A photo from the 1970s shows times don’t change as Gulf Branch campers gathered around a fire roasting hot dogs at a summer session. Photo Contributed
Arlington County offers nine sessions of weekly summer camp beginning June 27 and running through the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 2. Times for the sessions vary. Some of the camp content is repeated at each location and different park locations so the camp brochure indicates campers should attend only one session.
Gulf Branch Nature Center features three different sessions, each two times during the summer, for campers of different ages. It features Invertebrate Investigations for ages 7-9 years for the first two sessions. Campers will search under rocks for crawfish, build dams in the stream, and search for red-back salamanders or the rare yellow-spotted salamander under the logs scattered throughout the park.
According to Jennifer Soles, a park employee, the kids invent creative games such as building a store to sell the rocks they find. Fifteen-twenty campers will sweep their nets to investigate the pond hoping to catch dragonfly larvae, wood frog tadpoles or discover other animals without backbones. The camp assures it will “bring out the bug-lover in every camper.”
Younger children ages 6-7 can enroll for Wildlife Neighbors with the enticing description that “skunks and coyotes have moved to Arlington! What’s next: Bears and Bobcats?” The children will walk along the trails in the Gulf Branch woods, wade in the stream flowing through the park and learn about the large and small animals that live around us in Arlington. The staff to participant ratio is 1:8.
A third session, Habitat Hikers, is offered for campers 10-12 years old. This hiking camp goes to five or six different parks in the area, from mountains to the forest to a bay off the Potomac River. Sturdy shoes and clothes that can get muddy and wet are recommended for this camp.
Soles remembers the highlight of last year was a water snake being eaten by a great blue heron and the five leaf clover found by Amanda. This session is offered the weeks of July 11 and July 18. Among other sessions offered are VA Fishing Adventures Fish N’Fun at Gunston Community Center for ages 6-8, Fish and Explore Young Anglers at Lubber Run Community Center for ages 7-10, and Nature Detectives at Long Branch Nature Center for ages 7-9.
Individuals with disabilities are welcome to register for any summer camp in the catalog. “Designated Sites” are for children who need lower ratios and more structure. For more information about Arlington County camps the Parent Handbook is available at www.arlingtonva.us/ Search Parent Handbook.