We have Kindergarten Openings for Spring Semester 2025. Scholarships for Indigenous students available
Click here for info about our Forest School and Waldorf-Inspired Private Kindergarten: Apple Blossom Kindergarten Bring back the magic of an unplugged childhood!
Summer Day Camps 2025 Register below for Summer Camps!
Let your child’s imagination soar this summer. Screen-free play fosters curiosity, creativity, and wonder!
Unplug and Enter a World of Imagination!
$85 Down Payment Reserves your child’s spot.
NEW OFFERING: FAMILY PLAY CAMP AUGUST 1 and/or 2 - description and registration link below!
Our camps are immersion camps. Kids get immersed in the storyline and their imagination. Please choose a camp week when your child does not have other scheduled activities so they can fully immerse themselves in the theme. Especially offsite camps where we hike, Families need to plan to bring their child on time and let them remain at camp for the day. (exceptions can be made for medical or other appointments)
Apple Blossom Summer Day Camps 2025
Summer Camp Line up 2025!
Email: naturalchildhood@gmail.com
Registration is open! Each camp has a maximum of 16 - 22 children. Storybook Camp has a maximum of 14 children. Spots fill quickly, reserve yours today!
We follow CDC guidelines on quarantine and isolation. for COVID.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE REGISTERING! Follow this process to complete your registration.
Read the Summer Camp Handbook
Register and choose to pay the down payment or pay for the entire camp fee for one child at a time. Select the payment option and “add to cart” for child #1.
Enter the shopping cart at the top of the page, filling out the registration form. Finish check out.
Begin registration process for child #2.
Do you want multiple camps or have multiple kids? We have payment plans available if your family is registering for more than 3 camps. Email Dacia at naturalchildhood@gmail.com to find out more.
June 9 - 12, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 4 - 8
JOIN US FOR 4 DAYS ON THE TRAIL! HEAR A NATURE STORY, MAKE A SNACK POUCH, AND GET ON THE TRAIL! (SNACK PROVIDED) This year’s theme is frogs and toads with stories from the classic Frog and Toad books. We will explore hidden spaces and investigate seasonal signs of the animal and plant life, learning through play and hands on art and activities. Bemidji State Park Picnic Shelter
June 9 - 12, 2025 9:00 - 3:00, ages 8 - 12 Lake Bemidji State Park
COME SURVIVE THE WILD WITH US! LEARNING SURVIVAL SKILLS BY ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, EACH DAY TAKES US INTO THE WOODS ON A NEW TRAIL AND A NEW ADVENTURE! (SNACK PROVIDED) Be prepared to take daily hikes as we build up our stamina for an adventure walk on day 4!
June 16 - 19, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 ages 4 - 8
Magic is in the air this Midsummer Week! Leave a gift for the faeries, learn a Maypole Dance, a Midsummer song, prepare a special snack, and celebrate the longest day of the year when the sun is at its strongest with fairytales and fun as we prepare for Midsummer Day, the neighboring Puppetry Camp will share a performance with us on the last day of camp. All are invited to attend our Midsummer Fest on Friday June 20th from 3 - 6 pm. Snack provided on the last day!
June 16 - 19, 2025, Choose 9:00 am - 12:30 pm or 9 am - 3:00 pm and performance at 4:30 pm Friday June 20 at our Midsummer Fest! ages 8 - 12 years
Discover the elements of storytelling as we turn a World Fairytale or Folktale into a puppet show! Something for everyone with stage and props, puppet making, writing/rewriting, and performing. Performance for the neighboring camp Thursday at noon and we will perform for the community at the Apple Blossom Midsummer Fest on Friday June 20th at 4:30 pm. In between puppet making there will be time in the Village for games and songs in the great outdoors! Looking for creative kids who like the arts, handcrafts, sewing, and performing!
June 23 - 26, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 5 - 9
GET READY FOR A WEEK OF DRAGON HATCHING, DRAGON TAMING, AND DRAGON TRAINING! Enjoy nest building, dragon egg hide and seek, creating our shield with our dragon’s portrait and magical power, and a Dragon’s Feast on the last day. Snack provided on the last day!
July 14 - 17, 2025 Ages 3.5 - 6 9:00 am - noon
Perfect for our youngest campers, this gentle morning camp begins with songs and fingerplays led by an experienced and nurturing early childhood teacher. After we greet the day and each other, the children are read a beautifully written and illustrated storybook. Imagination brings the story to life as we allow children to express the artist within through drawing, painting, building, and cooking, inspired by the story! This year’s theme is gardening! Your child must be age 3 by March 1st, 2025 and potty trained to attend this camp.
July 14 - 17, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 6 to 11
DISCOVER TREES IN A WHOLE NEW WAY AS WE PLAY AND LEARN IN THE FOREST at Lake Bemidji State Park. Just as we communicate with our words, trees have a hidden unspoken language of their own. Includes tree walks, forest games, whittling, and nature crafts. Join us for a fresh look at trees in this wonder filled week!
July 22 - July 25, 2024 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 5 - 9
Join the fairies and magical creatures in the Enchanted Garden as we help the pollinators weather the storm while learning strategies to calm ourselves. We will try out garden yoga, belly breathing, and learn problem solving skills all while playing imaginatively outside! Children help with garden tasks each day and we will create a fairy garden to take home. SEND A CONTAINER ON DAY 2!
July 28- 31, 2025 Ages 4 - 8 years 9:00 - 3:00
Enter a world of imagination in Fairytale Village! This year join us in Snow White’s Kingdom as we play house with the seven dwarves, make applesauce, explore the enchanted forest, and celebrate with folk dancing and songs. Come dressed as your favorite Fairytale Character or borrow one of our costumes for the week. Snack is provided each day!
July 28 - 31, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 8 - 12
Step back into medieval times filled with knights and dragons, wizards and royalty! Choose your character, build a shelter, and try your hand at archery. NEIGHBORING King Rohan’s Camp is Fairytale Village where magic is in the air. Be prepared to set up shop and practice a handcraft to contribute to life in the village!
August 11 - 14, 2025 9:00 - 3:00 Ages 6 - 11
Enchanters, wizards, sorcerers, and magical beings, GET READY FOR AN ENCHANTING WEEK AS WE PRACTICE OUR SPELLS, MAKE POTIONS, AND LEARN ABOUT HERBS AND PLANT REMEDIES! Magic happens in the Hollow! Enchanter’s Feast on the last day (snack provided on the last day). Camp will be held at Apple Blossom
August 11 - 15, 2024 9:00 - 3:00 M-Th and 9:00 - 2:00 F Ages 10.5 - 13
Take on an ancient character, row across broad waters, and explore cryptic runes. Mythology and a variety of traditional nordic crafts are all part of creating this working community where we build shelters, cook over the fire, weave, work with wood and leather, and so much more. Day 1 drop off at Diamond Point to row the Dragon Boat to Apple Blossom via lake Bemidji and Lake Irving. We arrive at our “unknown land” where we build, garden, craft, barter, practice archery , play Viking games, and lend a hand to the neighboring village. Last day ends at 2:00 pm with a Viking Feast and Tour of the Village for parents. (SNACK PROVIDED) Be prepared to set up a shop and bring a handcraft to do! Classes in handcrafts and skills will be given throughout the week as well. *We ask that kids are age 10 by March 2025 unless attending with an older sibling
Join us a the Yurts at Apple Blossom Village, Bemidji, to bring back the magic of an unplugged summer! Parents can dive in deeper during Saturday’s hands on workshops while young children explore with our talented and nurturing staff. Together let’s resist the magnetic pull of screens, and instead enliven our family life or homeschool with the wonder of device free play. Ignite adventure, curiosity, and joy in our children and ourselves! 3 meals included
Deepen our Connection to Nature,
The why behind the importance of Screen-Free Play and Movement
The value of Sunlight, Simplicity, and Slowing down
Mini hands on Workshops for parents while children play and explore
Come home with new ideas for fostering curiosity, critical thinking, perseverance, and resilience
Bring the whole family! Choose Friday Evening or Saturday or both!
Friday Enchanted Evening - Enjoy stories, singing, and baked potatoes with all the toppings around the campfire. The evening ends with a walk through the lantern lit Fairy Forest at Dusk and a Shadow Puppet Show at dark. Bring an instrument for Friday’s Enchanted Evening if you wish! Learn about Forest School philosophy and the importance of device free play.
Saturday Day of Play - Children ages 3 - 11 can immerse themselves in nature play and exploration with our experienced and nurturing staff while parents and older children ages 12 and up enjoy mini hands on workshops and discussions. Under age 3 can join family activities but stay under the supervision of a parent. Start with a bowl of oatmeal or wild rice porridge and toppings cooked outdoors, and families will help prepare Stone Soup over the fire for lunch.
Leave the screens behind while you re-connect with yourself and your family in nature.
Camp in local campgrounds or stay in lodging of your choice in the Bemidji area.