Two specialized camps for this summer: Roots & Shoots and Young Ecologists!
Roots & Shoots Camp: July 24 – 27 *four day week*, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 6 – 12 year-olds. This program is free thanks to the generous support of the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat and PEERS Alliance! PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CAMP FOR TRANS AND GENDER-DIVERSE/GENDER-CREATIVE CHILDREN (AND THEIR SIBLINGS). Join us for a week of adventure and fun with Wild Child! This is a program run by LGBTQ+ and ally staff who strive to create a comfortable environment and supportive community, where kids can build confidence, make new friends, and be free to be themselves. Sign up on Active Network
Young Ecologists Camp: July 31 – August 4, 9:00-4:00, Strathgartney Provincial Park, for girls and gender-minority youth ages 11-15. Cost: FREE thanks to funding from the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat! This is a new program this summer, a day camp that will have some more focus on exploring nature and engaging in hands-on ecological activities with guests scientists working in the field! You can find our more information and fill out the application form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxXaaaqRUgMxL7WfIXpULwRPs2sVdMZJKOy3Fmi2sGiRZvCw/viewform?usp=sf_link
Important Note about ActiveNetwork’s Cancellation Insurance: ActiveNetwork has its own cancellation insurance that is not affiliated with Wild Child. If you purchace ActiveNetwork’s cancellation insurance, and then cancel your registration, you must contact ActiveNetwork directly at awcampssupport@activenetwork.com and ActiveNetwork provides you with a refund.
Wild Child Forest School offers programs for children from 3 to 14 years of age. Our Spring, Fall, and Winter programs run once a week (half day, full day, afterschool, and Saturdays) over several weeks. Our Summer Programs are week-long day camps (9am to 4pm) as well as some programming that runs once a week.
Summer 2023: registration via lottery system
For this summer, we are running registration as a LOTTERY. This will help ensure equal opportunity for all interested families and respond to the frustration some families have felt in previous years with the urgency of the first-come-first-served method.
Registration for the Summer 2023 programs will OPEN Thursday April 6 at 8:00am and CLOSE Tuesday April 11 at 11:59pm. You can register ANY TIME within these dates. Then, participants will be selected via lottery, with some spots set aside in the lottery system for priority populations of people with marginalized identities (BIPOC, female or gender-diverse, refugee status).
If you are selected and transferred into the program, we will notify you via email on Monday April 17. We then ask that you proceed to pay your balance, sign up for a payment plan, or fill out the bursary request form by Monday April 24. If you do not take one of these actions by then, you will forfeit your spot and it will go to the next person on the waitlist (order is also lottery-determined for people who signed up within the above dates).
Summer Registration Link will be here soon
free community spots and pay-what-you-can spots
We believe that all children have the right to play outside! To reduce cost as a barrier to participating in our programs, we are able to provide a number of spaces in our programs as free community spots or pay-what-you-can ($0 to true cost of program) spots!
Thank you to the generosity of United Way PEI, Rotary Club of Charlottetown, Jumpstart, local businesses, and individuals who make this possible!!
If you are interested in applying for a ‘bursary/pay-what-you-can’ spot, please register for the lottery waitlist using Active Network and in the payment options select ‘request a community spot/pay-what-you-can spot’. You must also fill out the request form to complete the process.
Note about siblings in the lottery
When a child is selected via lottery, any siblings also on the lottery waitlist will be added automatically along with them, if there are spots available for all of them. If there is not space for all of them (as would happen for the last remaining one or two spots and often for the cancellation waitlist), we will select a new name via lottery. The sibling group will remain on the waitlist for another future chance.
Summer 2023 Programs
Registration to the lottery for Summer 2023 Day Camps will be available on ActiveNetwork Thursday April 6 at 8:00am to Tuesday April 11 at 11:59pm. Register here (summer sessions will be available soon)
Day Camps:
About our camps: We spend the whole day outside (except in dangerous weather) rain or shine! We have access to an indoor washroom and water bottle refill at this site. At midday we have lunch and a quiet time break where each camper gets a hammock. We invite you to an adventure-filled week exploring the park, making nature art, playing games, building forts and trying bushcraft challenges, learning about plants and animals, reading books from Sammy the squirrel and making new friends!
Summer Days 1 & 2 : July 4 – 7 *four day week*, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $220 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Please note on Active Network you will sign up for the lottery for this week in general, and during the lottery process we will place children in ONE OF THE TWO CAMP GROUPS, as two Wild Child camps will take place at this site this week. Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days 3: July 10 – 14, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days 4: July 17 – 21, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days 5: July 24 – 27 *four day week*, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $220 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community spots and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Roots & Shoots Camp: July 24 – 27 *four day week*, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 6 – 12 year-olds. This program is free thanks to the generous support of the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat and PEERS Alliance! PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CAMP FOR TRANS AND GENDER-DIVERSE/GENDER-CREATIVE CHILDREN (AND THEIR SIBLINGS). Join us for a week of adventure and fun with Wild Child! This is a program run by LGBTQ+ and ally staff who strive to create a comfortable environment and supportive community, where kids can build confidence, make new friends, and be free to be themselves. Spots available, waitlist open.
Summer Days 6: July 31 – August 4, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Young Ecologists Camp: July 31 – August 4, 9:00-4:00, Strathgartney Provincial Park, for girls and gender-minority youth ages 11-15. Cost: FREE thanks to funding from the Interministerial Women’s Secretariat! This is a new program this summer, a day camp that will have some more focus on exploring the provincial park and building confidence and skills and engaging in ecological activities with guests scientists working in the field! Please fill out the application form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxXaaaqRUgMxL7WfIXpULwRPs2sVdMZJKOy3Fmi2sGiRZvCw/viewform?usp=sf_link
Summer Days 7: August 7 – 11, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days in Summerside: August 7 – 11, 9:00-4:00, at Heather Moyse Park IN SUMMERSIDE, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist open.
Summer Days 8 & 9: August 14 – 17 *four day week*, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $220 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Please note on Active Network you will sign up for the lottery for this week in general, and during the lottery process we will place children in ONE OF THE TWO CAMP GROUPS, as two Wild Child camps will take place at this site this week. Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days 10: August 21 – 25, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
Summer Days 11: August 28 – Sept 1, 9:00-4:00, at Robert Cotton Park, for 5 – 10 year-olds. Cost: $265 (payment plans available as well as requests for bursary/community and pay-what-you-can-spots). Camp full, waitlist closed.
*CANCELLATION POLICY
Wild Child Forest School is a small social enterprise and there is an investment of time and energy into administration, managing information, and processing payment at our end that needs to be accounted for. If you would like us to cancel your child’s registration, please let us know as soon as possible.
If you cancel your registration at any time we retain a 10% registration fee. Of this fee, 6.25% helps cover the cost of ACTIVE Network fees and the remaining 3.75% helps cover the work that goes into registration and administration.
If cancellation occurs 4 weeks or more before the start of the program, there is no charge in addition to the 10% registration fee.
If cancellation occurs less than 4 weeks before the start of a program, there is
a $50 administration fee in addition to the 10% registration fee.
If cancellation occurs less than 2 weeks prior to the start of the program, your entire
payment is forfeited.
Wild Child PEI 