Crow Camp

Ages 9-11

Crow campers spend the whole camp day outdoors. Crow Camp’s home base is in the woods on the edge of our uppermost field. In this space a circle of tree stumps with a camping tarp strung above marks the primary gathering spot. This is Crowland: a forest of older and younger trees, a thick ground of pine needles, a gulch, branches and roots, dappled sunlight, and two small streams that run with summer rains. 

Each week, counselors share a selection of outdoor living and stewardship skills such as wilderness first aid, birds and bird songs, identifying poisonous plants, knot-tying, reading nature’s weather signs, reading trail maps, leave-no-trace principles, wilderness awareness, and group problem-solving strategies – including the Council of Crows’ decision-making process. Crow Camp also takes an adventure or two from their forest home by walking or using our school minibus to travel to local trails, beaches, and wilderness areas to practice new skills, play summertime games, and have space for reflection.

Afternoons in Crowland feature time to work with the arts: drawing, sewing, telling stories, creating skits of the camp group’s travels, singing songs, building with forest materials, and more.

Crow Camp days are balanced with structured time and unstructured time – responsibilities and freedom – and generally follow this routine:

Morning circle 

Whole group games

Small group outdoor skills and stewardship activities 

Lunch and book of the week read aloud 

Art and choice activities

Closing circle

Counselors work throughout the day to build a caring community in which individuals are tended to, as is the group, the land, and resources. Please note that this is a tech-free camp.

Crow Camp Adventure Week, July 28-31

The Crow Camp Adventure is the final week of Crow Camp each year. It features one day of regular day camp on Monday (8:30-3:30 pm) followed by a 3-day and 2-night Camping Adventure (8:30 am Tuesday - 3:00 pm Thursday) at a wilderness campground in Maine. This adventure gives campers a chance to practice skills they have learned, make a campfire, share camp food, sleep in tents, and celebrate friendship and adventure! 

To register for this week of camp, we ask that campers participate in a minimum of one other regular week of Crow Camp and that they have experience spending a night or two away from parents/guardians.

Do you have a question about summer camp?

Please email Laura Glendening, Director of FSP’s Summer Programs at laura@friendsschoolportland.org.