Campers will start their week with a shelter tour and introduction to Camp Critter. Throughout the week, they will explore various learning topics and activities about companion animals, enjoy animal interactions, and take part in guest speaker presentations. Lessons will focus on humane education; teaching kids about animal care, compassion for others, and responsible pet ownership. Activities include interactive lessons, crafts, games, shelter tours, visits from different staff members/ guests, and making things for our adoptable animals like treats and enrichment toys.

Staff and volunteers who have a background in education as well as experience with animals. Employees and volunteers who work directly with campers receive a comprehensive background check. Your child may also interact with other shelter employees and volunteers as well as guest presenters during Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes tours, etc.

We make every effort to arrange for campers to interact with animals throughout their camp week. The goal of camp is to provide an engaging, fun, and safe educational experience that includes hands-on experiences with animals. Depending on what animals are available for adoption, campers may have the opportunity to interact with a friendly cat or kitten, small animal, or dog. While we will do our very best to offer your child an interactive and diverse animal experience, we cannot guarantee any interactions with our adoptable animals.

We take in animals with different backgrounds and behavioral needs and work hard to ensure that any animal interactions are safe and positive for both our campers and our adoptable animals. For this reason, only certain staff and adult volunteers are trained and permitted to walk dogs.

Camp is not recommended for children with allergies to pets or pet dander. Camp is held inside our shelter facility, which houses a variety of animals. Please be aware if your child has a nut allergy; dogs are given peanut butter daily and many treats contain nut allergens.

We work hard to implement safety and cleaning protocols. While it is not likely that your child will purposefully encounter sick animals, we do recommend that children wash their hands and change clothing before interacting with pets at home.

Yes, we can.  However, children who require one-on-one assistance in school will need to be provided a one-to-one aide at summer camp. We appreciate having as much information about your child’s needs as possible to ensure a safe and positive experience for all our campers and animals. Please keep in mind that for the safety of our campers and our animals, children must be able to maintain calm bodies and quiet voices and must be able to follow directions.

The aide (parent or otherwise) is required to submit a background check to the ARLNH in advance of camp. The parents are responsible for arranging a background check through the NH Department of Safety. Be sure to plan several weeks of lead time if requesting through the mail.

This will probably not be the best fit. Our camp requires calm, quiet, gentle children who can keep themselves under control for the safety and comfort of our animals. If your child has a lot of energy throughout the day and needs lots of frequent movement, this may not be the right fit for them.

With the camp program being a half day program, there will not be a scheduled time for lunch. There will be a scheduled morning snack time. All campers should bring a snack and water bottle each day. Additional water bottles will be available as needed.

We do not. Camp Critter is held onsite at ARLNH, although campers may get to enjoy some outdoor activities on our property’s grounds, including trail walks.

For safety reasons, campers are required to wear closed-toed shoes, preferably sneakers. Campers may be sent home or be unable to participate in some activities if they are not wearing appropriate footwear.

We know it’s a hassle to try to keep one shirt going for the whole week, but it really helps us and the other staff to easily recognize a camper around our campus. We appreciate your efforts with this!

We allow drop-off 15 minutes prior to the camp start time (8:30am) and 15 minutes after the camp end time (12:30 pm).