Rescue volunteers, will teach you how to navigate in the wilderness and track people!

Camp Itinerary

Itineraries are subject to some amount of change based upon location, weather, instructor preference, and natural resource availability.

Monday: Awareness, Navigation and the Art & Science of Tracking Morning Session: Awareness Skills, Wildlife Safety, Arts of Tracking Lunchtime: Bring & Eat Lunch from home, then our After Lunch Activities (ALA) include choice of Archery, Chill Time, Sprinkler Games & Swimming (creek wading, or go to lake for swim tests on days lifeguards are available) Afternoon Session: Animal Forms, Order of Survival, Lostproofing

Tuesday: Bones, Skulls, Hides, and Teamwork Morning Session: Wildlife Journals, Animal Families, Hides & Skulls Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Teamwork, Hand Signals, Scouting Expedition

Wednesday: Birds, Insects, and Amphibians Morning Session: Language of the Birds, Animal Tracks & Sign Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Insects & Spiders, Reptiles & Amphibians

Thursday: Trailing, Scats, and Casts Morning Session: Trailing Animals, Scatology, Scent Marks, Browses, Lay Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Plaster Casts, Beaver Dens & Dams

Friday: Human Tracking, Animal Rescue, and Celebration Morning Session: Secret Spot, Human Tracking, Animal Rescue Medicine Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Parents are invited to attend special end-of-camp workshops from 1:30-3:00.

Daily Camp Schedule, Pick-Up & Drop-Off Directions:

For the weeks of July 10-14 & 17-21 meet at the Clark’s Creek Park – South Shelter, 1710 12th Ave SW, Puyallup WA 98371 located one mile west of the Puyallup Fairgrounds. The best arrival time is 8:45-9:00 am, and the best departure time is 3:45-4:00 pm.

8:30-9:00 Check-Ins & Morning Care (no early check-ins available)
9:00-9:15 Songs, Stories, Stretches & Late Check-Ins
9:15-11:45 Morning Lessons with snack break at 10:30
11:45-1:15 Lunch, Games & Archery
1:15-3:45 Afternoon Lessons with snack break at 2:30
3:45-4:00 Best Pick-Up Time
3:45-4:30 Aftercare & Late Pick-Ups

Camp Leaders

Kim & Chris Chisholm guide professionally-trained staff instructors at our hallmark 6-1 student-teacher ratio that’s so critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences. Read our FAQ’s for more details and check out camp testimonials dating all the way back to 1997!

Health Protocols

Hygiene protocols will remain the same as last year as long as there is still no evidence of Covid transmission in the outdoors with plenty of room to spread out. To start each day, campers must pass our health screening before being allowed to participate in camp, and we still require all campers to carry masks in backpacks. If there are reports of group participants who came in contact with an infection, we require participants of that group to wear masks when lined up or seated less than 3-6 feet from others. As before the pandemic, we will continue requiring hand sanitizing whenever sharing tools and materials, before entering toilets, and we supervise proper hand washing after campers exit toilet facilities – doors left open between uses to ensure ventilation.

Full vaccinations are strongly encouraged – we follow the scientific consensus – with tetanus shot (usually given as part of the normal Tdap vaccine series) considered the most important in the field of outdoor education. Otherwise, we know that due to our 100% outdoor setting, combined with health screenings, contact tracing, supervised hand washing, bathroom ventilation, mask use when exposure has been reported in a group, and individual/family style tenting at overnight camps, the risk of disease transmission has been negligible at Wolf Camp, so other vaccination records are not required.

Please click here for full details on our health and safety protocols during the pandemic era, see the latest CDC summer camp guidelines, and the state’s pandemic era guidelines for day camps (2021-22 pdf will be updated if/when 2023 guidance is issued).

Day Camp Tuition in Puyallup/Tacoma

Please choose your contribution level for Puyallup Summer Day Camp weeks. It’s fine to mix and match prices if registering multiple children/weeks.

$495 is our full 2023 Puyallup Tuition rate which includes $100 for in-house financial aid disbursements.
$395 is fine if our tuition is unaffordable at this year’s higher rate reflecting an extra camp hour as compared to previous years.
$95-$295 if you qualify for a Max Davis Scholarship. When the Conservation College or other funding source can’t cover a need, we provide in-house financial aid to ensure everyone who applies can access at least one Wolf Camp week based on demonstrated need. Click here to apply.

You will need to pack a healthy lunch, water and substantial snacks every day. Tuition includes t-shirt at your first camp with us, then in subsequent camps a choice of orienteering compass, recommended field guide, firesteel and other outdoor essentials depending on number of camps attended, age and availability.

Registration

STEP 1 – Reserve your spots in camp by making $100 deposits via one of the following methods:

• Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” with a note including camper names and ages, camp dates and theme, plus your EMAIL & PHONE since Zelle doesn’t automatically share that with us;
• Or call us between 9am-9pm at 425-248-0253 ex 1 or ex 2 with a credit card to register over the phone;
• Or use the PayPal system appearing below;

STEP 2 – If this is your camper’s first year with us, complete our once-in-a-lifetime Registration Form within one week of making your deposit, otherwise we will have to refund you and give your spot(s) to others. You can use our Microsoft Word or PDF registration form, or make your own copy of our Google Doc form, or choose our Bilingual Chinese-English Registration Form PDF / Word Doc – one per new participant. We’ll need you to email it back to us for review within one week to maintain your reservation. Again, skip this step if your camper has attended anything with us in the past.

STEP 3 – Pay balance before or during your summer camp week. We’ll email you an invoice this spring with camp prep info and balance payment options (Zelle, PayPal, Check, Credit Card) that can be done in advance or during your first camp week. All payments are non-refundable unless we refuse your registration. However, if you cancel (at any time for any reason is fine) we will save your payments as credit for you to use in future years, or you can choose to have us move the funds into our scholarship account if you prefer. The best practice is to make the minimum $100/camp deposit to register, and then wait to pay the remaining balance during your camp week via Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” saving us time and transaction fees, or you can PayPal us at that same email address, or give us a check or have us run a credit card on site during your camp week.

PayPal Deposit Option:

Or email us to be put on our list for this program in the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.

Refund Policy: Payments are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit may be needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, grid failures, epidemics, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is a no-show without prior notice, or asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.