If you’re looking to curb your kids’ nature-deficit disorder by letting them reconnect and appreciate the wilderness in their own backyard, look into Earthy Native School Camps. Instead of hide-and-seek and campfire singalongs, these thematic camps involve hands-on nature exploration, animal adventures and survival skill training to lure little ones away from screens. Week-long day camps at McKinney Falls State Park in southeast Austin and overnight wilderness adventures in Bastrop offer real projects—building shelters, land navigation, water purification—and activities like animal and plant identification and making body paint from rocks and dirt.
Dates: June 4-August 10
Price: $265-285/week-long day camps ages 3.5-12, $595/week-long sleepaway survival camps for ages 9-12