We give grieving children experiences that change their lives forever.
Since 2009, Experience Camps has transformed the lives of thousands of children by reframing the experience of their grief and empowering them with the confidence, skills, and support to move forward with their lives. Through compassion, connection, and play, Experience Camps allows grieving children to embody a life full of hope and possibility. Below are in-person programs for grieving children, and also adults wanting to learn how to better show up for grieving youth.
Playing Through Grief
These regional in-person events combine play and grief support while creating a sense of community for the entire family. Playing Through Grief focuses on different types of play including physical, visual arts, and performing arts. These programs allow us to meet kids where they are and provide experiences that are culturally relevant, inclusive, and diverse.
Summer Camps
The best week(s) of the year
We provide children and teens whose parent, sibling or primary caregiver has died, with free, one-week overnight summer camp programs that build confidence, encourage laughter and allow them to navigate their grief through friendship, teamwork, activities, and the common bond of loss.
Our program is designed to help kids rediscover childhood, develop coping skills, and establish bonds with others who understand what it’s like to lose someone so important to them.
Weekend Family Camps
We’re excited to offer a new program that focuses on supporting the entire family. Family Camps are free, weekend programs for a family in which a child has experienced the death of a parent or primary caregiver and their immediate family. Family Camp creates a memorable and fun experience for three days and two nights in which family members can connect around their grief as a family unit and also bond with other families who “get it” about grief.
Leaders In Training
Building resilient youth leaders through mentorship, training and peer support
Our oldest campers are invited to join our Leaders In Training program. Campers participate in a 2-year program that starts after their sophomore year of high school and gradually applies increasing degrees of life lessons, character development, grief processing, and leadership goals. Our emerging leaders mentor younger campers, model empathy and resilience, and learn that—even during the complexity of their teen years, when it can feel like nobody understands—they are not alone.
Adult Grief Retreat
#FortheAdults #FTA
This weekend will include many of the activities that make Experience Camps so special, like sharing circles, campfires, and other fun camp activities, plus authentic connection with your peers in a safe and supportive space.