What should campers bring and wear to camp?
Food items
- Lunches (and any snacks) should be clearly marked with your child’s name.
- Morning and afternoon snack are provided. However, if your child has particular dietary restrictions, you may wish to provide your own snack.
- Refrigerators, microwaves, and eating utensils are not available.
Clothing items
- Close-toed shoes are strongly encouraged.
- Please make sure your child wears sunscreen daily. We will have sunscreen onsite for reapplication in the afternoon. If your child requires a specific type of sunscreen (due to allergies or other conditions) please provide sunscreen on the first day of camp.
- Your child should dress in clothes that can get a little messy.
Personal items
- Cell phones, mp3 players, other electronics, and toys are not permitted at camp. These items tend to cause distraction, and Tanganyika is not responsible for items being lost or stolen.
- Stuffed animals are allowed at camp. However, counselors will request that campers leave stuffed animals in the classroom during Park tours, playground time, or other activities.
Money
- Campers may not bring money to camp. On Friday you will have the opportunity to visit the Tanganyika gift shop.
- If your camper wants to purchase lunch from the Pavilion Deli, please give you camper’s money to the staff member that is facilitating check in. The money should be in a Ziploc or envelope labeled with your child’s name.
Do you have any options for onsite lunch?
Yes! Our Safari Meal Plan is $32 for the week and includes lunch (entrée, chips, and juice) from our Pavilion Deli each day of camp. This plan price is for the full week only. Campers are not able to add individual days to the Meal Plan.
How do snacks and lunch work?
- Snack time occurs twice per day, typically at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, though that exact schedule may vary slightly depending on other camp activities.
- The majority of the time, campers will eat snack outside, then have a little free time.
- In the event of rainy weather or if we are in an issued heat advisory, snack and free time may take place in the classroom.
- Regardless of where snack takes place, campers are supervised by staff and volunteers both in the Pavilion and on the playground.
- At each snack, campers are given the choice between two snack options. If your child has allergies or other dietary restrictions (or would just prefer to pack their own snack), you may send him or her with snack in addition to lunch.
- Lunch typically takes place from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Again, that may very slightly due to other camp activities.
- As with snack, the majority of time, lunch will take place outside, with free time on the afterwards.
- In the event of rainy weather or if we are in an issued heat advisory, lunch and free time may take place in the classroom.
- Regardless of where lunch takes place, campers are supervised by staff and volunteers both in the Pavilion and on the playground.
- If your camper has a meal plan, camp staff will call out their name when their food arrives. They will need to grab their food and find a place to sit.
- All campers are expected to clean up any trash they have from lunch before they may have free time.
Will Camp visit the Gift Shop?
Because not every camper may have the opportunity to purchase items from the Gift Shop, we will not be making a trip to the Gift Shop as a full camp class. Campers that wish to go to the Gift Shop will be able to visit the Gift Shop with a parent or guardian on Friday after pick up.
Will my camper be able to feed the animals?
During normal Park Tours throughout the week, campers will have the opportunity to feed several animals at our Animal Encounter stations. We aim for one encounter per day, but that may vary due to other scheduled activities, the weather, and even that day’s theme. Feeding stations are weather dependent.
How does discipline work at camp?
For the most part, our staff allows campers to set their own rules at the beginning of each week of camp. We do have some standard class rules designed to foster a safe learning environment, but we take direction from campers as much as possible in setting both rules and consequences. We believe that this gives campers a little more buy-in to their own behavior and we view our camp rules as a “contract” of behavior for the week.
While camp staff and volunteers try to maintain a positive atmosphere, occasionally behavior occurs that requires correction. Typically, our consequences for misbehavior are a warning, a time-out (a visit to our “Take a Break” corner), and a visit to the office/call home. We do our very best to help campers course correct their behavior before a call home becomes necessary. While we want every camper to remain in class with us, we also do not wish to disrupt the positive learning environment for other students.
- Throughout the week, campers earn “stars” for their behavior. Each day, campers earn between 0 and 4 stars based on how well they listen to staff, cooperate with each other, and participate in the day’s activities.
- Each day, one camper per group is also awarded a 5th star and is the Camper of the Day for the following day. He or she will be line leader, “it” first in most games, and have a few other special privileges. The Camper of the Day is the camper that did the most excellent job listening, following directions, or helping their fellow campers throughout the day.
- On Friday, campers will have the opportunity to “spend their stars” at the Animal Encounter Stations. Staff will create a list of which animals campers want to feed based on the number of stars they have available to spend. We then spend most of Friday morning at the Animal Encounter Stations. Stations are weather dependent.
If my child attends camp for multiple weeks, will they get bored?
Not at all! Each week of camp incorporates a unique theme with its own demonstrations, crafts, games, and activities. However, all of our Safari Camps incorporate Park tours and animal visitors from the Education Department, and repeat campers will most likely see the same exhibits or meet the same animals over multiple weeks. Each week will emphasize different information about each animal, both due to the weekly camp theme and to help repeat campers remain engaged. Additionally, some camp activities (such as games and very occasionally some crafts) may be repeated throughout the course of the summer.
What if I have more questions?
Feel free to contact our Education Department (316-794-8954 ext 204 or edu@twpark.com) with any other questions or concerns that you may have!