The Curiosity Lab

My daughter had a great time in this program and regaled us with many stories from her adventures! Thank you so much!

Our two sons had a wonderful experience. I was nervous about having them be driven far away to remote locations, but Ms. Julie and Ms. Kim are highly attentive, and firm with rules yet utterly kind and nurturing. The boys were challenged, made friends, and had good old fashioned outdoor fun. We would definitely enroll again.

Fantastic! Just what my girl needed. Outdoor adventure & fun the entire day. Different locations - redwoods, mountains, creeks, beaches. So many adventures that I couldn’t provide and the pictures to prove it ❤️ Wonderful experience for my 9 year old. Already signed-up for 2 sessions in summer 🐌🦋🐛 Wish we could do spring.

I highly recommend this camp. My kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Wonderful activities and caring leaders.

This is my son’s 3rd summer at The Curiosity Lab and this is the only camp he has ever asked to repeat year after year. They go to different places each day. They do hiking then play time after lunch in a creek, climbing boulders, building sand castles, etc. What I love most is the unstructured time. After a long school year, I want my kid to be a kid, exploring and having fun. As a former teacher, Julie is great about teaching kids while out on the trails based on what they come upon, not by demonstration material or arts and craft projects. There is nothing wrong with that but that is not this camp. They go out to explore and learn. My son won’t stop talking about all the redwood tree facts he learned this week when they visited a redwood forest. His favorite day of camp is Friday beach days. Kids are expected to carry their own backpacks and lunches on the trail and they go a few miles every day. Be mindful of the age limits for the camp but most importantly your kids ability. Julie has always led this camp since my son started and has always been wonderful. I always recommend this camp.

The Curiosity Lab camp is one of the best day camps in the area. Our son has gone several times. They go on amazing adventures around the Bay Area and everyday come back with something interesting, like “We saw 40 banana
Slugs!” It’s great to get your kids outdoors. Julie is also very caring with the kids. You can tell she has a lot of experience making things educational and fun too. Sign your kids up for a good time!

My daughter said she had a lot of fun! The camp was well organized and Julie and Anna were super sweet!

FANTASTIC CAMP! Full of adventure and loads of useful information. My boys (ages 9 and 11) have "next level energy" and returned exhausted each afternoon. They loved checking out new places and were eager to share about their experiences each day. Julie, a former teacher who runs the camp, is exceptional - I had no doubt the boys were in more than capable hands with her.

The kids were out hiking the entire day and came back with lots of new info. They were tired and happy at the end of the day. I loved that they explored new places, made friends (!), learned stuff! It wasn’t just babysitting or free play which a lot of camps turn out to be. Loved that Julie is a real teacher. Am planning to do the camp next year, and coordinating with the new friends they met this year!

This camp is absolutely amazing! A small group of kids get to explore beautiful local places and come home with stories about bullfrogs and banana slugs. I wish I could spend the week at this camp too!

Our kids both loved this camp so much. They came home dirty from top to bottom with the biggest smiles and most exciting stories. This is the kind of camp I always wanted for my children. Julie and her team are absolutely fabulous! I will definitely sign my kids up for next year again. Unfortunately we are already fully booked for the year otherwise they would do more weeks there.

Our kid came home everyday with tons of fun stories. She can even call a butterfly with its full name!

This is a very late review! But I am about to sign it up again this year for my son now 7 and a half year old. Can't remember exactly what happened last year. But the teacher is very kind. She takes the kids to different places everyday in a camper, which is very cute to my son. This is the only camp that my son likes among a few other ones that we signed up around the area. And this is the only one that he didn't complain about. The pickup and drop off location is also very convenient at a playground and easy parking. If you need an additional hour or so, the teacher will just let the kids play at the playground with an additional cost. It seems the kids who joined are good kids and/or under good care of the teacher, as my son didn't experience any teasers or bullying.

What a great camp! We had a terrific experience at Julie’s spring break camp. My daughter loved it and came home so calm and happy after a full day of playing outside. I feel totally comfortable and confident in Julie especially with her long background as a teacher and outdoor enthusiast. This spring break camp was just what we needed! Thanks, Julie!

We love The Curiosity Lab. Our 5 & 6 year old have attended a couple of sessions over different breaks and the camp is consistently a success. They come home with lots of new nature knowledge and are physically exhausted! Julie is wonderful. Mark was helping out during the weeks we attended and he was great as well. Looking forward to the next one!

Our 6-year-old loved nature camp over spring break - went solo and came back with great friends. The teacher is wonderful and has the kids hiking all over the peninsula (even anti-hiking kids like mine). Our whole family now plans to visit some of the places our daughter discovered.

Our son had a wonderful time in this camp! He didn't know anyone who was going, but from the first day, he came back really happy talking about all different things he had done/seen, all what he learnt from the different places and the friends he made. We will probably go to some of the places with the whole family, as he's willing to show us!

Our daughter had a great time at the Curiosity Lab's spring break camp. Every day they explored a different iconic bay area trail, beach or wilderness area. It was great to see how much fresh air and exercise the kids were getting. Every day our daughter would come home with stories to tell or crafts to show.

Our son had a wonderful experience with Teacher Julie and Teacher Jessica at The Curiosity Lab. Each day was thoughtfully planned and a new adventure for the kids - my son loved exploring new places to hike with the group, and through his time in the camp, we have discovered a new beach that we may not have come upon had it not been for The Curiosity Lab. We look forward to enrolling my son again for next summer!

This camp was the best camp! They went on a new adventure every day. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. My kids will definitely do this camp again - kept their attention and he always came home talking about how he had "the best day".

Our son had a lovely experience at The Curiosity Lab! He loved getting to give himself a nature name, getting to learn about insects in nature. I was impressed that Julie got him to hike long distances (little legs!) in summer heat! We highly recommend this experience!

Truly an amazing camp. My daughter (9/10ish) had the biggest smile on her face everyday when I pick her up after camp. Thank you Julie

Fantastic camp. Highly recommended. Our six-year-old son had a blast. He came home telling us stories of his hikes and the animal that he has seen.

Highly recommend! My kid went to five different parks during this camp. They hiked 2-5 miles each day. Everyday, they came home with excitement and fun stories!

Julie has a fantastic way with kids and literally transports these kids all over the Bay Area to instill a love and curiosity in nature and the outdoors. The Camp is special and true to its name and simply would not be possible through a larger organization. My twins attended - one an avid naturalist who can talk about plants and another a sworn anti-hiker who we would be lucky if she would hike half a mile without massive protestations. They came home every day happy, dirty and having had an absolutely fantastic time. My daughter has drawn maps of where they went and now loves hiking. So thank you!!

My daughter attended Curiosity Lab last week and really enjoyed it! And everyday she came back from the camp she couldn't stop talking about what they did and why she enjoyed! She even made a drawing book about the creatures she met during the camp such as banana slugs, sea stars, dragon flies, etc. She learnt a lot about plants and bugs. Julie is such a nice teacher! She is always smiling to the kids, really patient with them and makes the camp really fun! I would definitely recommend the camp to my friends, and attend for next year!!

I know Julie as a fellow educator and have heard that her camps are amazing - the children love them and they offer knowledge, real-world experience and a respite from screen time.

As a person, Julie is loving, energetic, inspired and knowledgable in many fields of science, nature and education. She is kind, caring and motivating with children and adults. I very highly recommend her and her Curiosity Lab in every way!

My 6 year old had a blast!!! She especially loved the banana slug hunt and the climbing on rocks at Castle Rock! She kept asking for more and is excited for the summer camp version as well. Julie was a great communicator and made me feel completely confident my daughter was in good hands! Seems she made lots of friends too!

This camp was great!! My nature-loving son loved it, but so did my daughter, who usually isn’t into nature. They had hard time deciding which was their favorite day but finally landed on tidepooling day for my son and beach day for my daughter. They were both so excited to tell me all about the cool stuff they did at camp.. This camp gave my kids the opportunity to have fun outdoors while engaging in and learning about different natural environments everyday (as well as the added bonus of being off screens all day ). The campers also get ample time to free play outside and just be kids. Julie planned the days wisely, making sure the destinations made sense with the weather (i.e. on an extra hot day, she planned a day in the shady trees.) Julie always greeted the kids by name and had such positive and kind energy. We will be signing up again next summer!

Our 12 year old really enjoyed this camp. The hikes were challenging and fun.

My son loved his week attending Nature Exploration Outdoor Summer Camp. It was a small group with two other boys his age which was nice for him. He loved all the different nature places he went. He came home very tired, dirty and happy.

This camp was amazing!! Our 7-year-old daughter had the best time hiking and playing in the creeks and water each day. They journaled and made walking sticks. it was a lovely way for her to be outside, exploring CA. Julie is terrific and I am so grateful we found this camp. Would 100% sign her up again (I just wish I could do it also! ha ha). Thank you, Julie!

It was one week outdoor fun for my 7 year old daughter. The kids had the chance to explore the nature and learn by playing, and perfect activities to keep them away from screen time.