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Extended Care at Marine Science Camp

[This information is outdated and no longer applies. Visit the Marine Science Camp FAQs for the most current extended care policy.]


Great news! Learning and activities don’t have to end when camp is over! Marine Science Camp offers flexible extended care in which campers can remain engaged and entertained until they are picked up.


Extended care beings at the end of the camp pick-up window (1:30 pm for Plankton Pioneers; 3:30 pm for all other camps) and is offered until 5:30 pm. What makes Marine Science Camp extended care different from other after care programs?


Flexible payment options: Extended care costs $15-18 per hour per camper. There are two ways to pay:

  • Prepay in two-hour blocks during registration ($15/hour/child): This option offers peace of mind that extended care payment is taken care of and your child(ren) will be automatically enrolled in the 1:30-3:30 pm block (for Plankton Pioneer extended care) and/or the 3:30-5:30 pm block (for all other camps). This may be ideal for carpool groups or for days when another authorized adult picks up your child(ren). Unused extended care is non-refundable.

  • Daily pay-as-you-go ($18/hour/child): This is a good option if you are unsure of your aftercare needs each day. Simply let a staff member know during camp drop-off if your child(ren) will be in extended care that day. Extended care doesn't '"fill up" and we do not turn anyone away. You must pay via cash or check upon pick-up. This option requires payment daily but offers more flexibility with time: if your child was in extended care for 30 minutes then you would be required to pay $9.00 cash or check for that time instead of paying for the full hour.

Continuing education: Extended care after Marine Science Camp isn't just "babysitting"; campers continue to learn with coordinated activities. Staff spend weeks prior to their assigned extended care shift coordinating and preparing curriculum. They are strongly encouraged to have a cohesive theme for the course of the extended care week and create activities that support the theme. Since campers come to extended care from different Marine Science Camp programs (i.e. Underwater Investigators, Ocean Explorers and Wetland Explorers campers are all together in extended care), this post-camp time is an opportunity for them to learn new things they may not have experienced during camp. It is also an opportunity for campers who learned about a particular marine habitat in camp to share that information with children from a camp with a different focus.


Take a look at the images below to see what your camper may do in extended care!

Belly biology is an extended care favorite. Campers lay on their stomach on our docks and look for invertebrates!

Extended care is a great opportunity for campers to learn from one another. This Ocean Explorers camper may be showing her Wetland Explorer friends some fun features of hermit crabs, which Wetland Explorers don't normally learn about during their camp week. In turn, the Wetland Explorers campers can teach her about spider crabs or another animal the Ocean Explorers don't learn about during camp!

After camp, they may even help feed animals in the aquarium!

Looking for animals in tanks during an Aquarium Scavenger Hunt.

Depending on the age level of the group, extended care campers may even do a staff-lead dissection.

Taking a craft break.

Of course extended care offers plenty of opportunity for games like tag, sharks and minnows, steel the bacon, and so much more!

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