Camp Vamonos After School Care

07/27/2025

Two spots are open for Camp Vamonos! After-school Care for the upcoming school year: Fall 2025 and Spring 2026. We have a great group of kids who have a lot of old-fashioned, play-based fun. This program is a community where the parents get to know each other and the kids get to know all of them.

So consider after-school care that's run out of a Crestview home and a long time local business. It's affordable ($295 per month), with organic snacks included, and a place where kids can create, play, and socialize without pressure or judgement.

Come play with us! Vamonos!
Megan: (512) 770-7789

Send a message to learn more

04/23/2025

Enrollment is open for after-school care 2025-26! Hours are Monday through Friday, 3:00-6:00 pm. I gather the kids at Brentwood Elementary and parent pick-up is at various places: my house, Brentwood Park, and other spots around town.

The emphasis at Camp Vamonos! is on trusting children to be smart and competent. Their need to work toward independence is honored by giving them space to make decisions, take normal childhood risks, and explore the places we go without being hovered over. The group is small and mixed-age, so the kiddos get experience learning from and helping those of other ages.

This program is also a community, and my parents are encouraged to get to know each other and all the children. We have potlucks and other gatherings several times a year, and I'm available to help my families when they're in need. This is what community looks like!

To chat about the program and/or schedule a visit, text me, Megan Baker, at (512) 770-7789.

Come play with us! Vamonos!

Send a message to learn more

08/13/2024

I've got one or two spots open for after-school care this fall. CV! is a great option for parents who want their kiddos running and playing after school instead of scheduled. We also do outings a few times a week, also with the emphasis on outdoor play.

This year I hope to plant even more trees--the kids and I planted 4 last year--and do more fundraisers for some of the many needy people around our country and world.

Come play with us! Vamonos!
Megan: (512) 770-7789

Send a message to learn more

04/23/2024

Camp Vamonos! After School Care is enrolling for Fall 2024!

At Camp Vamonos! kids get loads of time to play, make decisions, and lie in the grass chatting with a friend or looking at clouds. Tree climbing is encouraged! There are many things adults should do for children. Directing their play is not one of them.

To enroll or for questions, text Megan at (512) 770-7789.

Come play with us! Vamonos!

Send a message to learn more

07/02/2023

Camp Vamonos! after-school care is enrolling for the fall! I'm looking for families that want loads of outdoor time, free play, and the time and space for development of confidence and resilience for their Brentwood Elementary student. (Pre-K kiddos welcome.)

We'll do outings in my van in the fall, plant and water trees, and spend a lot of time running around parks and having quiet time with buddies too. It's as close to the 1970s as you're likely to get in 2023!

Megan Baker: (512) 770-7789

05/11/2023

I'm accepting names for the waitlist for Fall 2023 after-school care. This program may be for you if:

* You believe in the power of children's free play
* You want your child to develop resilience, good judgement, and sociability
* You know that children need experience making decisions if they're going to be competent adults, and that by definition this cannot be done in adult-controlled activities.

This year in after-school care we planted five trees and did some watering, and we sold homemade peanut butter cups as a fundraiser for Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims ($175!).

We logged about 35 miles walking to my house a few times a week and spent many hours in the ditch across the street from the school. And, of course, the kids played together many hours, climbed many trees, enjoyed many play schemes, did quite a few crafts, and got a ton of fresh air.

Come play with us! Vamonos!

Megan: (512) 770-7789

09/25/2022

Camp Vamonos! After School Care is back! We have a great little group of kids and are looking to add a few friends to the mix. Camp Vamonos! is about mixed-age free play, being outdoors, respecting children as community members, and wholesome fun. Monthly cost is $260 per month (includes snacks), and hours are 3:00 to 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

We spend several afternoons a week at Brentwood Park and some at my house, and we walk in between (half a mile). My backyard is a 1970s style backyard, lol, and inside is low-tech too! We have a lot of fun.

Vamonos! Come play with us!

Megan: (512) 770-7789

08/30/2022

After-school care is up and running! We're looking for a few more friends to play with us after school (Brentwood), Mondays through Fridays from 3:00 to 6:00.

We play at Brentwood Park a lot and we often walk to the house to play some more, or bake goodies, watch a movie, make art, and/or get dirty in the backyard! It's low-tech, active, mixed-age play.

Megan: (512) 770-7789

Come play with us!

12/02/2021

Camp Vamonos! is offering childcare over the holiday break! Dates are:

* Monday, December 20-Thursday, December 23, 2021
* Monday, December 27-Friday, December 31, 2021
* Monday, January 3, 2022

Hours are 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, and the cost is $40 per day. Camp Vamonos! is located in a private home in north-central Austin with a big backyard that has: a hammock, a treehouse/slide, a climbing dome, a slackline, a rope swing, a beautiful dog named Greta, and much more!

We will play, socialize, bake goodies, interact with loose parts in the backyard, watch classic movies, enjoy board games, and generally have a fun, silly time.

Come play with us over the holidays! Vamonos!

www.campvamonos.com
(512) 770-7789

“Nellie and Nash have been going to Camp Vamonos! for years. I believe they would keep going through middle and high school if they could. Megan is so awesome at finding fun and new adventures. They have been all over Austin in the summer time. From meeting the mayor to visiting ‘weird homes,’...

06/19/2021

I am enrolling for after-school care for fall of 2021. (This will likely start a week after the school session begins so I can have an overdue vacation.)

Hours will be from the time the bus gets back to the hood from Webb Middle School until 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The cost will be $260/month (I'm adding $10 this year so as to work on a fund for buying a van).

As always, the kids will play, make decisions about how to use their time, and take normal childhood risks (which weren't called "risks" when I was a kid; I'm talking climbing trees and the like). If and when I get a van we will do nature hikes and outings a few days a week; until then, if the bus drop-off permits, we will spend plenty of time at Brentwood Park for the outdoor time kids needs so much of. (Parents will get plenty of notice about where pick-up is happening each day.)

Call or text Megan at (512) 770-7789 to enroll.

Have your kids come play with us after school in the fall! Vamonos!

01/31/2021

We are in our second semester of LEWIS (Learning Without School), a full-day program run out of my home in the Crestview neighborhood. Seven kiddos are enrolled, ages 6-11, and we're looking for a few more friends to join us!

The schedule is Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, and full-time attendance or close to it is encouraged.

At LEWIS we learn through play and three outings a week to parks and nature trails, and also through unit studies. We are currently exploring the topic of fire through documentaries and YouTube videos, building fires in the backyard, and visiting, this coming week, a museum in Bastrop and the state park to see the evidence from the 2011 wildfire there. We also have pen pals for writing practice and we do weekly math practice as well as play lots of board games. It's hands-on, interest-led learning.

For more information or to arrange a visit, shoot me (Megan Baker) an e-mail at [email protected]!

08/09/2020

I will be doing a full-day program in the fall as an alternative to online and in-person schooling. It will be called Lewis: Learning Without School. Hours will be 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

We will be spending lots of time hiking and in nature in general. At the house we will be doing interest-lead learning through free play, art making, and projects. I will not teach but will rather facilitate. We will be learning together joyfully and without timetables or formal instruction.

I am looking for two or three more kids for this program, but a child's parents must read "Free to Learn," by Peter Gray, before enrolling. Call me at (512) 770-7789 if you are interested or have questions. Thanks!