Green Stuff Summer Camp
Your child can spend a magical week at the UC Botanical Garden’s award-winning nature camp!
Introduce your child to the wonders of nature at our Green Stuff Summer Camp—an active hands-on science day camp for children entering grades 1 through 4, with a special “Alumni Week” for returning campers entering grades 5 and 6.
Included are such activities as:
- Learning about amazing plant adaptations and habitat diversity
- Collecting seeds in our Crops of the World Garden, and growing your own plant
- Becoming a young botanist and examining plants under microscopes
- Keeping a nature journal
- Creating arts and crafts from plant materials
- Hunting for garden animals including birds, butterflies, newts, lizards, and compost critters
- Investigating a different part of the Garden every day!
Green Stuff is designed to be a small-group experience, with two counselors supervising 10 to 12 children per week. The counselors are a team of one lead staffer with a degree and experience in childhood education paired with a well-trained UC Berkeley undergraduate or graduate student in plant sciences, both of whom have experience and a love of sharing the wonders of the natural world with young children. Given our living-museum location, this camp is a perfect option for curious children who already possess self-control skills.
Garden Members receive early access to register. Not a member? Join today!
Summer Camp Information & Policies
New policy: Registration is limited to only 1 week per camper. This allows us to offer the camp experience to as many families as possible. Please only enroll your child in one week.
Policy updated 1/1/2025
To receive early Member registration access you must have an active UCBG Membership and be registered with our online ticketing system to enable membership verification. (Register and Sign In buttons appear at the top right corner of all ticketing pages. If you have never Registered with our ticketing system before, be sure to use the same email address and contact information as your membership when setting-up. Once registered with the ticketing system, you can use your associated email address and your chosen password to Sign In whenever you are using our ticketing site to receive your access/member benefits. If you have already Registered with ticketing before but forgot your password, click Sign In and then Forgot Your Password? to reset.) Not a member? Join today! Due to our limited capacity, there is no Member discount on summer camp.
Refunds, less a cancellation fee ($100), will be issued only if your cancellation request is made before May 1st. No refunds or credit will be given after that time. Please choose your camp week carefully.
Registration transfer to another week of camp may be made if space permits and it is requested before May 1st.
We are unable to reduce or prorate camp fees for a partial week of attendance.
All registrations are processed through our online system. If you prefer to not register online yourself, you may register over the phone with a credit card by calling (510) 664-7606.
Our small camp has limited staff resources. Given the terrain and sensitivity of the collection, we require campers to come with enough self-control skills to safely navigate the Garden together and participate as a group. A camper may be asked to leave if this is not possible. Please consider if this camp is the right fit for your child and reach out with any questions.
Although Green Stuff camp is primarily an outdoor camp, we will follow the most current City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley campus health policies, which could include checking vaccination status. Our camp requirements will be outlined on the Health Form to be completed by camp families in April. Contact us in advance with any concerns.
If needed, please keep the receipt emailed to you upon completing your registration. The UCBG tax ID or EIN number is 94-6002123.
2025 Summer Camp Dates Below
Public Registration is open. Sign-up for a Waitlist if a week is full.
Monday–Friday; 9:00 am–2:00 pm
$475 per week
Aftercare 2:00 – 3:00 pm, $100/week
June 2–6 Register (link is external) (No Aftercare available this week)
June 9–13 FULL Waitlist (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
June 16– 20 Register (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
June 23–27 FULL Waitlist (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
July 7– 11. FULL Waitlist (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
July 14–18 FULL Waitlist (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
July 21–25 FULL Waitlist (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
July 28–August 1 Register (link is external) Add Aftercare (link is external)
Session full? Join our Waitlist!
Monday–Friday; 9:00 am–3:00 pm
$500 per week
June 23– 27 FULL Waitlist (link is external)
July 7–11. FULL Waitlist (link is external)
July 14–18 FULL Waitlist (link is external)
August 11–15 Register (link is external)
This week of Camp is reserved for Campers who have attended a week of Camp prior to 2025 and are entering grades 5-6.
Session full? Join our Waitlist!
Monday–Friday; 9:00 am–3:00 pm
$500 per week
August 4–8 FULL Waitlist (link is external)
Still Have Questions? Contact us:
greenstuffcamp@berkeley.edu
NEW!
Green Stuff Spring Break Camp
Have your child spend Spring Break the Green Stuff way!
Campers enjoy a ‘staycation’ traveling the world of plants at the UC Botanical Garden. Through discovery walks, animal hunts, stories, science investigations, crafting with plants, growing seeds, and so much more, children explore plants from around the world.
March 31–April 4, 2025
9:00 am–2:00 pm
Ages 6–10
Fee for the week: $475