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Day getaway
published 1999
By Michelle Warren
From community centres to the harborfront to
facilities in rural settings, day camps have
something for every camper.
Camp Robin Hood in Markham prides itself on
providing the closest thing to the residential-camp experience without actual overnights. Founded in 1946, this camp plays host to 850 campers every summer -- and each and every one is made to feel right at home. It's all part of the camp's
"summer fun, family style" philosophy.
"Each camper gets a sense that they have their own place at camp," says Howie Grossinger, who runs Camp Robin Hood with his wife, Sari, and her parents, Pearl and Larry Bell.
And with so much to do and see at Camp Robin Hood, everyone ends up having fun. The 225 staff members help campers play sports, climb rock walls, develop photographs, preserve nature, work on computers, swim in one of four pools, mount plays, do arts and crafts, go canoeing -- the list
is endless.
The camp is a converted farm. Being surrounded by fields, barns and animals gives campers the feeling they really are getting away from the city.
Several other camps in the Greater Toronto Area also offer the getaway without actually getting away experience. Glenbrook Day Camp, also near Markham, boasts a forest, a pond and, like Robin Hood, a farm where city kids can learn about
animals.
Both camps offer door-to-door busing, as does Green Acres Camp. Green Acres campers enjoy everything from sports to candle making on a
70-acre country setting near Markham and Kennedy roads. The camp also boasts an on-site waterslide.
For campers who really want an outdoor adventure experience, Seneca College -- King Day Camp offers horseback riding on 700 acres of forest and trails and water activities on a lake along with traditional
camping activities.
But you don't have to travel to the outskirts of the GTA -- just visit Upper Canada College Camps, Rolph Road Summer Camp and Crestwood Valley Day Camp. Or there's Bayview Glen Day Camp, which has access to 40 acres of conservation parkland where campers take part in an environmental studies program.
While almost every camp offers sports of one kind or another, several specialize in sports.
Along with a traditional day camp, Havergal Summer Camps run a tennis camp where kids eight to 15 can make new friends while practising their serves. The Sports Clubs of Canada run camps at two locations in Toronto that emphasize the importance of having fun and keeping fit.
And if it's horseback riding you're after, Claireville Camp in Etobicoke offers riding at one of its six
specialty camps, which include Adventure, French, Challenge Plus for Youth, Leadership and
Sports/ Wilderness.
At Robin Hood Sports Academy, also run by the Bell family, campers focus on building skills in a chosen sport during two-week clinics.
"Our philosophy is working on progression -- it's amazing how many kids develop the skills when it's presented as a fun thing," says Howie Grossinger.
As part of the fun, staff members have their own baseball team that plays against staff from other camps. Their major rival is the team from Harbourkids Camps.
While Harbourkids is proud of its baseball team, it is even more proud of its renowned Baseball Camp, where campers get to play a game they love while receiving technical coaching. A highlight is when members of the Blue Jays come out to toss a ball with the kids and sign autographs. The camp, which started with 20 campers, now plays host to 120.
And Baseball Camp is just the tip of the iceberg at Harbourkids Camps. More than 600 campers are bused in from all over the city every day to take advantage of Harbourkids' 20 camps. They include circus, film
animation, arts, photography and a ballet camp that runs in conjunction with The National Ballet of Canada.
Because the camp operates out of Harbourfront Centre, right on the shore of Lake Ontario, it can also offer a sailing camp and canoe camp.
This is 10-year-old Marianne's fourth year at Harbourkids and she comes because she loves water sports. "It's fun because it's in the city, but there's also water, so I can improve my skills," she says.
Eleven-year-old Kieran is also working on improving his skills, but of the mental, not the physical, kind. He comes to camp "just for the love of playing chess." That's right, he's at chess camp.
And if two weeks of playing chess sounds like it could get, well, boring, Kieran says "it only gets tedious if you don't change the game. There are lots of different ways to play chess."
If it's an innovative
camping experience you're after, how about a journey through the solar system? Through its Space Adventure Camp, Spintech Computing makes it
possible -- via computer. Spintech offers 12 computer camps for kids from four to 16.
Eight-year-old Mark has tried nearly all of them. He loves working on computers and says that hardly a day goes by that he doesn't turn one on.
Today Mark is at Junior Entrepreneur Camp. He's designing his own business cards and putting together a PowerPoint presentation for a fictitious business called Sports And Video Incorporated. Mark and his friends are learning skills that any business would love its employees to have, and they're enjoying it. "It's good for your brain, for knowledge -- as well as just to have fun," Mark explains.
But not all campers are quite ready to design their own business on a computer. That's why Hillcrest Camp and Waterfront Montessori Children's Centre run camp programs for campers aged two to five.
There is, indeed, a day camp for everyone in Toronto. Many camps run programs that include
special-needs campers. At Camp Robin Hood, 10 per cent of campers and three staff members have
special needs.
"Our camp population
mirrors what's out there in the community," says Grossinger.
For people whose needs are financial, several agencies and organizations, such as The Toronto Star's Fresh Air Fund,
subsidize campers who can't afford the fees.
Local community centres are also great resources for summer camps. Most offer day camps that enable kids to explore the city and take advantage of all the fun activities and sites around the GTA.
The YMCA runs camps for kids aged six to 16 out of 30 locations across the city. And don't forget the Boys and Girls Clubs of Toronto, which also host summer activities.
Actually, the list is almost endless. There are hundreds of day camps to choose from in the Toronto area. The hardest part is deciding which one.
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