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Come spend a week or more exploring the world and its wildlife at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo.

We will be offering age-specific summer camps during the summer of 2026 for kiddos 5-13.
Each camp will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

 

The adventure begins each day with a light breakfast. We’ll feature daily animal encounters and walks through the zoo. Express yourself with animal-related arts and crafts. Hop on a train and board a boat for a ride among exotic creatures. We’ll have lunch provided by our concessions stand, and we’ll cool off in the ZOOasis splash pad at least twice during the week.

 

Early drop-off (after 8 a.m.) and late pickup (until 5 p.m.) are available at an additional fee.

 

T-shirts are included.

A week at camp costs $150 for Zoological Society members and $200 for non-members. 

 

Here are the themes and schedules for the 2026 camps:

Globetrotters

July 20 – 24,                 Ages 5-7 yr olds

Pack your bags! Grab your passports! The entire world is only a hop, skip, and jump away. Let's take a whirlwind tour of the world as we explore exotic habitats and cultures, and some of the animals that live there.

 

Wildlife Engineer

July 27 – 31,                 Ages 8 - 10 yr olds

Designing an animal can be as easy 1, 2, 3! Join us as we explore what makes animal groups unique and design our own animals.

 

The Great Connection

July 6 - 10,                    Ages 8 -10 yr olds

Everything in our universe is connected! The connections between organisms can be mind-blowing — bees and flowers, birds and zebras, bats and pitcher plants. Both living and nonliving things are important to an ecosystem's survival. The Great Connection campers will explore the animal kingdom and the many ways animals interact with their environment. Campers will learn about complex food webs, wacky animal friendships, symbiotic relationships, and parasites through hands on activities, experiments and in-person observations.

 

Animal Armor

June 22 – 27,    Ages 5-7 yr olds

Knights wear suits of armor and soldiers drive in tanks, but how do hedgehogs protect themselves? Or giraffes? All animals have their own defenses and some even have armor built into their bodies! Come find out how wild animals survive, hide, and defend themselves!

 

Have It Your Way         

June 8 – 13,                  Ages 8-10 yr olds

Do you know how much a rhino eats in a single day? Ever wondered what's on the menu for our tigers or capybaras? This session will teach campers about animal consumer groups. Whether it's an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore, campers will learn the different adaptations that make animals predators Of prey.

 

Snakes Alive!

June 15 – 19,    Ages 5-7 yr olds

They don't have legs, so how do they move? They don't have arms, so how do they catch food? We're often frightened of them, but many are valuable to have around. Let's hiss, rattle and roll as we take a deep dive into these reptiles during the week of the serpent,

 

Tales of Tails

June 1 – 6,                    Ages 5-7 yr olds

Have you ever stopped to think about why we eat cereal endorsed by tigers and toucans, or why we cheer for a football team with a loveable elephant mascot? Animals are a huge source of inspiration for human stories, inventions, logos and more. Campers will spend some time considering the symbolic representation and cultural importance of various iconic animals in our everyday lives.

 

Wild About Art

July 13 – 17,                 Ages 11-13 yr olds

Campers will take inspiration from the animals around them as well as classical artists in this art based camp. Maybe you will paint a cubist giraffe, a pop art frog, or use pointillism to create a flamingo. We are excited to see what you create! Then we'll invite parents to view the art gallery at the end of the week.