Join us this summer for an unforgettable camp experience.
Camp Caboose is a summer day camp program for children entering 1st through 6th grades. Summer camp offers an unmatched opportunity to foster community and social-emotional development.
Camp Caboose Enrollment & Deposit
Printed copies of Camp Caboose enrollment packets will be available to families at Lapham and Marquette schools as well as the Red Caboose Child Care Center. There will be a 2 week priority enrollment period, beginning March 10, for current Red Caboose School Age families. As enrollments come in with the camp deposit and all required paperwork, they are entered into a queue for processing.
If you have any questions about Camp Caboose 2023, please email [email protected]
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Five Star Values
Monday: Community
At Camp Cabooose, we are truly one big family. We laugh, sing, struggle, and succeed together. We welcome and celebrate all of our Campers and look forward to learning about each of their stories.
Tuesday: Respect
At Camp, respecting each other, our things and our environment, allows us to do all the exciting and fun activities we have planned each week. We will work on developing our self-confidence and speaking up to share our opinion.
Wednesday: Communication
At Camp, we recognize the importance of letting our friends know how we are feeling. We try our best to use our words when we are happy, upset, frustrated, and sad. When problems arise, we also listen carefully and try to find a solution that makes everyone feel better.
Thursday: Leadership
At Camp, there are times when we have to make the choice between what our friends are doing and making the right choice. Leaders understand that it is important to learn from our mistakes, take ownership of them, and try and make different choices in the future.
Friday: Flowability
At Camp, it is very important to go with the flow. Sometimes rain, heat, or another surprise can add a new challenge to your day, but here at camp we try our best to problem solve a different way to accomplish our goals.
Shooting Stars
The Shooting Stars program is designed for Campers who are entering 1st and 2nd grade. Campers will get the opportunity to explore and use their imagination all summer long!
June 13-16 All Aboard!
We are all for one this week as Camp Caboose leaves the station. We’re building our teams together so we can all be on board for a great summer with a week of all the traditional camp activities we look forward to all school year. Classic Camp Caboose activities like water balloons, tie-dying, and ice cream walking field trips. As all of Camp is getting on board, we’ll show everyone our camp Star Values this week. We’ll all take a field trip to Middleton splash pad in addition to our weekly swim trip – for a field day of rotating activities!
June 19-23 I Choose You, Camp
Maybe you’ve heard of popular Pocket Monsters that are captured in red and white spheres? Have you felt inspired that you Have To Catch Them All? That’s what this week is all about! We’ll play pokemon charades, design our own powerful monsters, and go on a small monster hunt. This week is about so much more than playing the popular card game, but we’ll do a little of that too.
June 26-30 Lost Atlantis
We’ll explore under the sea and learn the culture of merpeople with this special water themed week. Let’s invent our own lost cities and then design maps and boats to discover them. Whether you are a creature of the deep or a bold explorer of the sea, we will play lots of water games this week and take an extra field trip to a splash pad in addition to the weekly swim trip.
Monday, July 3 Staycation Day!
If you’re in Camp for this day, it’s the best day of summer vacation. It’s a stay-cation, where we stay at camp and have a wet and wild field day with water balloons and DIY splash pad! We’ll stay cool at camp and have our own chill movie-theater at camp in the afternoon and other one-time special camp opportunities. Then when we return to camp again on July 5th -we’ll pick up where we left off with the camp themes of the week.
July 5-7 Mess Fest
Mess Fest is a Camp Caboose tradition where we get good and gross! It’s not just about making Mud Pies and getting messy; we have special daring games that challenge the strength of your stomach, like Roll your Smoothie with different dice. We play Twister in paint and make a shaving cream slip and slide. We may even elect someone to get a pie in the face!
July 10-14 Monona, Mendota, Wingra
This week is all about the lakes of Madison! We’ll be boating with MSCR, fishing, and paddling. We’re all about life on the water this week. We’ll be walking to the beach for yoga, feeding the waterfowl, and learning about our local water system. There’s nothing we won’t do to appreciate life on the lake.
July 17-21 Mega Mind
Build your brain muscles with a week of puzzles, mazes and challenges. If you like codes, mysteries, rebus puzzles and rube goldberg devices, or if you know what those are, then this is the week for you! There may even be challenges you’ve never imagined. This week also includes a visit to the County Fair for trivia games and kid friendly performances.
July 24-28 Wild West
Stake your claim and grab your gear! Shooting Stars will spend a week exploring the Wild West. The week will culminate in the Gold Rush scavenger hunt set up for them by the Comet Gold Rush group. But, gold isn’t just “discovered,” it’s earned through the challenges the Gold Rush group set up when they blaze a trail for the younger adventurers. Shooting Stars then mosey their way to the Madison Children’s Museum.
July 31-August 4 One for the Books
We’ll walk right into our favorite storybooks and become a character. Not only is this week a deep dive into the pages for your average bookworm, we’ll be letting our favorite stories inspire our activities of the week. We’ll try foods and games mentioned in our favorite books. It’s a reader’s sanctuary this week at camp! We’ll dress up as our favorite characters from books and travel to the Central Library for book scavenger hunts and other projects.
August 7-11 I Don’t Wanna
It’s a special new and old camp tradition, the week of I Don’t Wanna! “I don’t want to” – is one thing you’ll never hear this week! Usually we have a re-play of Camp’s Greatest Hits so if you missed your favorite theme, or enjoyed one, but something else looked fun too – This week is everyone’s chance to catch it on the flip side! Water balloons, Paint twister, tie-dye, Campers vs.Captains Dodgeball – Everyone will be re-visiting their group’s favorite activities, with a special All Camp field trip
Comets
The Comets program is designed for Campers entering 3rd through 6th grade. What fun it is to be a Comet! You get a chance to choose your favorite Camp theme each week!
June 13-16
All Aboard! We are all for one this week as Camp Caboose leaves the station. We’re building our teams together so we can all be on board for a great summer with a week of all the traditional camp activities we look forward to all school year. Classic Camp Caboose activities like water balloons, tie-dying, and ice cream walking field trips. As all of Camp is getting on board, we’ll show everyone our camp Star Values this week. We’ll all take a field trip to Middleton splash pad in addition to our weekly swim trip – for a field day of rotating activities!
June 19-23
I Choose You, Camp: Maybe you’ve heard of popular Pocket Monsters that are captured in red and white spheres? Have you felt inspired that you Have To Catch Them All? That’s what this week is all about! We’ll play pokemon charades, design our own powerful monsters, and go on a small monster hunt. This week is about so much more than playing the popular card game, but we’ll do a little of that too
Ride Out: There’s nothing like riding your bike on a summer day. We’ll be riding out from camp on group rides to local parks and beaches. We’ll practice good group riding techniques, like signaling left and right. There’ll be a camp bike parade in addition to bike games and an obstacle course. Please bring a bike, lock, and helmet to camp every day. If you don’t have a bike (or helmet), you’re in luck: Camp has some to borrow. The field trip of the week is a ride around the lake and a stop for ice cream.
Let’s Chill: This will be a week of relaxing activities that teach us to calm our bodies and rest our minds. We’ll be doing chill activities like coloring mandalas, meditations and walking field trips in nature. It will be a relaxing week of cool and calm at camp, with a field trip to a yoga studio for a kid-focused yoga class.
June 26-30
Lost Atlantis: We’ll explore under the sea and learn the culture of merpeople with this special water themed week. Let’s invent our own lost cities and then design maps and boats to discover them. Whether you are a creature of the deep or a bold explorer of the sea, we will play lots of water games this week and take an extra field trip to a splash pad in addition to the weekly swim trip.
Mad Town, Get Down: This week is all about our community and what makes it great. Walking field trips around the community and getting to know what makes it special, along with special civically challenging projects. We’ll also participate in a service project to give back to our community, and tour the State Capitol building while we learn more about the government of our state and city.
Greek Week: The ancient Greeks had so much to teach us. We’ll learn all about myths of heroes and creatures of lore. We will have masked theatrical performances, and complete Herculean tasks. Then we’ll tour the State Capitol after gaining understanding of the origins of Democracy. Perhaps we’ll debate in a mock Senate, and celebrate oratorical success with a toga party. And on Friday we can go for the gold by recreating the Olympic Games- Red Caboose style!
July 3
Staycation Day! Monday, July 3 If you’re in Camp for this day, it’s the best day of summer vacation. It’s a stay-cation, where we stay at camp and have a wet and wild field day with water balloons and DIY splash pad! We’ll stay cool at camp and have our own chill movie-theater at camp in the afternoon and other one-time special camp opportunities. Then when we return to camp again on July 5th -we’ll pick up where we left off with the camp themes of the week.
July 5-7
Mess Fest: Mess Fest is a Camp Caboose tradition where we get good and gross! It’s not just about making Mud Pies and getting messy; we have special daring games that challenge the strength of your stomach, like Roll your Smoothie with different dice. We play Twister in paint and make a shaving cream slip and slide. We may even elect someone to get a pie in the face!
Creator Camp! Take a collection of random objects and make it into something new! We’ll be making art projects and engineering creations out of anything and everything. It’s a short week, but that’s ok because we can’t limit our creativity! One of your many opportunities will be to explore found objects and make them into art and inventions this week.
Ball-istic! Bounce it, throw it, kick it, bat it. Any and all sports are fair game this week at camp! Join us in the field to play a different game each day: football, kickball, soccer and more. You know we wrote the book on different kinds of dodgeball! This group will help create a camp-wide mini-golf course for everyone to play!
July 10-14
Monona, Mendota, Wingra: This week is all about the lakes of Madison! We’ll be boating with MSCR, fishing, and paddling. We’re all about life on the water this week. We’ll be walking to the beach for yoga, feeding the waterfowl, and learning about our local water system. There’s nothing we won’t do to appreciate life on the lake.
Fantastic Festivals: In preparation for representing Red Caboose in the Fete de Marquette parade, we’ll be celebrating other festival traditions from around the world. Nepal has a five day festival that celebrates the companionship of dogs, and there’s Holi, a Hindu festival of love expressed through colors! In addition to Mardi Gras in July, we’ll celebrate with King Cake and the masks of Carnival in Rio De Janeiro. Our Camp Caboose festival crowd will also explore celebratory food on a field trip to central Madison Food Carts.
Who We Are: Different cultures don’t necessarily mean different countries. We can take a virtual road trip around the USA, as well as around the world and discover diverse cultural traditions across families, the country, and different regions of the world. We’ll explore recipes, games, folklore, and music. We’ll take a field trip to Central Madison Food carts to explore the cuisine of different cultures.
July 17-21
Mega Mind: Build your brain muscles with a week of puzzles, mazes and challenges. If you like codes, mysteries, rebus puzzles and rube goldberg devices, or if you know what those are, then this is the week for you! There may even be challenges you’ve never imagined. This week also includes a visit to the County Fair for trivia games and kid friendly performances.
Here we Grow! Some of the most fun places to explore and learn are kitchens and gardens. This week we’ll do both. We’ll be planting in the garden and learning about local pollinators and other things that make a garden ecosystem function. We’ll visit the local farmer’s markets and take our bounty to the kitchen where we try a variety of new recipes with ingredients from the farm. Sign up to be part of the freshest week of camp!
My Inspiration: Who or what inspires you the most? What gets your gears turning? What usually sparks your imagination? What plans do you want to achieve? If you could be anything, what would you be? This week you will have a chance to pretend to be your favorite role model, channel your creative side, and create masterpieces through different media, supplies, and more! We will also create vision boards to help showcase our dreams and go on field trips that will spark our imagination! So let’s dream big and then make it happen!
July 24-28
Gold Rush (Priority will go to Campers entering 5th and 6th grade): Comets plan the Ultimate Gold Rush Friday Fiesta Scavenger hunt where other Comets and Shooting stars encounter characters who challenge them and either reward them with more gold, or take gold away. Wanted posters warn of the characters to avoid, and other gold related challenges take place during the week as well.
Sounds of Music: If you love to fill the air with harmonies, then this is the week for you! We can make our own instruments, play musical games – including more than just dance parties, and be entertained by musical special guests during this week of melodies!
Animal Obscura: We all love animals, and this week is about celebrating our favorite rare beasts, endangered or extinct animals, and animals we would design if we had the power. We’ll Axolotl (ask a lot a) questions in animal trivia games, and prepare to pin the tail on the Tasmanian Tiger. We’ll have fun the size of an Atlas Lion, and take a field trip to the Madison Zoo this week!
July 31-August 4
One for the Books: We’ll walk right into our favorite storybooks and become a character. Not only is this week a deep dive into the pages for your average bookworm, we’ll be letting our favorite stories inspire our activities of the week. We’ll try foods and games mentioned in our favorite books. It’s a reader’s sanctuary this week at camp! We’ll dress up as our favorite characters from books and travel to the Central Library for book scavenger hunts and other projects.
Future Camp: Ray Bradbury once said “anything you dream is fiction, and anything you accomplish is science, the whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction.” This train is full STEAM into the future with exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. It’s a week of science experiments, designing and engineering challenges, and mathematical puzzles. We’ll explore a personalized field trip to the Wisconsin Science Museum here in Madison.
When I Grow Up: During this week, we will have fun tapping into career exploration by using our creativity to learn about future potential careers and life dreams. We will discover different professions by creating various characters, job shadowing, playing, and meeting special guests from multiple positions and career paths. We’ll be the authors of our stories, writing our destiny, and visiting Madison Central Library to attend a function at The Bubbler!
August 7-11
I Don’t Wanna: It’s a special new and old camp tradition, the week of I Don’t Wanna! “I don’t want to” – is one thing you’ll never hear this week! Usually we have a re-play of Camp’s Greatest Hits so if you missed your favorite theme, or enjoyed one, but something else looked fun too – This week is everyone’s chance to catch it on the flip side! Water balloons, Paint twister, tie-dye, Campers vs.Captains Dodgeball – Everyone will be re-visiting their group’s favorite activities, with a special All Camp field trip
Travel Week
Campers will go on day-long field trips each day! These trips are weather dependent. Indoor alternatives will be planned if possible. Contracted schedules for Travel Week cannot be changed, except by adding one or more drop-in days. To register for Travel Week, you must register for one additional week of Camp Caboose.
Monday, August 14
Urban Air Indoor Adventure Park / McKee Farms Splash Pad
Tuesday, August 15
Blue Mound State Park in Blue Mounds
Wednesday, August 16
Riverside Park in Watertown and Watertown Aquatic Center
Thursday, August 17
Dolphin’s Cove Water Park in Sun Prairie
Camp FAQs
Does my child need to bring a lunch?
No! Camp Caboose serves breakfast, lunch, & afternoon snack! Each meal focuses on fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Vegetarian options are always available. If your child brings their own lunch, you must include a note detailing the items in the lunchbox and must adhere to our nut-free policy.
What does my child need to bring on a daily basis?
Camp Caboose spends a lot of their time outside so children should bring a hat, water bottle, swimsuit (even if it’s not a planned swimming day, because you never know!), towel, and comfortable shoes. Please label all items with your child’s first name and last initial.
Will my child get to go swimming?
YES!! Both Shooting Stars and Comets groups will be going on swim trips every week, including Travel Week! It is always good to remember to bring a swimsuit and towel every day. Campers are supervised by lifeguards and staff. *Adjustments may be made due to weather and/or COVID-19 precautions. All campers are expected to follow swim rules.
Will my child get to go on any field trips?
YES!! Campers are able to explore their community through frequent field trips! Shooting Stars and Comets groups will take at least one field trip a week and sometimes more depending on the specific theme that they are signed up for. *Adjustments may be made due to weather and/or COVID-19 precautions.
How can I find out weekly Camp events?
The plans for each group will be posted weekly at camp and on our Facebook page.
Can my child bring toys/stuffed animals/cards from home?
Children are allowed to bring these items from home, but they are solely responsible for them. Please keep in mind that these items could possibly get lost, broken, or stolen. If Campers do bring Pokémon or Magic cards, they are only allowed to play with them before 9:00am and after 4:30pm, unless these games correspond with their theme. No trading of cards is allowed at camp.
Who are the Camp Caboose staff members?
Our professional leadership team recruits caring and mature staff members based on their character and proven ability to work with youth. All staff members pass rigorous applications, interviews, reference checks, criminal background checks and staff training before the start of every summer.
What if my child has special needs?
Please communicate the needs of your child, including any medications, on the enrollment forms. Red Caboose will work with parents to create a plan to meet the needs of your child.
Do you offer financial assistance?
Yes. We work hard to ensure that no child is turned away from Camp for financial reasons. Please contact Jen Roughen, our Billing Coordinator, for more information.
What if we have more questions?
Answering your questions and meeting the needs of our campers is why we’re here! Please contact us.
