Remember Day and Overnight Summer Camps? Battle Creek’s Binder Park Zoo Has ‘Em.

Here's the line that got me. "A sleeping bag and sense of curiosity is all you need."

When you become an adult, you forget how many things you miss from your childhood. Growing up, I went to summer camp for six-week stretches beginning in July every year. It was a different time and era, but it got me out of the hot city and kept me off the streets and busy during summer vacation from school.

Well, Binder Park Zoo still does that and the added bonus is it might get the older kids off their phones for a bit.

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Day Camp for Kids

The Day Camp portion of this is for kids in grades 1-7. It's eight one-week modules, with each week being focused on a different topic. You can do one week or if your child is George or Georgette of the Jungle, you can do all eight weeks. The topics range from Classy Animals to Dino Park Zoo to "Fact or Fiction". This all gets going just after the school year ends. The first-week module starts Monday, June 13th through Friday, the 17th and the final week begins Monday, August 8th until Friday the 12th. Each day is from 9 am to 4 pm.

Overnights for families and more

And the overnights are for families, scouts, and for organized groups, and it sounds like the perfect memory-making adventure for parents and children with the choice of two different overnight programs that happen Fridays and Saturdays at the zoo. The Zoo says there are "Zoo Snooze and Overnight Safari: The East Zoo becomes a place of adventure after hours during your Zoo Snooze where you might hear the howl of the wolves, explore a mysterious Zoorassic Park, and drift asleep beneath the stars."

With the Overnight Safari in Wild Africa, the idea is to meet "animals, hike the African trails after dark and spend the night at the edge of the savanna in your own authentic tented camp."

Binder Park says space is limited for both the Summer Day Camps and Zoo Overnights and it's on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can learn more or sign up here. And if you're wondering, the zoo opens for the season on May 1st.