For this week’s summer camp theme, the campers will embark on a journey across Canada starting from the West Coast.

On Monday, we will learn all about Canada’s westernmost province, British Columbia, and explore this beautiful, mountainous area replete with sparkling lakes and volcanoes. Since northern BC is rich in Aboriginal culture and home to several ancient village sites, the kids will also be crafting their very own miniature totem poles. They will get a chance to practice the symbolism commonly used in Aboriginal culture and choose animal totems that they believe best represent them. There are various cool symbols such as horses for freedom, a sun for energy, and wolves for leadership. Another cool activity for this day will be examining ancient woodland art, and striving to replicate the styles and imagery with our own woodland paintings.

Tuesday is when the campers will travel eastbound into the flat land of the Prairies. Consisting of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, this region is also known as Canada’s “bread basket” as the Prairies are a major source of wheat for Canadians. We will largely focus on the furry residents of the Prairies, such as the prairie dog, owl, fox, and bison. The kids will have the opportunity to learn more about the prairie food chain through a fun, interactive game, and even construct their own prairie dog as a craft.

Continuing our expedition across Canada, Wednesday is dedicated to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The campers will brush up on the main landmarks of Ontario such as the CN Tower, Giant Nickel, and Niagara Falls, being that it is our home province. Then as we trek to Quebec, we will learn about the many exciting events that happen during the “Carnaval de Quebec”, such as ice sculpture contests, canoe races, and masquerades. As per this Quebecois tradition, the kids will also design their own masks to be used in an activity later on in the week.

On Thursday, the campers will journey to the Maritimes, which is a group of provinces residing along Canada’s eastern shores. While we learn about their seafood diets and tour around the hundreds of lighthouses located in the Maritimes, the campers will piece together their own stained glass lighthouses with coloured tissue paper. If they shine a light through their lighthouse in the dark, they will be able to see all the colourful lights they used! An additional craft for this day is building sea creature themed puppets since the Maritimes is surrounded by large bodies of water.

We will be ending our adventure in the territories of northern Canada, also known as the Great White North. On Friday, the campers will explore the icy tundra and its inhabitants, as well as build their own arctic igloos out of marshmallows. They will also be able to assemble a miniature inukshuk, much like the ones built by northern aboriginal communities, with small stones which a counsellor will hot glue together. Furthermore, since Fridays are our camp’s designated Quest Day, the campers will be divided into small groups to complete Canada-related “quests”. Some of them include searching for baking soda and vinegar to mix into a BC volcano, completing an obstacle course in the Prairies, fishing in the Maritimes, and finding images of famous Ontarian landmarks. As the counsellors here at the camp love to conclude the week with a fun recap of everything the campers learned along the way, we do our best to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves.