In the beginning of February my 4-year-old son, Nathaniel, and I were exploring alongside what we call the Fairy Stream at camp. We were brushing away the snow to look for the skunk cabbage starting to grow. At one bend of the stream there was a pile of gravel and small stones. On a whim, and allowing ourselves just a quick minute, we left our skunk cabbage search to look at the gravel pile for any Indian artifacts. We have found a few over the years in the area. In less than one minute (!) we found, on that pile, a most magnificent, large, in-great-shape Lenni Lenape chert spear head or very large arrowhead! As I picked up the stone, and realized that probably the last person to touch it was a Native American maybe some 300 or more years ago, I felt an almost electric charge go through me. Almost as if there was a connection, a time and place sharing spanning the centuries. Why couldn't our campers feel this also? Well, they will have a chance to. One of the new things this coming summer will be archaeological explorations and digs on our 200-acre campus. It's important to know who has come before us in helping to establish a sense of place with our particular piece of this third planet from the sun.　

What else will be new this summer?:　
　
* A new, streamlined swim program through the American Red Cross　
* A garden-to-table program, combining the best of organic gardening and cooking　
* A revamped overnight camping/adventure program stressing skill development and more environmental activities　
* An 'almost overnight' for our very youngest campers　
* A new hands-on craft program with such activities as felting, basket making and clay work.　
　
　 From Healthy Planet:　
　
　 "When adults recall their favorite places of childhood, the great majority are outdoor locations... and very often involve natural features (trees, stream, bushes, rocks, sand, woodland), and even in very urban settings, play with natural "loose parts" (leaves, seeds, twigs) is a most fondly remembered episode."　
　
　 The Nature Place Day Camp has become a favorite place for thousands of children throughout the years. We hope your child can be one of them this summer.