Updated March 16, 2026
2026 has longer Camp Days,
and round-trip professional
“Kids Kab” Transportation,
all included! No extra charge.
And see the new camps for older Alumni.
Please share this updated .org website.
Get a 2026 traditional summer childhood with Ben Walker and our awesome adult Camp Staff!
The Tribal Wisdom Academy Day Camp is located on a 20-acre private forest estate in the Los Gatos Mountains.
Tribal Wisdom Academy is historic “analog childhood”. (Like in the good old days, before the need for Digital Detox).
See the Big Kid and Alumni Camps (and see their Maker Projects).
The Tribal Wisdom Academy treehouse village experience is your child’s forest home.
We grow authentic social-emotional intelligence, and teach traditional life skills.
Get a Summer filled with your child’s natural and non-artificial intelligence,
to be ready and fully matured when A.I. fully enters their adult life.
Ben’s camp slogan is essential in today’s world:
”Preparing kids for any world future”.™
Each week has camps for the below age groups,
(Use your child’s age on December 31, 2026).
Graduate Camp - turning age 7. This group is part of the Big Kid Camp, with no farm animals, and no hot metal blacksmithing. The wooden projects for Graduates are age appropriate. (Contact Ben if your young child was in our “Wild Kid Camp” last year, and not yet turning age 7 during this calendar year. We have some weeks available for younger students).
The famous Big Kid Adventure Maker Camp - for students turning ages 8 to 10 during 2026. This is the main Tribal Wisdom Academy Camp, where 100 students command a large village of tree houses. The Tribal Wisdom Academy wild forest adventure park includes a large staff of adult Mentors. Kids make zip lines and tree swings, dig for treasure, and are mentored in creating their own carpentry projects. There is blacksmithing during odd-numbered weeks, and cold metal working during even-numbered weeks. Master Crafter Staff are available to help each camper create wooden toys to bring home. And kids create their own business ventures with Tribal Coins. Our Slogan says it all: “Organic human childhood, in the woods where it all began”.™ The Big Kid Adventure Maker Camp and the Alumni Camp are our main programs, and are featured in 20 Camp Videos HERE.
Alumni Village - turning age 11 or 12 in 2026 and must have attended the TWA Camp in 2024 or 2025 to qualify. The Alumni create their own advanced projects with a dedicated Mentor and wood shop. Alumni also create businesses, and some Alumni work in tribal government jobs such as an MIT (Mentor in Training), or as the Big Kid Camp Sheriff.
BOY'S TRIBE (the original TWA camp program). This is for dedicated BOY Alumni from any previous TWA camp years who are growing old (ages 13 and up). Learn adventure skills in the TWA redwoods from 11am to 2pm, plus projects in the main Alumni camp during the rest of the day. Mainly available during Weeks #3, 5, 7 and 9. Parents should text Camp Headquarters before signing up for this adventure.
TRIBAL RANGERS - (includes a Green Staff Shirt!) This is for the awesome GIRL Alumni from any previous TWA camp years who are “growing old” (ages 13 and up). This usually ends up being just one or two of our older girl Alumni working as project leaders in the main camp during the entire camp day. Available during any 2026 camp week. Parents should text Camp Headquarters before signing up for this adventure in leadership.
“Be prepared for any world future with the skills of tribal childhood.”
Tribal Wisdom Day Camps help your child rediscover healthy social development with our traditional outdoor curriculum. Our large staff of camp Mentors are trained adults who allow kids to be kids!
All Tribal Wisdom Academy staff at every level are vetted with Child Safe Training, extensive reference checks, and California Department of Justice LiveScan Fingerprinting, and national F.B.I. background checks.
Big Kid ADVENTURE MAKER CAMPS:
Big Kids turning age 8 to 10
and “Graduates” if younger.
Real Tools
Power Drills
Bow Carving
Robin Hood Skills
Kid-made Ziplines
Campfires at lunch
Treehouse Building
Forest Forts and Digs
Tree-to-tree Slacklines
Archery and BB gun safety
Knife and Tomahawk Throwing
Tribal Coins for Big Kid Business Ventures
Blacksmithing during odd-numbered weeks
5 take home projects during even-numbered weeks
A deep forest tribe experience just for kids!
ALUMNI CAMPS:
For TWA Alumni turning age 11 or 12.
Special Alumni Treehouse Village
Access to all of the ABOVE Maker Camp activities, (except Alumni will invent their own daily projects).
Advanced tools and special Maker Materials
The Alumni Treehouse Village experience is your Tween’s last two summers of being a Big Kid.
Experience actual “Analog childhood!”
Flexible choice of a 1-week or 2-week daycamps.
Begin on any Monday of your summer vacation!
Round-trip Shuttle Van Service is provided
by the Kids Kab Transportation Company
and at no extra charge. Book now to get a seat.
Los Gatos 8am-3:30 or 9am-4:30 or 10am-5:30pm
Office Depot back parking lot. 15166 Los Gatos Blvd, (at end of Larks Ave).
Campbell 8am-3:30 or 10am-5:30pm
Hamilton Plaza Ace Hardware, side parking lot on right. 1760 South Bascom Ave.
Cupertino 8am-3:30 or 10am-5:30pm
Safeway at 20620 West Homestead Road. Far North end of parking lot.
South San Jose 8am-3:30 or 10am-5:30pm
Costco at 5301 Almaden Expressway. Far East end of parking lot.
Summit Road 8:30am-3:15pm (or other later Summit Road times if the first van is Sold Out).
The Hwy 17 overpass Park-n-Ride lot at 21800 Summit Rd.
These Day Camps Weeks are $870 all inclusive, with Shuttle and one T-shirt.
No added fees, but new families might want to buy extra Camp Shirts (only $9 each).
See the above Shuttle Stop List for your preferred
drop-off and pick-up times.
Wk-1 is June 8-12, 2026
Wk-2 is June 15-19
Wk-3 is June 22-26
Wk-4 is June 29 to July 3
Wk-5 is July 6-10
Wk-6 is July 13-17
Wk-7 is July 20-24
Wk-8 is July 27-31
Wk-9 is Aug 3-7
Wk-10 is Aug 10-14
August 15 to Sept 7, 2026: Weekends or various weekdays are available for Private Group programs, (text inquiries to get a call-back from Ben Walker at the Camp Office, 408-898-8177).
For ages 8 to 10, the Big Kid Camps are best if experienced during two consecutive weeks.
Odd-numbered camp weeks feature Hot Metal Blacksmithing, and those weeks will also feature student inspired take-home projects. The Even-numbered camp weeks in 2026 will feature 5 take-home TWA Maker Projects and Cold-metalworking.
And a special feature is that our 2-week camps overlap! Approximately two-thirds of the kids on each Monday are beginning the first day of their summer experience, and an elite one-third of kids were at camp during the previous week! This creates a living culture within a tribal village experience.
The advantage of attending 2-weeks for Big Kids is that your child will likely create a camp business with Tribal Coins during their 1st week, and then have fun using their financial education during their 2nd week (while two-thirds of the camp kids have just arrived for a first week). This experience of organic human childhood and personal responsibility is a unique feature of Tribal Wisdom Academy Day Camps.
Ben Jamin Walker’s half-century of global wilderness expeditions and work in environmental and tribal adventure education is the foundation and origin of the Los Gatos Tribal Wisdom Academy forest campus. Ben has lived and survived in the deep wilderness with tribal families around the planet.
Our Slogan says it all:
“Organic human childhood, in the woods where it all began”.