Best Animal Summer Camp in the Midwest

The Midwest is an ideal summer camp destination. It offers great summer weather, diverse terrain and the chance to get away from modern civilization and immerse yourself outside in nature. Swift Nature Camp, a residential summer camp for boys and girls in Wisconsin within two hours of Minnesota and Michigan and 6 hours from Illinois and Iowa, is unique in its ability to facilitate a strong connection between nature and camper. Plus, it is tech free so campers learn to be less dependent on their phones.

We’ve all heard the wholesome and heartwarming stories of “a boy and his dog,” but equally impactful are the stories of “a boy and his Guinea pig,” “a kid and their tarantula,” or “a girl and her rats.” Whatever animal they happen to be drawn to, a bond between them can grow surprisingly fast, and that bond really is something special. Some kids come to camp with absolutely no experience handling animals up close. At Swift Nature Camp, there are dozens of animals up for ‘adoption.’ Kids can choose to take care of an animal for their time at camp. Whether that means feeding their rabbit, playing with their lizard, or giving their chinchilla a dust bath, they are tasked with spending a little time each day tending to their animal. For a child, having a living thing depend of them is a huge deal, and it can instill a sense of responsibility for something other than themselves for the first time in their lives. In some cases, depending on the animal, travel situations and parental permission, campers will take their animal home permanently and continue to care for them.

Perhaps the most impactful lesson campers learn in their interactions with the animals at camp is the innate connection with nature they don’t even realizing they are forming. Getting close with animals outside of your home sparks something in their minds, and they begin to think about other creatures and their homes, and the positive and negative effects they can have on them. These kids begin to develop a healthy respect for the environment that even some adults do not have, and they leave camp with more of a reverence for nature than when they came. That reverence is disappearing in our youth at an alarming rate, so the fact that a place like Swift Nature Camp can still manufacture it makes them among the best Summer Camps in Wisconsin and the Midwest.