Prairie and Wood (PAW) Summer YMCA Camp
Carleton College Cowling Arboretum, Minnesota 19, Northfield, MN 55057
About
Prairie and Wood (PAW) Summer YMCA Camp is a summer-long, outdoor day camp where children explore ecosystems such as wetland, prairie, forest, and lakeshore. Campers spend time learning about rocks, trees, animals, and other natural phenomena, creating environmentally oriented arts and crafts, conducting experiments with natural ingredients, and looking for wildlife signs in the Arboretum. Carleton students working as camp counselors plan and carry out expeditions in the Arb for children.
• Ages: 5–12 years old
• Schedule: summer-long, outdoor day camp
The camp focuses on fostering an appreciation and understanding of the natural world in young children while being a fun, exciting, interactive experience. It is one of Carleton’s longest running community outreach programs, with a history of nearly fifty years, and began collaborating with the Northfield YMCA in the summer of 2009. The YMCA provides training and oversight for the Carleton students working as camp counselors, and the PAW lead counselor meets with the Arboretum Director every week to help plan camp activities that make use of the Arboretum. The program emphasizes time spent outside, away from screens and surrounded by growing things, where children interact with nature and each other through activities that shape their views of the natural world. One counselor, Drew Chambers ’10, described planning and carrying out expeditions in the Arb for children at PAW and noted that the Arboretum has a large capacity to inspire wonder and teach lessons about the local natural world.
Last updated February 23, 2026.
• Ages: 5–12 years old
• Schedule: summer-long, outdoor day camp
The camp focuses on fostering an appreciation and understanding of the natural world in young children while being a fun, exciting, interactive experience. It is one of Carleton’s longest running community outreach programs, with a history of nearly fifty years, and began collaborating with the Northfield YMCA in the summer of 2009. The YMCA provides training and oversight for the Carleton students working as camp counselors, and the PAW lead counselor meets with the Arboretum Director every week to help plan camp activities that make use of the Arboretum. The program emphasizes time spent outside, away from screens and surrounded by growing things, where children interact with nature and each other through activities that shape their views of the natural world. One counselor, Drew Chambers ’10, described planning and carrying out expeditions in the Arb for children at PAW and noted that the Arboretum has a large capacity to inspire wonder and teach lessons about the local natural world.
Last updated February 23, 2026.
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