Adventure, Discovery, and a Summer You'll Never Forget
Welcome to Camp Nan A Bo Sho, where the spirit of adventure meets the joy of discovery in the heart of summer. Our camp offers an immersive experience away from the comforts of home, inviting campers to embrace challenges and develop crucial life skills amidst the beauty of the Northwoods. Join us for an unforgettable journey filled with laughter, friendship, and endless growth — all under the warm glow of the summer sun.
What Daily Life Looks Like at Camp
From the moment you wake up to lights out, every day at Camp Nan A Bo Sho is full of activity, connection, and discovery. Here’s a look at the camp experience.
Cabin & Yurt Living
Camp Nan A Bo Sho features 14 cabins and 2 yurts, all built or renovated within the past 10 years. All cabins and yurts have electricity, and most cabins are air-conditioned.
Our centrally located shower house features bathrooms and individual shower stalls, and some cabins also have bathroom facilities on site.
Counselors are assigned to a cabin each session and stay with their cabin group for the entire program. The counselor living area is sectioned off to allow privacy for both campers and counselors while maintaining good supervision.
For campers participating in off-site overnights or wilderness trips, two- and four-person backpack-style tents are provided. Campers are taught how to set up their tent properly to stay dry and protected. Counselors pitch their tents nearby to ensure full supervision at all times.
Dining Hall
All meals at Camp Nan A Bo Sho are served in our dining hall — with one exception: the Wednesday all-camp cookout takes place at the campfire ring.
The dining hall features cafeteria-style seating at tables of 10–12, and food is served cafeteria-style. Campers are encouraged to sit with people from outside their cabin groups to make new friends. One or two counselors sit at each table to make sure all campers are eating and to help spark conversation when needed.
Meals are all-you-care-to-eat, kid-friendly, and healthy. We encourage all campers to try new foods.
A cereal option is available at breakfast, and a salad bar is available at most lunches and dinners.
Daily Schedule
Campers have a say in what activities fill their week. Activities listed in the camp brochure for each program are automatically added to the schedule, with the rest of the camp week shaped by what campers choose together as a group.
7:15 AM — Wake-up
8:00–8:45 AM — Breakfast
8:45–9:30 AM — Cabin Clean-up, All Camp Kapers
9:30 AM–12:30 PM — Program Activities (camper-decided)
12:30–1:15 PM — Lunch
1:30–2:30 PM — F.O.B. (Feet on Bunk / Rest Hour)
2:30–3:30 PM — All Camp Open Swim
3:30–5:30 PM — Program Activities (camper-decided)
5:30–6:15 PM — Dinner
6:30–9:00 PM — Program Activities / All Camp Activity / Campfire
9:30–10:00 PM — Lights Out
Camp Lingo
Over more than 50 years, campers and staff at Camp Nan A Bo Sho have created a language all their own. Here’s a guide to the words and phrases you’ll hear at camp:
- Penguin Dip — an early morning swim in Waubee Lake
- Knit One Pearl — a rhyming phrase created by campers to be welcomed into the dining hall for a meal
- Warm Fuzzy — a nice note you can send a friend or counselor
- Golden Broom — an award given to the cleanest cabin each day
- F.O.B. — acronym for Feet on Bunk; the rest hour after lunch for reading, writing letters, or napping
- Buddy/Truddy — a group of 2 or 3 campers who do activities together
- Trail — a camping trip out of camp
- Kapers — a task assigned to a cabin to help keep camp clean
Why Camp Changes Kids
There’s something that happens at Camp Nan A Bo Sho that can’t happen anywhere else. Here’s what parents and campers notice most when they come home.
Confidence
Away from familiar comforts, campers discover they can do hard things. That feeling of accomplishment follows them home.
Friendship
Sharing a cabin, a meal, and a campfire with people you’ve just met creates bonds that last years — sometimes decades.
Independence
Camp gives children the space to make choices, solve problems, and take care of themselves in a safe and supportive environment.
Connection to Nature
Days spent on the water, in the woods, and under the stars build a deep appreciation for the natural world that kids carry with them for life.
A Break from Screens
At Camp Nan A Bo Sho, campers unplug and discover the simple joy of being fully present — with their friends, their surroundings, and themselves.
Help Send a Kid to Camp
Every child deserves the camp experience — but for some families in the Fox Cities, cost is a barrier. Through the YMCA of the Fox Cities’ Mission in Action Campaign, financial assistance is available to ensure that no child misses out on what camp has to offer. Your gift today can make someone’s summer unforgettable.
