June 11-13, 2024
Eco Adventure Day Camp is a one-to-three day educational adventure open to students entering 5th-8th grades. Explore the outdoors in scenic Calhoun County with staff from the Center for American Archeology and the McCully Heritage Project, and learn how people have interacted with the natural world and its resources since prehistoric times.
Participants may attend just one day or all three. Each camp day builds on the last, but are designed so those who can’t attend every day can join the fun right away. Each day will include a hike and activities to create ancient tools and technology using local natural resources. Hikes include information about methods of navigation, plants, wildlife, geology, archaeology, and more.
Activities
Day 1: June 11
- Nature Hike: Campers will learn basics of hiking safety and navigation using maps. They will also learn the basics of identifying trees and other plants, especially those that have been used by people in past and today.
- Cordage: Making cordage or rope from plant materials is a skill more than 30,000 years old. Students learn about local plants used over thousands of years to make cordage for anything from fishing line to woven attire.
- Spear-throwing: The atlatl is an ancient tool that allows hunters to throw their spears with greater speed and force. Campers will learn about the wide variety of materials used worldwide to make some atlatls and learn how to throw spears using one.
Day 2: June 13
- Orienteering Hike: Campers will learn to navigate using a compass as we hike a new trail and learn about more trees and resources along the way.
- Ceramics: Campers are introduced to precolumbian pottery production, pottery forms and functions, what tools were used, and how pottery and pottery-making changed through time. Campers will make their own pinch or coil pots using local clay they collect during the program.
- Spear-throwing: The atlatl is an ancient tool that allows hunters to throw their spears with greater speed and force. Campers will learn about the wide variety of materials used worldwide to make some atlatls and learn how to throw spears using one.
Day 3: June 14
- Big Hike and Picnic: Using their orienteering and GPS skills, students will navigate a 2 mile hike to a picnic spot and back again.
- Flintknapping: An introduction to stone tool technology: How are stone tools made? From what materials? What types of stone tools are discovered at archaeological sites? How can we tell when a rock is a tool and not just rock? Campers will learn to make their own stone tool.
- Spear-throwing: The atlatl is an ancient tool that allows hunters to throw their spears with greater speed and force. Campers will learn about the wide variety of materials used worldwide to make some atlatls and learn how to throw spears using one.
Schedule
- Drop-Off: 8:30-9:00 am
- Program: 9:00 am-2:30 pm
- Pickup: 2:30-3:00 pm
Camp will begin each day at 9:00 am and the programming will be over by 2:30 pm. Drop off begins no earlier than 8:30 am, and all students must be picked up by 3:00 pm.
Location
Eco Adventure Day Camp is held at McCully Heritage Project, a 940 acre preserve in Calhoun County, Illinois, located a half mile south of Kampsville. There are 15 miles of hiking trails, two ponds, a wetland with a boardwalk, a hill prairie plot and more. Hiking is pleasant even in the summer as the wooded trails provide plenty of shade. There are flush toilets and a pavilion.
Drop-off and Pickup will be at the McCully Heritage Project pavilion on Crawford Creek Road. Participants must be signed in and out each day by a parent or guardian.
What to Bring
Each camper should bring a bag lunch, snacks, and a refillable water bottle to use throughout the day. Water will be provided. Campers should arrive dressed for outdoor activities that will include hiking in grasslands, forest, and across a creek. Proper footwear is needed. Clothing may get dirty and wet. Bug spray and sunscreen are recommended.
Tuition
- 1 Day: $25
- 2 Days: $50
- 3 Days: $70
How to Apply
Download, complete, and return the 2024 Eco Adventure Day Camp Application.
Upon receipt, we will send you a confirmation by email. If you have not received confirmation, we have not received your application!
Registration for the program closes one week prior to the start of each session.
Maximum Enrollments: 20 students per day. Those applying after enrollment capacity is reached will be added to the waiting list in the order of receipt of a complete application.
Questions: If you have any questions, please contact the CAA at education@caa-archeology.org or 618-653-4316 for more information.
Program Directors
- Kathryn Chapman (618-653-4316)
- Michelle Berg Vogel (618-653-4687)