CREA Camp Summer 2026

This summer, CREA Camp was filled with muddy adventures, curious questions, new friendships, and countless opportunities for young people to connect with the natural world. Across the final weeks of camp, campers explored forests, ponds, wetlands, and the Cathance River while building confidence, practicing teamwork, and discovering that some of the best learning happens when you’re outside getting your hands dirty.

Every day brought a new opportunity to investigate. Campers caught and identified pond and river invertebrates, including dragonfly, damselfly, caddisfly, stonefly, and dobsonfly larvae. They searched for salamanders beneath logs and rocks, spotted snapping turtles and newts, examined insects with sweep nets, explored the heath bog, and learned about plants, flowers, seeds, and ferns alongside Maine Master Naturalists and BTLT volunteers. Through these hands-on experiences, campers weren’t just learning about ecosystems but actively taking part in them!

Creativity was woven throughout the weeks as well. Campers created nature mosaics, watercolors, block prints, anthotypes, clay critters, and nature journals inspired by their surroundings. They built forts and animal homes from natural materials and took on one of camp’s favorite challenges: building boats using sticks, bark, leaves, grasses, pinecones, clay, and even sap. These activities encouraged campers to experiment, problem-solve, and collaborate, and often produced some wonderfully unexpected solutions!

Perhaps most importantly, CREA Camp gave young people space to practice working together. Counselors-in-Training developed activities that challenged campers to communicate, build trust, and think about food-chain relationships. Campers worked together to cut through a log using rocks, construct boats and dams, navigate obstacle courses, and explore the River. Along the way, they learned how to listen to one another, share ideas, overcome frustration, and celebrate each other’s successes.

And then there were moments when things didn’t go according to plan. Campers embraced rainy days, adapted to hot weather, explored areas they hadn’t planned to visit, and even handled an unexpected encounter with a yellow jacket nest with remarkable bravery and cooperation. These experiences became opportunities to practice flexibility, resilience, and caring for one another.

The weeks culminated in big adventures to Clay Brook, where campers hiked, played, explored, built dams and bridges, experimented with water flow, and, of course, got wonderfully covered in clay.

That’s the magic of CREA Camp: young people leave with muddy hands and tired feet, but also with new knowledge, stronger friendships, greater confidence, and a deeper sense of wonder about the world around them. Through exploration, play, creativity, and connection, this summer program helps the next generation discover that they belong in nature and that they have an important role in caring for it. We can’t wait for next summer!