Summer Camp Week: Amphibian Foundation’s Critter Camp

Four-legged fun at Atlanta's Critter Camp

The Amphibian Foundation’s Critter Camp introduces kids to amphibians and reptiles of both the native and tropical varieties, and uses those animals to teach important lessons in biology and ecology.

ATLANTA - Over the next few days, we’ll be visiting some of Metro Atlanta and North Georgia’s unique summer camps — and it doesn’t get much more unique than a camp built around frogs, newts, and salamanders!

This morning, we spent a few hours at the Amphibian Foundation, a Buckhead-based nonprofit founded in 2016 to stop the rapid extinction of the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander. Headquartered at Atlanta’s Blue Heron Nature Preserve, the foundation has since expanded its mission to include conservation of all amphibians, which founder Mark Mandica says are disappearing at an alarming rate. 

Part of the foundation’s mission is to educate young people about biodiversity and the importance of amphibians, which is where the Critter Camp comes in! Critter Camps are offered both during school year breaks and over the summer, and the week-long summer camps are open to 6 to 9-year-olds and 10 to 14-year-olds. This is the seventh week of the in-person summer camps, which introduce kids to amphibians and reptiles of both the native and tropical varieties, and use those animals to teach important lessons in biology and ecology.

Summer Critter Camp runs through the week of July 28 — for more information on the camps or to join the waitlist to register, click here. And click the video player in this article to check out our morning having some "slimy" summer fun with the Amphibian Foundation team!