Winter Break Camp

Check-in will take place each morning from 8:45–9:15 a.m. Checkout will take place from 3–3:15 p.m., unless campers are registered for Aftercare. Caregivers will drop off and pick up campers in the designated area outside the Judy Keller Education Center on Cannon Drive.

• Each camper will receive a blue Conservation Camp T-shirt with registration. Campers should wear their blue camp T-shirt every day they attend camp.
• Many camp activities will take place outside, weather permitting. All campers should dress to be outdoors.
• Campers may be required to wear a face covering indoors for certain activities, so please be sure to send a mask with them.
• All campers should bring their own refillable water bottle.
• Unless you have purchased lunch, all campers should bring a non-refrigerated, nut-free lunch and snack.

• Lincoln Park Zoo encourages all campers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Lincoln Park Zoo will follow city and state guidelines regarding face coverings and other health procedures. For certain situations, campers may be required to wear a face covering regardless of vaccination status, so please be sure to send a mask with them.
• All campers must be able to independently use the bathroom, including wiping.
• Camp staff are CPR- and first aid-certified and an EMT is on-site during camp.
• Caregivers are the zoo’s most important partners in keeping our camp community healthy and safe. If your camper feels unwell or shows any signs of infectious illness (sore throat, new cough, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, severe headache, or a fever at or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), please do not send them to camp!

If a camper doesn’t feel well at camp, caregivers will be called to pick them up. Campers who are sick may return to camp if they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and symptoms have improved.

• No two camp days are exactly the same. Camp instructors do their best to follow camper interests while selecting each day’s activities from our camp curricula, so there is always variety. However, there are some things campers can count on:
  • Morning and afternoon free play.
  • Chats with zoo experts. These are times when campers can ask their most pressing animal care questions.
  • Outside time, as much as weather permits.
  • Activities that help campers build knowledge, empathy, resiliency, and curiosity about animals. These might be movement-based, art-focused, or imaginative.
  • Visits to many of the zoo’s animal residents; however, animal care is left to our professional zookeepers.
• Consider asking your camper:
  • What made them smile today?
  • What did they choose to do during free play?
  • What animals did they see? What were the animals doing?
  • Did they play a game? What was the goal of the game?
  • Did any of the other campers do something silly that made them laugh?
  • What did they do to be helpful today?

Your camper will see many of the zoo’s animal residents throughout their time in camp. However, we leave care of the animals up to our professional zookeepers. Campers will not have the opportunity to touch or feed the animals.

At Lincoln Park Zoo, we value the inclusion of campers of all abilities. Some accommodations at camp include social stories, visual schedules, fidget tools, noise-cancelling headphones, behavior charts/incentives, countdowns for transitions, and occasional short breaks away from the group. One-on-one aides are not an accommodation we offer.

Campers for whom our inclusion model works well are able to participate in both structured and unstructured activities for most of the day in a group of 14–16 campers with two college-age or older counselors.

If your child needs accommodations or has specific needs, please contact our camp team at camp@lpzoo.org or include this information when registering so that we may discuss how to make sure your camper has a great experience.

Learn more about inclusion at camp.

Campers should not bring electronic devices, including cellphones and smartwatches, to camp. Camp staff reserve the right to remove a cellphone from a camper’s possession for the duration of the camp day. Lincoln Park Zoo is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

If caregivers need to communicate with their camper during the camp day, they may call 312-742-2056 to reach a member of the camp leadership team. We will share messages with campers.