Fall 2025
Day OFF Camps!
Winter and Spring 2026 camp registration opens December 15th. Be ready to secure your spot!
Our Fall Day Off Camps give students a full day of adventure, creativity, and outdoor discovery. Each session is packed with hands-on activities, nature explorations, and exciting projects designed to keep children learning, playing, and having fun while school is out.
Hill Center 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE.
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Open to students ages 3–8.*
Schedule, Time & Tuition:
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Full Day: 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM $140 per session (includes a non-refundable $30 deposit)
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Aftercare: 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM $15 additional per day
A Snack and admission fees are covered in tuition.
Financial Assistance is available.
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*Students must be able to toilet independently and walk up to 2 miles in a day, carrying their own lunch and supplies. We do not have afternoon nap time. If your child needs accommodations or you aren't sure if your child is ready, please contact us at admin@acorndc.org.
Join Acorn instructors and birding guide Octaivia Nettles to learn about local species and how to identify them, as well as avian habitats and migration patterns. This session will provide exposure to new birders and additional skill-building to children with previous experience. Click the button to Register.
Students will practice using their senses, birding guides, and tools to identify common birds. We’ll also learn about bird habitat, nesting, migration, and common threats to backyard birds with birding expert Octaivia Nettles. Click the button to Register.
Students will continue to hone their birding skills and learn about migration, food chains, habitat, and environmental threats in the wild spaces on and around the Anacostia River with birding expert Octaivia Nettles. Click the button to Register
Campers will learn how trees are similar and different to humans by discussing and exploring trees’ circulatory flow of sugar, air, and water. We’ll discuss leaves and barks and learn to identify common trees in Lincoln Park and inventory them. Click the button to register
Why do tree leaves turn red, yellow, even purple?! Campers will explore the connection between pigmentation, sugar production, and other fun science themes. Campers will use tree ID knowledge from the previous session about Trees to create a fall pigment guide for families on their autumn adventures. Click the button to Register.
Featured Naturalists
Octaivia Nettles & Sam Nelson
This fall, we’re excited to welcome two inspiring guest instructors to lead our Day Off Camps. Octaivia Nettles will guide the first three sessions with a focus on birds and the world they connect us to, while Sam Nelson will lead the following sessions, inviting students to discover the magic of trees, plants, and the ecosystems all around us.
Octaivia is a bird guide, experiential organizer, and environmental justice advocate. Originally from Indianapolis, IN, Octaivia discovered her passion for birds after moving to Houston, TX and noticing striking differences in bird species across regions. That curiosity quickly grew into a calling. Now based in the DMV area, she is the Minister of Birding at Audubon’s DC Bird Alliance Chapter and curates experiences that explore the richness of bird life in urban environments, connecting people to the natural world around them. Her tours have been featured in the Washington Post and the National Press Club. Through her work, Octaivia aims to inspire others to protect birds and the habitats they rely on, by way of advocating for environmental equity and access to green spaces for all.
Sam Nelson is a teacher, writer, naturalist, and arborist. He loves trees and books. He loves reading books under trees. And he loves exploring plant magic with pen and paper in hand. He taught literacy in classrooms around the country for years before he got tired of desks and walls. Sam believes it’s critical that children (and adults) nurture curiosity and healthy relationships to plants and ecosystems in their communities. For more info, visit samnelson.xyz
