This week of activities at Point Defiance Park provides children ages 7-11 with daily time outside and learning opportunities focused around natural sciences. Learning objectives include an introduction to hiking, backpacking, camping, and back-country cooking, exploring the plants, animals, and geology of the coastline and forest, wilderness survival skills such as route-finding, shelter building, and preparedness, and hands-on activities and crafts such as scavenger hunts, shell and rock collecting, and making volcanoes.

Highlights

Learn hands on natural science with time to play and explore in an outdoor environment.

Difficulty Level

Easy to Intermediate: Short hikes and activities geared towards children’s interests and ability level.

Length

Each camp is from 9-3, five days in a row.

2023 Schedule:

July 17-21: 9-3 each day
July 31-August 4: 9-3 each day
August 14-18: 9-3 each day

Price: $100 per day, or $450 per week

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Our mission is to make outdoor recreation accessible to all. If you cannot afford the total trip cost right now, send us a brief message to request a trip discount form.

Itinerary

• Day 1: Hiking, backpacking, and setting up tents.
• Day 2: Forest ecosystem exploration
• Day 3: Coastline ecosystem exploration
• Day 4: Wilderness survival skills
• Day 5: Natural science activities

Learning Goals

• Hiking and camping skills
• Coast and forest ecosystems
• Plant and wildlife identification
• Route finding
• Survival skills
• Cultural history

Logistics

• Meet Location: Point Defiance Park, Fort Nisqually
• Meet Time: 9 AM
• Pick-up Location: Point Defiance Park, Fort Nisqually
• Pick-up Time: 3 PM

What is Provided

• Gear for practice setting up tents and other skills
• All supplies needed for activities and crafts

Packing List

• Packing Checklist

Paperwork

• Waiver
• Photo Release
• Medical History

“It [Lushootseed] is from the beginning strength of the people, and it is from what the Creator put down upon this land for people…. The earth speaks. The animals speak. Everything has a voice.”

Vi Hilbert, Grandmother Video Project

The Puyallup tribe in their own language call themselves a name that means “people from the bend at the bottom of the river.” They are one of twelve Lushootseed speaking tribes in the Puget Sound region. The language of Lushootseed has vast diversity and multiple dialects, with each group having their own way of speaking. All dialects were to be honored and respected, reflecting the values of Lushootseed culture such as ‘Be kind, be helpful, be sharing.’

The Lushootseed speaking peoples called the mountain that dominated their horizon Tacoma or Tahoma, a word that may have meant “the mother of all waters.” The Puyallup tribe is calling on the state of Washington to rename the mountain from its current official name of “Rainier.”

Today, the Puyallup Tribe is a recognizable force in the fight for tribal rights, and were a significant player in the Boldt Decision of 1974, establishing the rights of Native Americans in Washington State to fish using traditional methods.

~ This information was found on PuyallupTribe.com