Who we are

Camp Kawartha is a not-for-profit, charitable organization dedicated to fostering an awareness and appreciation for the outdoors. We work hard to deliver exceptional outdoor programs for children of all ages. We want to help open doors... to bring children from the inside to the magic and discovery that can only be in the natural world...

Did you know?

The average child sits 4½ hours per day in front of some kind of luminescent screen (computer, TV, video)!* That adds up to an astounding 31½ hours per week in which children are both passive and indoors (fully 1/3 of their waking hours).

*Anaheim Policy Research Paper (1998)

At Camp Kawartha, we feel now more than ever children need to be immersed in and inspired by the natural world. By fostering enthusiasm for the outdoors in today's youth, we will build advocacy and respect for tomorrow's natural spaces. Today's outdoor participant is tomorrow's outdoor advocate.

It is Camp Kawartha's goal to continue opening doors for many years to come. We cannot do this alone. With recent funding reductions in education and recreation, there are fewer opportunities for children to be outside and fewer programs for children to participate in. Meanwhile, with growing urban sprawl and shrinking natural spaces, there is a greater need than ever to take children outdoors.

Be part of our efforts to lead children outside!

Camp Kawartha opens doors!

Camp Kawartha's summer camp and outdoor education programs have been opening doors for generations of children.

During our Summer Camp children participate in a variety of outdoor pursuits from canoeing and sailing to climbing and archery. Our senior programs emphasize leadership and personal responsibility. This is accomplished through our Leaders in Training program, our wilderness canoe trips, and our Challenge and Adventure program. It is the sense of fellowship in a beautiful outdoor setting, which has left an enduring legacy to so many campers.

Our Outdoor Education programs offered through the Kawartha Outdoor Education Centre, capitalize on a child's inborn enthusiasm for outdoor learning. We use drama, storytelling, games and hands-on activities to make learning engaging and meaningful for students of all ages. Our programs are carefully crafted, innovative and linked to the Ontario Curriculum. For example, students can practice hunting insects as they crouch on our 18-foot spider's web. Or they can listen to bird songs through our 4-foot replica deer ear. Our 25 nature and science programs teach students about the animals, birds, plants, insects and natural communities that can be found in this region.

Students can also participate in our Historical programming by becoming partners in the North-West Company in our Fur Trade Program. Or dressed as Voyageurs, students paddle replica North Canoes, singing songs and listening to stories from this remarkable period in Canadian History.

Our outdoor programs inspire children to care about the natural world because we believe that caring is ultimately an act of the imagination. By helping children to imagine and to be creative, we are contributing to a child's ability to empathize. And for us, it is empathy and caring that connects children to the natural world and to each other.