The Willowell Foundation

Our Mission: To cultivate healthy communities by connecting people to arts, education, the environment, & each other.

We offer land-based programs and activities that focus on experiential learning and connecting the community with the natural world. Willowell is excited to present a diverse listing of Vermont summer day camps this year.

Summer Camps

SUMMER DAYS ON 230 ACRES

Our camps bring children outdoors to play, get dirty, and learn from Willowell’s 230 acres of meadows, wetlands and forest. From learning to move like a ninja, to building forts, cooking over an open fire, or juggling with the circus, we have something for everyone; ages 4-12!

Willowell camps aim to foster a sense of pride and respect for nature in youth of all ages. We are excited to present a diverse listing of Vermont summer day camps lead by kind, skilled, and experienced teachers.

Camps bring children outdoors for programming that combines free play, exploring, adventure, getting dirty, and learning from the meadows, wetlands and forests on the magical Willowell property. All programs are held fully outdoors through all weather, and involve some level of risky play and adventure.

We aim to create an environment of respect and community where each voice is heard, and children and camp leaders come together as a community. Our camps are open to families of all socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and disability.

If your child requires assistance to participate fully in our camps please reach out to schedule a call with us so we can help them succeed.

Wren's Nest Forest Preschool

LAND-BASED FOREST PRESCHOOL

Wren’s Nest Forest Preschool is a licensed, nature-based school for children ages 3-5 in Bristol, Vermont. This play-based program brings young hearts and minds outdoors with caring and dedicated early childhood educators. Children engage in tracking, identifying wild plants, making forts, and viewing the natural world as their teacher.

Pond Brook Project

APPROVED INDEPENDENT MIDDLE SCHOOL

Embedded in the natural and human communities of Vermont, the Pond Brook Project inspires adolescent learners to cultivate their relationship to self, society, and the natural world.

Walden Year

EDUCATION IN THE FOREST

A high school program for perennial learning, focusing on a creative, compassionate, interdisciplinary education in arts, ecology, writing, civic engagement, and wellness. Continuing the legacy of the Walden Project.

New Roots Project

OUTDOOR ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

A rich, outdoor learning experience with a dedicated group of educators and craftspeople. Open to all (public school enrolled and home study students). Students come any number of days a week for creative and hands-on classes, caring community, and student-centered learning.

Gordon Sculpture Park

IMMERSIVE SCULPTURE ART

The Gordon Sculpture Park is an art immersion experience in nature on our 230 acre property in Monkton, VT. As you walk the land you pass by unique sculptures hidden among the trees and fields. We continue to commission artwork each year.