REGIONAL INTEREST // THE PHILADELPHIA ETHICAL SOCIETY'S CAMP LINDEN
Touch Grass
The Philadelphia Ethical Society’s Camp Linden gets kids past fear and into frogs
Volume 7 // Issue 2 // Fall 2025 // Conservation
“I remember one young camper who was a bit teary the first day. When I asked what was wrong, he said, ‘I’m afraid of the bugs, the frogs, and everything,’” says Amy Johnston, program director of the Philadelphia Ethical Society’s Camp Linden. “But fast forward two years, and he stands holding a wriggling worm, first studying it, and then with a smile on his face. His counselor reminds him how, just last year, he wasn’t comfortable with them.” If you visit Camp Linden, be prepared to have your senses assaulted by nostalgia for any summer camps you might have attended: the smell of chlorine coming off the in-ground pool, of wet earth and freshly cut grass; of the industrial cleaning supplies in the always-just-a-little-damp bathroom and showers, which almost always have a few insects or critters hiding in there.
For many campers, it’s their first exposure to the suburban woods, and fear is a big factor. “When campers visit the creek for the first time, we’re often met with ‘it’s dirty!’” says Johnston, who corresponded with us via email. But they also ask, funnily enough, ‘Do alligators live there?’” Johnston says it doesn’t take long for them to adjust. “Once they get past the mud and start catching minnows and floating in the water, they ask to do it again next week.” // RQ
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