PROGRAM OVERVEIW
THE DISCOVERY CAMP EXPERIENCE
Where Adventure Begins. Curiosity Grows. Nature Inspires.
At the Soper Creek Wildlife Discovery Campus, we believe the best childhood memories are made outdoors. Our Discovery Camps invite children to unplug, explore, discover, and build a meaningful connection with the natural world through unforgettable adventures on the beautiful Oak Ridges Moraine.
If your child loves to climb, hike, investigate, create, imagine, and spend their days outdoors, Discovery Camps offer an experience unlike any other. Every day is filled with opportunities to explore forests, discover wildlife habitats, solve challenges, build forts, play team games, create nature-inspired projects, and make lifelong friendships.
Set on 15 acres of protected forest, the Discovery Campus becomes their classroom—where every trail leads to a new adventure and every experience encourages curiosity, confidence, resilience, and a deeper appreciation for the incredible world around them.
Learning Through Discovery
At Soper Creek Wildlife, we believe children learn best by experiencing the world around them.
Our educational philosophy is inspired by the words of renowned conservationist Baba Dioum:
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.”
This philosophy guides every Discovery Camp we offer.
By encouraging children to explore nature firsthand, ask questions, investigate their surroundings, and experience the outdoors through play and discovery, we help them develop a genuine understanding of the environment. That understanding grows into appreciation, appreciation becomes compassion, and compassion inspires a lifelong commitment to protecting the natural world.
Because before children can protect nature…
they first have to discover it.
More Than Just a Summer Camp
Discovery Camps are nature-based outdoor adventure camps—not animal-focused camps.
While campers will enjoy scheduled educational encounters with our incredible Animal Ambassadors, these experiences are only one part of their adventure.
The heart of Discovery Camps is spending time outdoors—exploring forests, discovering local ecosystems, learning outdoor skills, solving challenges, making new friends, and creating unforgettable memories in nature.
Every activity has been thoughtfully designed to encourage exploration, creativity, teamwork, leadership, confidence, and environmental stewardship while allowing children to experience the joy of simply being outside.
Every Child’s Adventure Is Different
Every child arrives with their own interests, strengths, and sense of adventure.
Our experienced team creates a welcoming, inclusive environment where campers are encouraged to try new things, ask questions, build friendships, and challenge themselves in a supportive atmosphere.
Whether they’re leading their team through a forest challenge, discovering animal tracks along a trail, creating a nature-inspired masterpiece, or simply enjoying time with new friends, every camper is given the opportunity to grow at their own pace.
Our goal isn’t simply to teach children about nature.
Our goal is to help them build a lifelong relationship with it.
Passionate Educators. Extraordinary Adventures.
Discovery Camps are led by our dedicated team of year-round Wildlife Educators, Outdoor Education Leaders, and enthusiastic Camp Counsellors who share a passion for inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards.
Many members of our team are certified educators or future teachers who complete extensive training to ensure every camper enjoys a safe, engaging, and memorable experience.
Their passion transforms every hike into an expedition, every challenge into a learning opportunity, and every day into an adventure children will remember long after summer ends.
Discover Nature. Build Confidence. Create Memories.
At the Soper Creek Wildlife Discovery Campus, we don’t simply offer summer camps.
We create experiences that inspire curiosity, build confidence, foster friendships, and connect children with the natural world.
Because today’s adventures become tomorrow’s conservationists.
Come discover what makes Discovery Camps unlike anything else.
Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue is committed to providing every camper with a great camp experience catered to their individual needs. We are focused on getting to know our campers and their families and engaging in open communication to meet your needs. Our goal is to provide your child with an adventure that grows their knowledge of Canadian wildlife, fosters kindness towards others, empathy and understanding, and helps your child grow both socially and emotionally.
Our Animal Ambassador Team has stories to share with your child. And our dedicated wildlife educators are committed both to the well-being of our animals and the children in our program. Our team is made up of a group of year-round staff, that are hard-working teaching professionals, an amazing team of camp counselors (some of whom are currently in teachers college or the field of education) who all participate in lengthy training programs to help ensure they are strong role models to work with your children.
2026 Camps & Programming
There’s an adventure waiting for every young explorer at the Soper Creek Wildlife Discovery Campus! Throughout the year, we offer a variety of outdoor Discovery Camp experiences designed to inspire curiosity, build confidence, and connect children with the natural world through hands-on exploration, outdoor adventures, and unforgettable learning experiences.
🌿 PA Day Discovery Camps (Ages 5–12)
Turn your child’s day off school into a day of adventure! Our PA Day Discovery Camps operate on select PA Days following the Kawartha Pine Ridge (KPR) and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNCC) school calendars.
Program Hours:
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Each PA Day features a unique outdoor experience filled with forest exploration, nature-inspired games, creative challenges, hands-on discovery, and opportunities to build confidence while making new friends.
🌞 Summer Discovery Camps (Ages 5–16)
Our signature Summer Discovery Camps run Monday through Friday, offering children an unforgettable week of outdoor adventure at the Discovery Campus.
Program Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Each themed week is designed to immerse campers in nature through hiking, outdoor exploration, team-building activities, creative projects, environmental discovery, and exciting challenges. Every day encourages children to unplug, explore, and experience the natural world in new and meaningful ways.
⏰ Extended Care
To help accommodate busy family schedules, supervised extended care is available for all Discovery Camp programs for an additional fee.
Morning Care:
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Afternoon Care:
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM (depending on the program)
During extended care, campers enjoy quiet, supervised activities such as crafts, reading, LEGO building, board games, and additional snacks.
Please note that extended care does not include scheduled hikes, wildlife encounters, outdoor adventures, or other core Discovery Camp programming.
🌲 A Discovery Camp Experience Unlike Any Other
At the Soper Creek Wildlife Discovery Campus, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to discover the outdoors, build confidence, make lasting friendships, and create unforgettable memories.
Our Discovery Camps are thoughtfully designed to inspire curiosity, encourage exploration, and foster a lifelong appreciation for nature through meaningful outdoor experiences.
Discover Nature. Understand Wildlife. Inspire Conservation.
Click the link below and choose either Summer 2026 or the 2025–2026 School Year Programs to register your camper.
* Campers that are 4 years old must be 4 years old as of the first day of camp as per the Ministry of Education requirements for camp under the new Ontario Early Years guidelines. If we find out that incorrect information has been provided to us about your child’s age, we will remove them from programming without refund or compensation.
Lunch & Snacks:
Food & Allergy Information
Campers should bring a litter-free lunch, two healthy snacks, and a refillable water bottle each day. Please ensure all food does not require refrigeration, as campers spend the majority of their day outdoors exploring the Discovery Campus.
We break throughout the day for:
- Morning Snack – 20 minutes
- Lunch – 40 minutes
- Afternoon Snack – 20 minutes
Because campers are active throughout the day—hiking forest trails, participating in outdoor adventures, and exploring nature—staying well-fed and hydrated is essential.
Nut Allergy Policy
While we encourage families to pack nut-free lunches and snacks whenever possible, Soper Creek Wildlife is not a nut-free facility.
Many of our Animal Ambassadors require nuts as part of their daily diets and enrichment programs. As a result, we cannot eliminate nuts from our site or guarantee a nut-free environment.
For the safety of all campers, we are unfortunately unable to accommodate children with severe or anaphylactic nut allergies.
If your child has any food allergies, dietary restrictions, or other medical concerns, we encourage you to contact us prior to registration. We are happy to discuss your child’s individual needs and determine whether our programs are a safe and appropriate fit.
Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue would like to acknowledge that the land on which we live, work, and play is on the traditional territory of the Anishinabek and Huron-Wendat Peoples. We respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have with this land, as they are the original caretakers of the land. We are thankful to the First Peoples for sharing their land so we can care for the animals that call this territory their home.
GENERAL CAMP INFORMATION
Please take the time to read our general information to ensure the best experience for your child. Please remember we are a 100% outdoor facility, allowing children the experience of adventures within our forests.
To ensure safety for all we will have limited spaces for all summer programming.
Each group will have no more than 24 individuals. The groups are lead by a minimum of 2 trained staff members, in same cases there are 3.
Each group of 24 will have its own activity station for the day. We have broken up the property into various stations that represent the various themes. These stations will be their home base for the day. Each night the stations are sanitized which allows the groups to rotate to a different home base the next day.
An example: Living with the Land on Monday (located in the picnic shelter) will then rotate to the Regions of Ontario home base on Tuesday (located in the forest).
Kiss & Ride style just like at school!
Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue has made changes to our main parking lot to accommodate a kiss and ride style camp drop off. 3 staff will be managing cars as they come down the road, helping you to navigate through the marked area.
You will be greeted at the drop off location by a staff member. They will look up your child’s name on our check-in sheet. Your child will be escorted to the next counselor who will take them to their assigned leader and space.
As camp programming starts promptly at 9:00 am we do ask that you drop off anytime after 8:30 am. Staff will be available from 8:30 am – 9:00 am for drop off. Should you request early drop off (before 8:30 am), the process will be similar just with fewer people.
We can’t stress enough, that we do leave the kiss and ride location at 9:00am to ensure campers are taken to their activity station for the day to start programming.
End of day pick-up will be very similar as the children will be waiting. Please do not get out of your car, we will bring them to you. Pick-up can start as early as 3:30pm as this is when we bring the children to the main picnic area.
Our washroom facilities are located in various spots throughout the property. All are outdoor latrines (aka port-a-potties) have a pump sink for running water and hand sanitizer. The port-a-potties are maintained weekly by a third-party company and our staff clean them daily or as needed in between. This is in addition to the hand sanitizer they have at their work station.
We are not able to supply or apply sun lotion, or bug repellent to children. We are happy to provide them with reminders, but staff cannot physically apply it to the children.
The most important thing about camp is having fun and building memories. We here at Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue are looking to ensure that your child is in a safe environment but also that they are having the time of their life. We can’t forget that children need adventure and pure joy in their life. We promise you that will never change!
