We Deliver Quality Experiences 

Altogether Outdoors is more than just a convenient way for your kids to pass the summer. It is a complete, nature-based experience that provides high quality, intentionally designed programs under the guidance of exceptionally qualified and rigorously trained staff. Our goal is for all AO campers to learn, play, explore, and connect with the world around them in an environment that is challenging, and fun!

How We Do It:

• All AO counselors are selected for their demonstrated and dedicated interest in youth development, their understanding of the needs of various ages of children, and their energy for interactive play. Many of them study in child development-related fields during the academic year.
• All AO employees undergo a thorough interview process and criminal background check.
• All AO employees have current CPR and First-Aid certifications.
• All AO employees receive additional weeklong training in child development and risk management before the beginning of camp each summer.
• AO directors provide ongoing professional education for counselors over the course of the entire summer.
• AO directors and staff form relationships with all AO camper families to promote good and open communication about each camper’s time at AO.
• Small camper to counselor rations mean more individual attention for each camper and a greater sense of community among campers and cabin groups, enhancing the quality of the overall camp experience.
• Although AO is not a daycare, it is a state-licensed child care provider. Childcare licensing ensures that AO follows specific health, safety, staff training, and sanitization standards for the protection of all campers.
• AO believes strongly in the value of ACA Accreditation in demonstrating the safety and quality of any camp. AO is ACA-accredited.

Community is Important

A strong sense of community is a cornerstone of AO Camp’s developmentally driven program model. We believe that the camp community gives kids an environment in which to explore their individuality, as well as their place in the larger world. Our programs aim to help campers build strong senses of self and understand their personal responsibility to their cabin groups and the camp community as a whole. Within the welcoming and supportive camp community, children are more ready to embrace new challenges and explore new things. Furthermore, through interaction with peers of various backgrounds and abilities, campers develop greater social awareness and acceptance of difference.

How We Do It:

• Campers start and end each day by singing songs in an all camp gathering
• AO builds community through team building and non-competition.
• AO counselors lead age-appropriate and ability-appropriate activities that foster friendships among campers.
• In a two-week camp session, Week 1 activities focus on relationship-building among campers. Week 2 is all about tackling fun and challenging activities as a team!
• AO teaches concepts such as Leave No Trace ethics to enhance campers’ understanding of their own impact on the environment and their surrounding communities.
• AO attempts to reinforce the sense of community built each summer by extending relationships made between campers and the staff to all camp families, both during the summer and throughout the year, through MDC Community events.
• AO values inclusion, so that every child who wants to go to camp has the opportunity to do so, regardless of ability, physical or financial.

We Get Kids Into Nature

At Altogether Outdoors, we want nature-based experiences to be up close and personal. In an increasingly screen-based world, children need to connect with their natural surroundings more than ever, in order to understand the importance of protecting wild spaces and natural resources on an individual and communal level. AO is fortunate to be located in or near the beautiful Rocky Mountains, where nature is our playground, literally. Our goal is to show campers how to have fun in the natural world, while treating it with the proper respect and reverence, now and in the future. AO uses the many educational and natural resources in the communities in which we operate to enhance the fun of exploration and complement our own program activities.

How We Do It:

Leave No Trace environmental ethics provide the basis for much of our nature-based play. They strengthen campers’ sense of responsibility for their surroundings and their connection with the natural world. These ethics include:

• Know Before You Go
• Choose The Right Path
• Trash Your Trash
• Leave What You Find
• Be Careful With Fire
• Respect Wildlife
• Be Kind To Other Visitors

We Play!

This is the driving force behind Altogether Outdoors. Play is essential to the healthy development of children of all ages. We believe that AO's focus on informal play provides an ideal complement to children’s home and school lives for learning about self, community, and the natural world. Play provides a foundation for more confident and self-directed children who are excited to take on new challenges. And play is just plain fun!