Branching Out Camps

Branching Out Camps will be our new name for Tree Folk camps that take us beyond our usual home in the woods. We’re renting a 15-passenger van, gathering a small crew of campers, and heading out to explore, create, learn, and care for our wider community.

Our first Branching Out camps are coming up this school year:

Branching Out: Caring for Our Community
During Thanksgiving week, we’ll spend three days finding hands-on ways to care for the place we live. We’ll stock Portland’s community pantries and fridges (including making our own trail mix bags and notes to share), tackle a community clean-up project, and build, stock, and install a Little Free Library.

Branching Out: Portland Staycation
Over Spring Break, we’ll turn Portland into our playground and classroom. Each day we’ll pile into the van and head somewhere new for a mix of outdoor adventures, art, exploration, and some of the wonderfully weird things that make Portland Portland. Think nature programs, creative reuse, giant trolls, parks, and plenty of surprises along the way.

Branching Out camps will be a little different from our summer camps: smaller groups, more exploring, and the chance to take the spirit of Tree Folk out into the wider world.

A quick note about ages: Branching Out camps are designed with kids ages 7–11 in mind. Because we’ll be traveling together and spending our days out and about, I want to make sure we have a group that works well together. That said, 7–11 isn't a hard cutoff! If you have a 5- or 6-year-old (or an older kid) who you think would be a great fit, reach out to me. I’m happy to consider a few younger campers, especially kids I already know from Tree Folk, while keeping the overall group balanced.