If you're looking for fun, adventure, excitement and education, look no further than YMCA Cedar Glen. From using aboriginal hunting tools to renewable energy programs, we offer unique activities linked to the Ontario Curriculum for school and youth groups of all kinds.

Grade levels in brackets indicate grade levels that have strong connections within the Ontario Curriculum to the specific lesson. However, these programs are available for all grade levels if desired.

Amazing Animals (Grade 4)
Students will be guided on a discovery of local animals and their habitats, learning about some special adaptations and each animal's place in the local food chain.

The students will have the opportunity to touch and feel real animal pelts and take part in a wide variety of learning activities. This activity is available either indoors or outdoors.

Animal Survival (Grade 4, 6, 7)
Students will role-play animals in a food chain (herbivores, omnivores or carnivores) and simulate the effects of a real ecosystem. Students will avoid predators and/or chase prey, look for food and water and also deal with special elements such as hunters and disease.

Learning comes from a combination of a classroom-style introduction to food chains and habitats, followed by an outdoor simulation and comprehensive debrief centering on successful strategies used by the students and real animals.

Renewable Energy Relay (Grade 5, 6)
Students will engage in a relay across YMCA Cedar Glen, visiting stations designed to introduce them to solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro energies.

Students will experience how these types of energies can power simple machines and learn concrete ideas concerning the applicability of these energy sources in their everyday lives.

Shelters, Structures and Forces (Grade 5)
Students will build a shelter from natural materials and investigate the external forces acting upon their structure. They will explore and evaluate various building methods and designs that respond differently to forces acting upon the shelter.

Aboriginal Hunting Tools (Grade 5) 
Students will discover and explore the evolution of aboriginal hunting tools, including throwing rocks, clubs, spears, atlatls and bows.

Students will learn about the roles and cultural importance of the bow for hunting and warfare and be instructed in safe, effective operation of archery equipment and other tools.

Score Orienteering (Grade 7)
During this program students will use topographic maps to explore the concept of scale and contour lines. While working with scale and contour, students will be involved in making conversions between metric units of measure.

Students will then work in small groups to apply their knowledge during a score-based orienteering course that requires them to make effective choices about their route in order to succeed.

Heat Transfer (Grade 7)
Students will explore the nature of heat and how it can be lost or transferred through various processes such as radiation, convection and conduction.

They will investigate a variety of materials, including animal furs and clothing, to see how they influence and contribute to the effects of heat loss and heat transfer in a cold weather environment.

Water Systems (Grade 8)
Working in the stream, students will explore YMCA Cedar Glen's aquatic habitat. They will measure temperature, flow rate, water quality and macroinvertebrate collections (a.k.a. stream study) to determine the overall health of the Cold Creek water system.

Evening program: Inuit Games (Grade 5)
Students participate in a variety of fun-filled cultural games from Canada's north, including musk-ox wrestling, Makpigamimait, Bilboquet and the head pull.

If you are looking for more programming choices, read about our Leadership and Team Building or Outdoor Skills programs.