Our Kids Blog

Sending kids to camp… by portaging!

Charity Raises Money to Send Kids to Summer Camp

Although the base of my feet felt bruised, my thumbs were stiff and I couldn’t stand up straight, it was well worth it – we raised over $30,000 to help send 30 underprivileged kids to camp this summer. On June 5, I was one of 48 volunteers to participate in the annual Canoe Heads for Kids event in support of Amici Camping Charity, a non-profit organization that shares the gift of summer camp. Canoe Heads for Kids is a 40km portage and paddle along Toronto’s shoreline and has become Amici Camping Charity’s largest fundraising event.

It was eerie paddling across the Toronto harbour when we set out first thing in the morning; the city was sleeping and mist was rising in front of the Gardiner Expressway. Shortly thereafter we began the portage, heading More »

Tags: camp, charity, fundraiser, summer camp

Vintage vs. Outer Space

Week two of Design Camp at the Design Exchange summer camp in Toronto was an out-of-this-world success!

Our Vintage Couture camp was visited by Dawna Pym from the Royal Ontario Musuem who brought in pieces from her personal collection for the campers to examine. We also visited Divine Decadence and spoke with owner Carmelita Blondet who shared her love of collecting fabulous pieces with the group.

Our Design for Space camp spent the week designing other worldly pieces like planet rovers, lunar architecture and mission badges. Satellite designer Cordell Grant visited to answer all of our campers questions about designing for space.

[Katie Weber is the Director of Youth Programs at the Design Exchange's Design Camp in downtown Toronto. Click to read their summer camp profile on Camps.ca.]

Tags: day camp, design, summer camp, Toronto

The secret to picking a great camp for your kids

Do you want to know how to pick the best summer camp for your kids?  Watch how the staff treat each other.

You can tell a lot about the atmosphere and general attitude of a children’s summer camp by taking a tour and observing a few things.

• Are you greeted warmly and immediately?
• Do the staff (not the ones directly touring you) take the time to introduce themselves?
• Is the tour focussed on your child?  Is it fun for them? More »

Tags: camp, choosing a camp, leadership, staff, summer camp

Surviving the heat at Cybercamp

We’re so happy to be included in the blogging at Our Kids Blog and this is our first blog of the summer.  Cybercamp Robotics Academy is a camp that takes place during the month of July, tailored to girls and boys aged 9-14 years of age.  At our camp kids learn to design, create, and program robots using the Mindstorms NXT robot from LEGO.  Each week is a different experience because we have a new and exciting theme for each week of July (Tomb Raiders, Mission Possible, Ocean Odyssey, and Need For Speed).  We were awarded the Best Day Camp in Stouffville in 2009 and have expanded to Toronto this year with our second site.

I’ll be writing about experiences at the Toronto site for the next two weeks.  This week it’s been all about Mission: Possible and the kids have been working to stop an evil mastermind from unleashing his biological warfare on the residents of Southern Ontario.  After using their robots to infiltrate and disarm the security system of  the pharmaceutical company responsible for the creation of this device, the Mission: Possible team has had to bug the office of the company to discover the whereabouts of Damien Darksoul.  Once located, his fingerprint must be retrieved to gain access to his secure elevator.  The teams are four days into their mission, and with only one day left, it remains to be seen if any of them will be able to save us all from certain disaster!

Check us out tomorrow for some pics and possibly a video to see if any of us survived!!!

[Cybercamp Robotics Academy is a day camp Stouffville, ON.]

Tags: co-ed, day camp, Education, learning, summer camp, Summer Programs & Camps, teacher, Teaching, Technology, Toronto

A Day Camp: Green Acres – Video 1

It is our pleasure to welcome Camp Green Acres/MyCamp to our blog.   They are posting  a video every day this summer.

[Green Acres/MyCamp is a day camp located outside of Markham, ON. Their summer video blog can be found here.]

Tags: day camp, Education, fun, leadership, overnight camp, residential camp, safety, sleep away camp, sleepaway camp, summer camp, Summer Programs & Camps, teaching, training

Ready to Wear

Our Ready to Wear fashion design camp was visited today by designer Katya Revenko of Desperately Different. Katya shared a bit about her history (she’s been designing since she was 5 years old!), what inspires her, and about her design process. Katya also brought a couple of pieces from her collection to show us, including a fabulous sweater that can be worn many ways!

Thanks Katya, for a truly inspiring talk.

[Katie Weber is the Director of Youth Programs at the Design Exchange's Design Camp in downtown Toronto. Click to read their summer camp profile on Camps.ca.]

Tags: day camp, Education, fun, leadership, overnight camp, residential camp, safety, sleep away camp, sleepaway camp, summer camp, Summer Programs & Camps, teaching, training

“Hanging” out in the Aerial Park @ Camp Muskoka

It was a beautiful Monday afternoon; the sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and most importantly, the bugs weren’t biting. On the first full day of the beginning of Camp Muskoka’s 2010 Summer Camp season, we headed off; water bottles in hand and maybe even a drop of sweat upon our brow. Before we knew it, we were standing below the towering structure that is our Aerial Park. While initially intimidating, after a brief but informative lesson about safety equipment and belaying, we were off to conquer the sky (or at least, the tops of the trees).

Not only is the Aerial Park a total blast, but it’s designed to challenge individuals both physically and mentally; participants must face several different forms of aerial obstacles throughout the course, including tires, rolling logs, swinging ropes, and more. More »

Tags: day camp, Education, fun, leadership, overnight camp, residential camp, safety, sleep away camp, sleepaway camp, summer camp, Summer Programs & Camps, teaching, training

Rockin’ Start!

Our first week of Design Camp is off to a rockin’ start! Participants in this week’s Rock Star camp were excited to have Andrew McCracken of Doublenaut drop by for a visit this afternoon to share his passion for graphic design and to show us some of the band posters he has made.

The campers asked Andrew tons of questions, including ‘What inspired you to become a graphic designer?’, to which Andrew answered that he enjoys making things and being creative.

Our inspired young designers are now hard at work making their own band posters! A great first day!

[Katie Weber is the Director of Youth Programs at the Design Exchange's Design Camp in downtown Toronto. Click to read their summer camp profile on Camps.ca.]

Tags: day camp, Education, fun, leadership, overnight camp, residential camp, safety, sleep away camp, sleepaway camp, summer camp, Summer Programs & Camps, teaching, training