The best program for young children is Roughing It Day Camp, our traditional, all-outdoors day camp at the Lafayette Reservoir. We have been serving very young campers since we opened in 1972, We group children by grade in school and age so that all their activities are age appropriate. We have special groups for Pre-K / Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. This is an ideal place for the first time camper to begin their camp experience.

For ALL Campers ages 4 ½ – 16 years
Two 4-week sessions, or One 8-week session
Campers grouped separately by grade and gender after Kindergarten with two groups for each grade level (one for girls and one for boys)
Door-to-door Transportation available in most areas.
Participate in ALL of the age appropriate camp activities including horseback riding lessons, canoeing (2nd grade and up), and the all camp overnight.
4 and 8-week sessions give campers more time to adjust to their group, become familiar the camp routine, and to relax and enjoy camp life.

Consistency Sets Young Children up for Success

The Roughing It Day Camp 4 week program provides a safe supportive environment for young children to make friends and try new activities. Campers are with the same counselors and the same group of children their own age throughout their session. The consistency of our 4 week program enables children to form friendships, learn new skills, and get the most out of their camp experience.

Two new friends have some fun at the reservoir.

Special Groups & Activities for each Grade

A counselor reads to her group during quiet time after lunch.

We have found that most children prefer to be grouped with peers their same age and do best in our 4 week day camp program. We have several camper groups at day camp for our Pre-K through 2^nd grade campers. The campers are grouped in the following manner. Pre-K and Kindergarten are in a coed group with an adult (male or female) counselor. Campers in 1^st grade and above are grouped into single sex groups. We normally have at least one Boys 1^st Grade group and at least one Boys 2^nd Grade group each with a male counselor. We also normally have at least one Girls 1^st Grade group and one Girls 2^nd Grade Group each with a female counselor.

Age Appropriate Activities & Instruction by Ability

Our 4 & 8 week day camp program for young campers includes instruction in horseback riding and swimming as well as a variety of outdoor activities All activities age appropriate as well as designed specially for the skills and interests of young campers.

Roughing It’s swim program also offers a Learn to Swim program for non-swimmers and beginners. Our riding program includes an introduction to riding and horse readiness program for first time riders.

See our Activities section to learn more about our program areas and see all our camp activities.

Learn more about our Water Readiness Program.

Caring, Experienced, All Adult Staff

The major reason for Roughing It's continued success at providing a safe, supportive camp environment is our outstanding all adult staff. We select staff because of their maturity, character, experience and ability to relate to and inspire young children. In addition to the group counselors, we also have our own program specialty staff who instruct at each of the program areas and year around camp administrators on the campsite each day. Our overall camper to counselor ratio is 4:1.

At the camp overnight, campers cook their own dinner, with the help of their counselor.

Safety

The health and safety of each camper is the primary concern of each Roughing It staff member. Supervision of campers by staff is ALWAYS constant. All our staff are certified in /First Aid and CPR, and receive additional training in safety and health procedures during the week of staff orientation. All swim and waterfront staff are certified lifeguards.

Transportation

Roughing It offers Door-to-door pick-up or Express Bus Stops for campers enrolled in the Day Camp Program. Pick up is between 8:00 - 9:00 am and drop off is between 3:00 - 4:00 pm. Learn more about transportation for Day Camp in the transportation section of our website.

Sessions and Fees

Sessions and fees for Day Camp can be found on our Dates & Fees page.