School Activities

530 acres of outdoor and indoor learning opportunities, comfortable lodging and nutritious meals provide the perfect setting for an enriching school retreat, event or field trip. There is never a shortage of activities at YMCA Camp Cullen. Whatever the season, time of day or the weather, we can customize your event to include outdoor or indoor activities that everyone in your group will enjoy.

Facilitated Activities

Camp provides expertise and facilitation of a host of activities for your students. Full of learning, challenge, fun and the opportunity to achieve, these activities will help your students grow.

  • Outdoor Education – including learning options for environmental discovery, reduce/re-use/recycle programs, ecology and geology.
  • Archery – Our archery range allows students to fire recurve and compound bows, teaching hand eye coordination and a sense of achievement as they grow their skill.
  • Rifle Range – Our rifle range allows students to fire bb’s, pellets and 22s, but more importantly, it teaches gun safety and respect for the equipment and range.
  • Geology Tours – Our three component geology tour offers classroom learning in our Earth Science room, discovery through our quarry, and immersive learning through our Wild West town, Prospectors Peak.
  • High Ropes Course – Problem solving in challenging situations, supporting your teammates, and achieving goals. The high ropes course provides challenges that will grow a student’s resilience.
  • Zip Line – The Zip Line comes with two incredible benefits. First, the discovery of courage to step off the platform, and then the rush of joy and exhilaration as the ride takes off from there.
  • Paddle Sports – A little bit of STEM woven in through a lesson on stability and buoyancy, mixed in with a whole lot of fun out on the water.
  • Fishing – Connect with nature and the Texas ecosystem by spending some time by our lake, and some catch and release fishing.
  • Low Ropes/Team Building – We offer a wide set of team-based challenges that can be customized to your goals as an educator. Communication, strength finding, respect and leadership are a few of the skills we teach. Our staff can take ownership of team building initiatives from staging, through facilitation and debrief, or partner with your educators along the way.
  • Horse Riding – The connection between human and animal can be an eye opening one, and for any Texas child, their first experience with a horse can connect them to culture. At our horse barn, students can participate in a host of equestrian activities, from care, to riding, in a program that is suited for any riding level.
  • Pipeline Slide – The Pipeline Slide takes students from the top of camp to the bottom, by way of sled through a plastic tunnel. Kids love the thrill!
Camp Cullen school activity
Camp Cullen school activity

Unfacilitated Activities

Not everything at camp has to be fully scheduled and facilitated. As a school group, you are welcome to take part in many of our general use activity areas at your leisure, or pre-arranged.

  • Lawn Games – Cornhole, Ladder Toss, 9quare in the air, and bocce ball are all available for casual engagement.
  • Scavenger Hunts – Explore the grounds with age appropriate scavenger hunts that take your students to all corners of the property.
  • Metal Detecting – For the more eager treasure hunter, our metal detectors allow students to comb the grounds for any number of unknown treasures.
  • Geo-Caching – Learning technology, while connecting to nature, our geocaching program allows students to read GPS devices while searching for hidden caches around the property.
  • Arts – Whether in the art room, or taking a field trip with our art kits to a location on camp, our art program is equipped to allow student’s artistic vision to soar.
  • Sports – Keep your students active with all the traditional sports, and a few others – soccer, basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, badminton, disc golf and kickball.
  • Orienteering – Is Geo-caching too high tech? Take it back, old school style, with traditional orienteering and have kids reading maps and compasses to navigate through our orienteering course.

Book Your School’s Next Event

Whatever your school is looking for, Cullen has the answer. Leadership retreats, education retreats, faculty retreats, outdoor education, field trips or celebrations, we can partner with you to design and deliver the perfect experience for your next event.

Interested in a Camp Cullen hosted Retreat or Event?

Please take the time to reach out and let us know when your interest in having Camp Cullen host your retreat.