Welcome!
Camp Information
**NATURE NEIGHBORS FOR PREK-2ND GRADE IS NOW FULL AS OF MAY 23RD**
This summer the City by the Sea Museum invites children of all ages to explore their coastal environment!
We have FOUR different camp dates, each set of dates is geared towards specific grade levels.
Please see the camp dates and descriptions below.
To Register: Please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/1re5H3N7NAonSA6V7
How to Pay: Credit card payments can be made via PayPal on the right hand side of this page. Cash and check payments can be made in person at 401 Commerce St.
Families registering multiple children for camp and are NOT museum members have a discounted rate of $10 off their subsequent children.
Families who ARE members of the museum have a discounted rate as shown below in the descriptions. Additional children in the same household will receive $20 off.
Scholarship Information: A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available on a case by case basis. Please let us know on your registration form if you would like to be considered, and we will contact you by email.
REserve your child's spot!
Become a museum member for $65 when registering your child! You'll get a discount on all of our camps, and all children's activities throughout the year are free for each child in your household! Please call or email us for this special member rate.
For cash and check payments, please visit us at 401 Commerce.
Camp descriptions
Nature Neighbors, Pre-K - 2nd **CAMP IS FULL**
Nature Neighbors, Pre-K - 2nd **CAMP IS FULL**
Nature Neighbors, Pre-K - 2nd **CAMP IS FULL**
Date: June 6-9
Time: 10 a.m.-noon
Ages: Pre-K - 2nd grade
Limited to 10 children
Full price: $65, Members price: $45
Location: Palacios Education Pavilion, 693 S Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX 77465
Plants and animals are our neighbors on the coast and they have basic needs for surviving and thriving, just like we do! Each camp day will focus on a different basic need shared by people, plants, and animals such as food, water, air, and shelter. Campers will observe live animals and plants. They will dissect a fruit and plant seeds to learn about plant lifecycles. Campers will also play hermit-crab musical chairs, search for shells, and build sandcastles while learning about animal homes. Storytime, games, art, and outside exploration will be included every day.
Ocean Observers, 3rd - 5th
Nature Neighbors, Pre-K - 2nd **CAMP IS FULL**
Nature Neighbors, Pre-K - 2nd **CAMP IS FULL**
Date: June 20-24
Time: 9 a.m.-noon
Ages: 3rd-5th grade
Limited to 20 children
Full price: $100, Members price $75
Location: Palacios Education Pavilion, 693 S Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX 77465
Campers in the Ocean Observers camp, hosted by the City by the Sea Museum will investigate their world through interactive experiments, games, and outdoor explorations. They will learn about how the ocean influences patterns in the weather, climate, and land. Campers will photograph clouds and make their own tool for measuring wind, called an anemometer. Then they will examine the ground beneath their feet by studying soil and sand up close. Campers will measure the saltiness and temperature of water in the bay. In addition, they will search all around for coastal animals and plants, in the sky, on land, and underwater. They will use binoculars to spot birds along the beach, seek plants on the shore and use a seine net to sample fish living in the bay.
Conservation Camp, 6th - 8th
Marine Science Summer Camp, 9th - 12th
Marine Science Summer Camp, 9th - 12th
Date: July 11- July 15
Time: 9 a.m.-noon
Ages: 6th-8th grade
Limited to 20 youth
Full price: $100, Members price $75
Location: Palacios Education Pavilion, 693 S Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX 77465
Junior high students who want to help protect coastal wildlife and habitats are invited to Conservation Camp, hosted by the City by the Sea Museum. During this camp, participants will learn about the benefits provided by coastal ecosystems, and successful examples of youth taking action to keep these ecosystems healthy. Activities include bagging oyster shells for reef restoration, monitoring water quality, seining for fish in the bay, painting, birding, and cleaning the beach. We will explore the many different ways people get involved with coastal conservation, including perspectives from artists, writers, scientists, gardeners, schools, and small businesses. Youth will also brainstorm their own ideas of how they can contribute to environmental stewardship.
Marine Science Summer Camp, 9th - 12th
Marine Science Summer Camp, 9th - 12th
Marine Science Summer Camp, 9th - 12th
Date: July 18- July 22
Time: 9 a.m.- noon
Ages: 9th-12th grade
Limited to 20 youth
Full price: $100, Members price $75
Location: Palacios Education Pavilion, 693 S Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX 77465
Did you know you can turn your cell phone into a data-collecting device to monitor birds, plants, and litter? Do you want to see a shark specimen up close? Do you like fishing and want to learn about how fish populations are estimated? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then the Marine Science Summer Program may be a great fit for you! This week-long program for 9th-12th graders will run from 9 am-noon, Monday, July 18th to Friday, July 22nd. Each day you’ll meet different marine science professionals to learn about their path from high school to their current position. Then we will head into the lab and into the field alongside them to build our research skills. Topics include fisheries science, sea turtle conservation, oyster reef restoration, and aquaculture. Activities could include seining for juvenile fish in the bay, birding along the beach, dissecting an oyster, photographing plants on a smartphone app, and conducting a marine debris survey.
Meet Your Camp Guide
Kayla Clark, MA And Museum Education Specialist
Kayla Clark is a naturalist and an environmental educator who previously taught at the Alabama 4-H Science School, the New York Aquarium, and the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium. She has a B.A. in Sociology from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and an M.A. in Biology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
For the last five years, she has been organizing educational events for adults and families as the public programs coordinator for Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. She uses art, scientific inquiry, storytelling, and games to connect learners of all ages with nature in their local places. Kayla has assisted with field research that enriches her science teaching, including surveys of gray whales, conch, lionfish, soft corals, shorebirds, seagrass, black gill in shrimp, marine debris, and phytoplankton.
She recently moved to Palacios, Texas where she is excited to learn from her new neighbors. Kayla looks forward to engaging children in celebrating the ecosystem they are a part of during natural history programs at the City by the Sea Museum.
