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    • Mar 31-Apr 1 Sounds of the Mountains Story Festival
    • April 15 Spring Workday
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Mission and Ministry >
      • Virlina District Church of the Brethren >
        • GAG
    • Connect >
      • Meet Our Team
      • Contact Us
      • donate
      • TradingPost
      • jobs >
        • Summer Program Jobs
        • Seasonal Grounds and Kitchen Jobs
        • Summer Kitchen Staff
      • Camp Reps
      • News >
        • Subscribe to E-News >
          • Subscribe
        • Print News
      • Summer Staff Adoption
    • Parent Info
    • payment
    • Summer Camp Scholarships
    • jobs at camp >
      • Summer Camp Counselors and Program Staff
      • Summer Grounds Crew
      • Summer Kitchen Crew
    • Our Newsletters >
      • eNewsletter
      • Printed Newsletters
    • Trading Post
    • Upcoming Events
    • videos
    • Disc Golf Course
  • Summer Staff
    • Counselors >
      • Adventure Counselors
      • Senior Counselors
      • Junior Counselors
      • Counselors in Training
    • Coordinators
    • Summer Staff Information >
      • Staff FAQs
      • StaffResources
      • Why Work At Camp
    • Kitchen & Grounds >
      • Kitchen Staff
      • Grounds Crew
    • Staff Adoption
  • Camps
    • Summer Camps by Date
    • Parent-Child Overnight & Day Camp
    • Young Elementary Camps >
      • Knee-High Day Camp
      • Mini Camp
      • Parent-Child Overnight Camp
    • Older Elementary Camps COPY >
      • Elementary Resident Camps
      • Elementary Resident + Equestrian
      • Elementary Resident + Tubing
      • Elementary Adventure Explorers
      • Elementary Adventure Explorers + Tubing
      • Elementary 3-Day Sampler Camp
      • Elementary Day Camp
    • Middle School Camps >
      • Middle School Adventure Camps >
        • MS Adv Explorers
        • MS Adv Canoe + Climb
        • MS Adv Canoe + Tube
        • MS Adv Canoe + Cave + Climb
        • MS Adv Cave + Climb + Tube
        • MS Adv + Tube
        • MS Adv WWRaft + Tube
        • MS Adv Bike + Canoe + Tube
        • MS Adv Bike + Canoe + Climb
        • MS Adv Biking + WWRafting
        • MS Moonrise Adventure
      • Middle School Resident Camps >
        • Middle School Resident Camps
        • Middle School Resident + Equestrian
        • Middle School Resident + Tubing
      • River Adventures for Middle Schoolers >
        • Paddlesports Adv for Middle School
        • James River Canoe Adventure
        • Kayaking Adventure for Middle School
      • Skills Camps for Middle Schoolers >
        • Digital Arts Camp
        • Kayak Camp for Middle School
        • Paddlesports Camp for Middle School
      • Trips for Middle Schoolers >
        • Backpacking MS
        • James River Canoe
        • New River Canoe Trip
        • MBB Trip
        • BUMAT Trip
    • Trips and Skills Camps >
      • Backpacking Trip
      • Brethren United Mountain Adventure Trip
      • Digital Arts Camp
      • James River Canoe Adventure
      • Kayaking Adventure
      • Mountains to Beach to Bay Trip
      • New River Canoe Trip
      • Paddlesports Adventure
    • High School Camps >
      • High School Resident Camp
      • High School Resident + Tubing
      • High School Adventures >
        • HS Adv Canoe + Climb
        • HS Adv WWRaft + Tube
        • HS Adv Bike + Canoe + Tube
        • HS Adv Bike + WWRaft
        • HS Adv Bike + Canoe + Rock Climbing
        • HS Moonrise Adventure
        • New River Trip 7 High School
        • RAP
      • River Adventures for High Schoolers >
        • Paddlesports Adventure for High School
        • New River Canoe Trip for High School
        • Kayaking Adventure for High School
      • Skills Camps for High Schoolers >
        • Digital Arts Camp HS
        • Kayaking Camp for High School
        • Paddlesports Camp for High School
      • Trips for High Schoolers >
        • Backpacking Trip HS
        • Brethren United Mountain Adventure Trip HS
        • Mountains to Beach to Bay HS
        • New River Canoe HS
    • ParentInfo >
      • Parent Information
      • Pay for Camp >
        • pay
        • Financial Assistance
        • Church Good-as-Gold Assistance
      • About Summer Camps
      • Health
      • request brochure
      • Scholarships For Camp
      • Camp Songs
    • Virlina Churches Good-As-Gold
  • Outdoor Ed
    • Feb 24 VA Adventure Education Conference
    • Feb 25-26 Wilderness First Aid Training
    • ACA Courses >
      • ACA Kayak Instructor Course
      • ACA Canoe Instructor Course
      • ACA Trip Leader Course
    • KinderCritters
    • Your Outdoor Classroom
    • River Otters Paddle Sports
    • Disc-Golf
  • Groups
    • Facility Rental
    • Facility Photos
    • Food Services
    • DiscGolf
    • Band Camps
    • Camp Bethel Events
    • inquiry
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Feb 11 Camp Supporter Lunch
    • Feb 24 Virginia Adventure Education Conference
    • Feb 25-26 Wilderness First Aid
    • March 9 Sow the Seed Banquet
    • Mar 31-Apr 1 Sounds of the Mountains Story Festival
    • April 15 Spring Workday
Camp Bethel is honored to have provided the KinderCritters program to area schools since 1995. Thank you for your continuing support and participation in KinderCritters!

Fees: $12.00 per student, $6.00 per parent chaperone. Teachers and school staff are free.

Reservation Fee: Reservation requires a $10.00 registration fee to secure your date. This non-refundable fee is separate from and in  addition to your total fee. Be sure of your chosen date and Activity 3 choice upon making a reservation.

​Lunch: Bring your own lunch & drinks and enjoy a picnic together. Use our picnic shelter with restroom facilities and trashcans.

Rain: Don’t let a rainy day prevent you from coming. Check the week’s forecast (for Troutville, VA). If rain is possible or imminent on the day of your Field Trip, send notes home the day(s) before to have your students bring full rain gear (rain jacket with hood, water shoes or rain boots), and a full change of dry clothes and dry shoes. For rainy days, we alter the schedule to include activities in our Gym AND out in the rain to address SOLs K.2 (using senses in the rain), K.5 (water flow & properties), K.6 (basic needs of living organisms).

Cancellation or date-switch: Once scheduled, Camp Bethel is obliged to provide your program, so we will not cancel except for an extreme emergency. If you choose to cancel or change your dates, the $10.00 reservation fee is non-refundable. If you choose to reschedule your date a new $10 reservation fee must be paid to secure your new date.
CHECK RESERVATION DATES
SAMPLE SCHEDULE:
09:45am: Arrival and welcome.
10:00: Group A Activity 1, Group B Activity 2, Group C Activity 3 (*Option 1 or 2).
10:45: Group A Activity 2, Group B Activity 3 , Group C Activity 1.
11:30: Group A Activity 3, Group B Activity 1, Group C Activity 2.
12:15pm: LUNCH in the Shelter.
12:45: Load buses for home school.
*We can start and end earlier or later; indicate your times in your reservation inquiry form.
​

ACTIVITY LESSONS:

Activity 1: Hike to the Big Oak
Students hike ¼ mile to our 200+ year-old Big Oak tree. During the hike, leaders point out a variety of plants and wildlife and ask students to compare them according to shape, size, color, etc. These activities require students to use their senses to feel, smell, and observe little wonders pointed out by the leader. After arriving at the Big Oak, students compare its size to other trees and non-living objects in the vicinity. Key Concepts: the five senses, biological diversity, life cycle, stages of growth, maturity, decline and death. SOLs: K.1, K.2, K.6, K.8, K.9
Rain Alternative: Water Water Everywhere! Students describe and observe what happens in a rainstorm, as well as discover the properties of water. SOLs: K.2, K.5

Activity 2: Tree Cookies Lesson & Birds and Worms Lesson
Tree Cookies Lesson: In this activity, students trace environmental and historical changes using their own individual cross section of a tree trunk, or “tree cookie.” The leader reads a story describing a tree’s life. Students can decorate their tree cookie and make it into a necklace to take home. Key Concepts: organisms change through life cycle: growth, maturity, decline and death, and organisms’ roles in the ecosystem. SOLs: K.6, K.8, K.9
Birds and Worms Lesson: Camouflage is an important survival strategy in the animal kingdom. In this activity, students discover the value of  Protective coloration as they pretend to be birds in search of colored worms (made from colored pipe cleaners). Key Concepts: organisms’ adaptations to change, camouflage, effects of altering the environment; interdependence of organisms. SOLs: K.1, K.4, K.6, K.9
Rain Alternative: lesson held indoors

Activity 3: Choose Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1: Texture and Color Hunt. Students use their senses while walking in the woods to find objects of different colors and textures. Once the objects are found, we encourage students to increase their vocabulary in describing objects while blindfolded and match them to pictures with the help of their sighted classmates. Modified, these activities can take place rain or shine! SOLs: K1, K2, K4, K8.

Option 2: Animal Habitats and Movements: Students use games and observation to compare and contrast different habitats and experience the pros and cons of each one. Exploration of critters in their habitats help students disciver how they survive and how their habitat supplies all they need. More games cover how animals move and adapt to their surroundings to survive. These activities can take place rain or shine! SOLs: K1, K4, K5, K6, K8. 
CHECK RESERVATION DATES
FACILITY
Camp Bethel is located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, 8 minutes from exit 156 off I-81 (or 13 miles north of Hollins University off Rt. 11). Our 470 acres of forests, trails, ponds, streams, and meadows are perfect settings to reinforce your class lessons. Eat your packed lunches in our screened-in Shelter with bathrooms and refrigerators.

LEADERSHIP
Camp Bethel’s Outdoor Educator, Beth Wiegandt, coordinates the KinderCritters program. We work with community volunteers and Camp Bethel staff to provide excellent lesson and activity leadership. In addition to our staff we ask that you have one (or more) chaperone/teacher for every ten students attending.

TO RESERVE YOUR DATE
Programs are available weekdays during the Spring and Fall. Complete our "Reservation Inquiry Form" with your top THREE date choices, your Activity 3 choice (see descriptions above), your estimated headcount of children and adults, and estimated time of arrival & departure. KinderCritters Coordinator, Beth Wiegandt will contact you as soon as possible, so add her email to your contacts: YourOutdoorClassroom@gmail.com.
YOC Coordinator, Beth Wiegandt, 540-556-2594, YourOutdoorClassroom@gmail.com 
CHECK RESERVATION DATES
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WHAT PARENTS ARE SAYING:
"Our son and daughter have been coming to Camp Bethel since they were 5 years old--they are now 13 and 14 years old. We have found that your camp is one of the few that our kids continue to enjoy even as they are older. Other camps (sometimes a lot more expensive) are nice but for some reason the magic of Camp Bethel remains. We also really respect the way that your camp incorporates God and Bible study but in such a way that it is still cool--a rarity these days to find a place where kids can be kids and learn to love God and care for one another in God's creation. Thanks so much for the awesome experience for our kids and the ongoing magic that is Camp Bethel. Thanks, Gina and Chris Engel" 

CONTACT US  540.992.2940
CampBethelOffice@gmail.com
328 Bethel Road, Fincastle, VA 24090

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