Art In The Park is a child-directed summer camp!
Each camper can choose what activities they spend their time doing each and every day at camp. If you want to spend all day painting, you can! Really love the sand pit? It's yours to explore. Music, arts, textiles, sports & games... the choice is up to YOU!
What do we DO at Art In The Park??
Art In The Park uses a child-centered approach to provide specialized art-oriented programming for children aged 6-12, meaning campers can move freely from area to area and participate in activities at their own pace. Children age 13-14 can register for our Leadership In Training Program.
There are 5-6 outdoor, artist-run stations, in addition to other activity areas set up throughout the day. Some of the artist’s stations we have offered include: woodworking, textiles, music, jewellery-making, drama, dance, sculpture, paper mache, clay and painting. Counsellors and ECE staff supplement the arts programming by running additional activities throughout the day. These activities include sand and water play, sports and games, table tennis and cooperative games.
Program Details
Art In The Park is for children ages 6-12. Starting in 2023, we will be checking for identification for all campers aged 6. Please be prepared to provide a birth certificate for your child.
The regular program operates Monday to Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Extended Care can be purchased as an "add-on" for each week of camp. Extended Care takes place from 4:00 - 5:30 pm each day.
The program is offered for 8 weeks in the Summer (2023), commencing July 4th, 2023.
You may drop off your child at or after 9:00 am.
You may pick up your child at or before 4:00 pm from the Regular program or at or before 5:30 pm for Extended Care.
Please note: we do not currently offer "Before" Care in the mornings.
Camp-Wide Activities
While most of the time AITP campers can "choose their own adventure", there are a few camp-wide activities that adhere to a schedule each week.
Mondays: Log Meeting at 10 AM - This is where we ALL get together for about 30 minutes to go over the week, meet the counsellors and artists and cover the camp rules.
Fridays: Campfire 2:30 PM - Campfire is our wrap-up of each week's activities and a way for EVERYONE to get together and celebrate before the weekend. Campfire looks different each week, depending on what we have been up to! It could be a play an art show, a fashion show, a concert or all of the above! (And, no... it's not a real fire ;-) )
Daily: Sports and Games, Morning and Afternoon - Sports and Games are offered off-site, in Trinity Bellwoods Park, at least twice a day. Activities vary, but can include baseball, volleyball, soccer, kickball, GAGA ball, relay races and more. Campers can choose if they wish to participate in Sports and Games.
Wednesday Afternoons: Swimming - Campers can choose to take part on a daily basis. We use the indoor pool at Trinity Recreation Centre.
What do you do when it rains??
We make every effort to keep our program outdoors as long as possible. Often, this means continuing our activities with cool temperatures and a light drizzle. Please dress your campers for the weather! :-)
However, sometimes the rain is too heavy to safely continue our programming, on these days, we move our program indoors:
The majority of the campers and staff move to 257 Shaw Street, lower level (Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God). We rent a large program room there and will continue with indoor arts programming and quiet games until the rain slows down enough to go back outside. The capacity of this space is 60 campers.
Some campers and staff will move to 155 Crawford Street, lower level (Trinity Recreation Centre), on the lower level, in the CARE after-school program room. Campers will continue with indoor arts programming and quiet games until the rain slows down enough to go back outside. The capacity for this room is 30 campers.
Please check the weather report in the morning and dress your campers for the weather! Raincoat, boots and an umbrella are a must on days with a rainy forecast! We make an effort to get inside quickly, but sometimes the process can take a while!
If it is raining at drop-off (9:00 AM): We will do our best to contact you via email prior to 8:30 to let you know which rain location to drop off your child. If you haven’t heard from us, please call the site cell phones: 647-518-6138 / 416-407-6138
Rainfall during the day: we will move our program to our two indoor locations. Children will continue to do arts-based activities and quiet games while indoors. We continue to monitor the weather and will resume activity outdoors as soon as we are able to.
Rainfall at pick-up time (4:00 PM): We strongly recommend that you please call our site cell phone to ask where your child will be at pickup time on rainy days: 647-518-6138 / 416-407-6138
If your child brings a scooter or bike, please note that it will NOT be re-located indoors as there is not enough space.