Activity Catalogue for
Intermediates/Seniors
July 2024

Main Activities

The main activities take place Monday to Thursday, for two weeks in July. They are listed in alphabetical order. Click each title for a description.

On the first Friday of each session, campers take a break for a one-day workshop (see below), and on the final Friday, campers complete and present their projects in a spectacular showcase day.

Play epic board games with like-minded campers. The instructor will guide you through the rules of complex games such as Eclipse, Root, and Scythe. Develop your logical reasoning and your ability to plan ahead, as you outwit your opponents in these games of skill and chance. Manage your resources, upgrade your units, and take control of the board!

Instructor: Christian Ingelevics

Realize your artistic vision through the varied techniques of experimental stop-motion animation. Create characters and worlds to tell any stories you can imagine, and bring them to life with the magic of animation. In addition to learning animating techniques, you will learn how to edit your animations, adding music and sounds that help make your work pop!

Instructors:

Daniel Crawford – Session 1

Sherron Anglin – Session 2

Embrace the joy of joining others in harmonious songs. Have fun singing a variety of traditional folk songs and modern pop songs, learning how to vocalize notes with the proper pitch and tempo. 

Instructor: Ian Hanchet

We touch fabrics every day, but have you ever though about how they are made and what they are made from? Learn about the fascinating field of textiles, weaving knowledge and creativity together to make your very own fabrics. Some of the techniques that you will be exploring are: natural dyeing (with items forage or food in the kitchen), block printing, stenciling, flower/ leaf imprinting, and painting on fabric.

Learn essential storytelling skills in this creative writing class. How to hook your audience, how to create compelling characters, how to conjure worlds for your readers – and so much more! Everything you need to boost your skills as an author.

Instructor: Ian Hanchet

Are you an avid music fan with a passion to create new tunes? In our Digital Music activity, our learners have the chance to create music on their computer! All you need is a love and curiosity for music. In this activity, our learners will know how to arrange and layer different parts of the song, how to identify tempo, chord progressions, melody and lead, and how to mix and create effects in their songs. Let’s jam!

Instructor: Ethan Heyenga

We live in a world that is overflowing with digital images. In this activity, you will learn how to take epic photos! Use professional DSLR cameras to shoot stunning portraits, landscapes and more. Learn how to control and adjust for lighting, how to frame your shots perfectly, how to get the perfect focus, and more. Periods of shooting pictures are followed by editing sessions, where the instructor explains how to achieve masterful effects for the final pictures.

 

Instructor: Al Romano

Learn how to draw anything you can see or imagine! With this activity led by an arts master, you will discover the tricks and techniques of great drawings.

Your art will become more substantial through lessons on creating the illusion of depth and the feeling of weight. Youwill also learn about human proportions, enabling you to create realistic portraits and figure drawings. Lessons also extend to the creation of textures (like fur and brick) as well as landscape drawings, teaching participants how to create richly detailed worlds on paper.

Each learner’s sketchbook will become a portfolio of their work, documenting their progress with their increasingly impressive drawings. By the end of this activity, you will stun your family and friends with your improved artistry.

Student Summary: “This was the first art activity I took where we actually learned how to draw. Some of the lessons were hard, but my art got way better with every lesson, so it was worth it.”

Instructor: Daniel Crawford

The classic roleplaying game! In this activity, campers work together to tell their own story, inhabiting a fantasy world of their own imagination. Create a character, join a campaign, and roll the dice!

Instructor: Christian Ingelevics

Learn to harness the power of electricity! Make your creations move with motors, play sounds with speakers, and so much more! To make your awesome physical constructions come to life, you will go through the 4 stages of the engineering process: designing, prototyping, testing and revising. At the end of the two weeks, you will have a deeper understanding of electronics and will practice using a variety of tools to connect the circuits and wires, such as soldering irons.

En garde! In this activity, you will learn the sport of fencing (swordfighting). From fancy footwork to fabulous flourishes, this activity teaches everything necessary to take up a sword and safely challenge others. With proper protective equipment and supervision in a controlled environment, campers are given a taste of medieval combat.

Each day at Forest School camp means getting down and dirty outside.  Daily adventures in the Falaise St Jacques provide endless opportunities to learn about local plants and animals. A typical week will include skills-based activities, such as identifying and aging trees, calculating carbon sequestration, owl pellet dissection, making a bone ID chart, creating cords and knots, shelter building, finding fossils, fungi and native medicinal forest plants and learning how to reflect and express gratitude for the land and traditional indigenous knowledge.  

Instructor: Ingrid Birker

Yes, GIANT Puppets! Work together with other campers for two weeks of designing, building, and controlling large puppets. Learn about how to rig the parts to be animated, and learn sophisticated puppeteering techniques to take your show to the next level.

Every sport we know was someone’s idea once, and you could have the idea for the next great sport! With access to an assortment of fun equipment, you will get to design and play the sports of your dreams!

Craft stunning accessories for your friends, for your family, for yourself, or just for fun! Learn techniques to create unique rings, bracelets and earrings. Working with wire, string and chain, you will explore the different possibilities for beads, glasswork and insets. The instructor also explains how to use the technical components of jewelry, such as clasps, pins, hooks, tabs, etc. After two weeks, you’ll take home jewelry that can be cherished forever.

Get started with the world’s most famous six-stringed instrument. Beginning with basic chords, you will learn to play some popular songs by the end of the two-week session.

Instructor: Ian Hanchet

Our martial arts activity promotes all-around wellness. On a physical level, martial arts build strength, balance, flexibility and stamina — because they utilize the full body. Martial arts training is a mental workout, too! Martial artists must learn to control their own minds and anticipate the reactions of others.

The 90-minute sessions are often divided into three periods: warm-up and stretching, basic techniques, and games based on technical learning.

Wooden weapons may be used to better explain the techniques.

Make your very own world miniature world! Learn techniques for sculpting tiny characters and objects, filling handmade landscapes with awesome little creations. Work with your choice of materials: will you have green hills covered in modelling grass, or make a sandy desert temple next to an oasis? From colourful clay to carpentry supplies, we have every you need to realize the world of your dreams.

 

Instructor: Daniel Crawford

Lights, camera, action! Make your own movie, going through the entire creative process: write scripts, film the scenes, and edit it all together into the next big motion picture. Learn how to film with high-quality cameras and lighting rigs. Use special effects magic tricks like greenscreens. Make move magic!

Instructor: Al Romano

Origami is more than just folding paper; it’s a timeless art form that offers a unique blend of creativity and connection. In this activity, campers explore the fascinating world of origami, discovering its cultural significance and unlocking their creative potential. Learn fundamental folding techniques and explore a variety of traditional and contemporary designs. 

Instructor: Christian Ingelevics

Travel around Montreal to explore diverse cultural centers. Learn about the city and its people as you visit unique sites each day. In addition to gaining the rich experience provided by each location, you will be learning how to get around Montreal: mastering the public transit system is a valuable skillset that will serve you all through life!

This activity takes two periods in the morning, and it may also continue into the lunch period, as campers may visit a location with food offerings.

Instructor: Meaghan McNerney

In an era dominated by digital media, pixel art offers a unique avenue for self-expression and storytelling.
Participants will be guided through the entire creative process, from conceptualization to execution, honing their abilities to translate imaginative ideas into visually stunning pixel art. In this activity, campers will:

Master the Technical Craftsmanship of Pixel Art: Acquire a comprehensive skill set in pixel manipulation, mastering tools and techniques employed by professional digital artists.
Develop a Keen Artistic Eye: Understand the principles of color theory, composition, and design, enhancing the ability to create visually appealing and aesthetically pleasing pixel art.
Express Individual Creativity: Cultivate a personal artistic style, enabling students to express their unique perspectives and ideas through pixel art.
Apply Animation Principles: Learn the fundamentals of animation, translating static images into dynamic visual narratives through pixel-based motion.

Instructor: Pascal Lecurieux

 

Create a compelling podcast series. Talk about your favorite things and transfix your listeners. In this activity, you will learn how to plan, script, record, and edit your very own podcasts. Use our professional microphones and sound equipment to capture your voice in crystal clear tones. Then learn how to amplify your voice with digital enhancement techniques. In the end, you will have a short series of podcasts that you can share with friends and family.

Get your hands in the clay and create spectacular pottery pieces in this activity. The instructor will introduce the basics of working with clay, and then you’ll dive in to gain hands-on experience with techniques like banding, coiling, folding, rolling, stamping, and more.

Instructor: Jessica Lemus-Coto

Recreational Leadership is a great way for campers to bond, move, and explore, all while enjoying the outdoors! Campers explore creative games and activities that promote teamwork and discovery. At the same time, during their participation in these activities, campers will learn how to be great leaders through experience. Activities include scavenger hunts, map reading, and cooperative games in nearby parks. Campers in this activity also learn how to lead by working with junior campers, organizing and leading some group activities with them.

 

Instructor: Rachel Spencer

Create unique robots with Lego! Design robots to overcome challenges, coding them to think their way through obstacles. Learn how to use sensors and motors in order to build autonomous robots. In this activity, you will make robots that can dance, throw and catch, and fight sumo competitions. 

This activity will include all aspects of producing a show, as well as time spent on examining and reproducing the roots and history of music. It will include details and examples of historic and cultural values. This Activity welcomes to kids grade 4 and up who would like to put on a rock show (like the movie). They will learn about pacing a show, working with limitations, preparing details, and understanding the audience. Campers will be involved in all aspects of putting on a “Spectacle”—thinking and and then creating something cool and memorable. It will mean two intense weeks of prep and then showtime!

Instructor: Ian Hanchet

Show off your personal style with hand-sewn clothes, bags, and more. In this activity, you will learn how to use sewing machines to create fabulous projects with your choice of fabrics. Create clothing and accessories that complement your personal sense of fashion, or stitch together a doll to make a new friend that you can bring home. Learning about presentation, campers in this activity will get to display their work in a fashion show at the end of the two weeks.

 

Instructor: Morganna LeBlanc

Come play with Shakespeare’s words to learn why he is widely considered the greatest writer of all time. In this class, campers are introduced to samples from different plays by the immortal Bard. Topics include:
Emotions – Find the Words to Express Yourself
Songs – The Bard’s Use of Music
Jokes – Humor in both Comedy & Tragedy 
Insults – Sling Slurs with Style
Big Ideas – Timeless Thoughts that Inspire

Develop your dramatic personality! Each day, learners start this activity by playing a variety of fun acting games to improve performance skills. Learners also engage in solo and group writing exercises to create unique scripts, which they perform together. Groups make their own costumes and props, really bringing their production to life.

Want to produce, write and perform your sketch comedy, like Saturday Night Live or your favourite YouTube comedy channel? This class will give you the opportunity to try just that. With some instruction and examples, writing exercises, and group feedback, you’ll learn how to write a monologue joke and hilarious sketches. We will focus on commercial parodies and Saturday Night Live-type sketches. This is an intro-level sketch activity geared towards those who have never written sketch before. The final production will be our very own morning show: written, produced and performed by you. Anyone can write sketch comedy. Come on out and see for yourself!

Have fun dancing to lively, upbeat swing songs! Learn traditional dance steps like the Charleston, Jitterbug, Balboa, and Lindy Hop. Then break it up by improvising your own dance moves. Learn to match the timing of different song structures, so you can dance to anything with your stylish swing skills.

Make exciting 2D games with real-time action! Running and jumping through challenging obstacles, shooting and slashing through enemies — your character can move through any kind of world that you can imagine. Learn how to code movement, collisions, and the AI for non-player characters.

Instructor: Pascal Lecurieux

Create legendary heroes whose quests can change the universe! Perfect for campers who want to tell a story, Role Playing Games focus on world-building and character-creation. Will your game be set in a sci-world filled with tanks and helicopters, or a fantasy world of elves and orcs? Will your characters be wizards who fight with fire and ice, or warriors who take up the sword (or both)?

In this activity, you will learn to code puzzles, mazes, dialogue, weather events, cut-scenes, and turn-based combat. Use tools for creating unique characters and worlds, making it possible to build an epic game in just two weeks.

Instructor: Pascal Lecurieux

Whether you dream of publishing your own comics or simply want to explore the art of storytelling through images, this course is your opportunity to create and share your stories with the world.

In this activity, you will:
-Get inspired with legendary examples from the rich history of comics and graphic novels, from classic strips to current comics masters. 
-Discover the power of visual communication, including panel layout, character design, and the art of conveying emotions through illustrations.
-Explore a variety of artistic styles and mediums to find your unique visual voice.
-Learn about inking, coloring, shading, and how to create visually stunning pages.
-Delve into scriptwriting and character development, learning how to construct engaging plots and memorable personas. 
-Practice world-building, setting the stage for your story to come to life. 

You will be able to experiment with various ways of making images and text work together, discovering the ones that best suit your storytelling style. 

Instructor: Daniel Crawford

Use real carpentry tools to build awesome projects entirely out of wood. Learn to work with saws, screwdrivers and drills. This activity begins with lessons in safety and responsibility, then campers start with a project that uses all of the different tools: you will make a wooden car, with wooden wheels that actually roll! Once you have demonstrated that you know how to use the equipment properly, you can design your own projects. What wooden wonders will you bring home?

Start your day with a relaxing physical activity. Hatha Yoga is recommended for beginners as it’s a gentler form of yoga. A slower-moving class works well in every level of experience and it will also help to adapt the rhythm and pace of the practice to the group necessities. Mainly working on breathing, coordination, balance, strength and flexibility, allowing children to express themselves through body movement, have fun and reduce the chance of injury.

First-Friday Activities: One-Day Workshops

These activities take place on the first Friday of each session. They are a one-day workshop on a particular topic, giving campers the chance to try something new. There are recess breaks to give campers the opportunity to stay active throughout the day. Click each title for a description of the activity.

The future is here! Learn how 3D printers transform digital files into physical objects, and make your very own miniatures to print. Campers will be introduced to the 3D modelling software, and taught how to design anything from characters and creatures to buildings and vehicles.

Let your tastebuds travel to different countries by baking cookies from around the world! Campers will spend the day learning about the baking traditions of different countries and working together to make small batches of tasty treats.

This one-day tournament promises thrilling matches and camaraderie among fellow chess enthusiasts. The activity is intended for those who already know how to play chess, so that peers with an interest in the game get an opportunity to connect and compete with each other.

Make your own apps and games for phones and tablets. Learn how to code features unique to mobile devices, using features such as built-in cameras to make apps like Snapchat. This activity will guide campers through the different ways to code touch screens, and each camper will have made multimedia apps with these functions by the end of the day.

Sharpen your argumentation skills through a series of civil debates about serious issues. Develop your ability to understand multiple sides of an issue, and learn about the most pressing topics today.

Build an electric car, and test your construction against the competition in a race at the end of the day. Campers will work with carpentry tools to build their cars out of wood, and will use battery-powered motors to propel their cars down the track. 

In this fast-paced workshop, you will pitch your ideas like a reality show (Dragon’s Den, Shark Tank, Bear’s Lair, etc). Once the dust settles, campers will work together to prepare the most feasible business plans. The entrepreneurial plans will then be deployed the following week, during the final Friday showcase.

Express your personal fashion taste by creating your very own garments! You will design an item by going through all the steps of measuring yourself, cutting the cloth, sewing it together, and adding extras for style. Campers will learn about the fashion industry, and upcycling will be encouraged.

Get into character with a variety of fun improv games. This activity is perfect for those with dramatic personalities who like to laugh together, and also provides opportunities for more reserved campers to come out of their shell.

Engineer ballistas and catapults, then compete for glory in a series of competitions. Can you make the launcher that shoots furthest, or with the greatest accuracy? How much weight will you be able to throw? Learn about the technical parts of launchers and the physics of launching in this fun day of engineering challenges.

Learn about the developments that led to modern music. Listen to the hits that changed everything, and find out more about the musicians who influenced the songs we hear now. 

Tune into a scientific frequency as you learn about the physics and psychology of soundwaves. Conduct experiments that let you see sound, and put scientific theories to the test by making unique instruments.

Let your ideas take shape! Throughout the day, you will work with different materials to create unique sculptures in diverse styles.

Work together to overcome your opponents in cooperative videogames. Collaborate to develop your strategies, communicate to coordinate your actions, and come together in epic victories.

Make your first millions as you run a digital tycoon! Start a zoo, a rollercoaster theme park, or a videogame development company. In this one-day activity, you will play games to learn how big businesses work, gaining insights into real business practices and the fundamental structures of our capitalist society.

We now live in an age where AI can quickly perform many parts of a creative process. However, AI systems still need humans to prompt them. In this activity, you will become a director, learning how to prompt a variety of AI creation tools in order to produce your artistic vision.

Lunchtime Activities

These casual activities take place during the lunch hours of each session. They do not run for the entire lunch period, giving all campers a chance to get outside for lunchtime recess. These activities provide opportunities for campers to meet like-minded friends with similar interests. If a camper needs a break from activities, there is also an option to have the entire lunch period as free time.

Do you want to make a positive impact on the world? Learn how to spread your voice by producing zines, writing letters to politicians, and more. Take practical actions to help others through projects such as producing boxes of essential items to give to homeless people. This empowering activity will make you more aware of social problems and give you the ability to do something meaningful.

Play casual matches of chess over lunch. Get together with fellow chess enthusiasts for a chance to practice in a non-competitive environment.

Watch clips presented by a professional film instructor, then engage in group discussions. Share your ideas, and learn about technical and artistic aspects of filmmaking.

Sometimes it’s best to take a break from the activities to just socialize with friends during some free time. The cafeteria and outdoor yards are supervised places for campers to form their own groups and make their own fun during lunch.

The most traditional place for a LARP group to gather is in a tavern, over a hearty meal for heroes. In this activity, campers come together at lunchtime to inhabit a character of their own creation, and work together to enact a world of shared imagination.

One of the most common hobbies among campers, Magic: The Gathering is a card game that is known for its high level of strategy and its exquisitely rendered universe. Campers in this activity can bring a deck from home, or may use one of the decks at Explorations.

For youth in 2024, memes carry a cultural significance that is similar to adults talking about the news, weather, or sports games. This activity creates a space for campers to share their favourite videos, songs and images. They can discuss trending topics in memes, and talk about the funniest things they have found online. The activity leader ensures that content stays within reasonable limits, and also that everyone gets an equal chance to share the media that they find most meaningful.

Each morning, campers in the Invent-a-Sport main activity will create a new sport; it will then be played by the campers in the Sport of the Day lunchtime activity. So get ready to gear up for some crazy games that only kids could dream of, playing new sports daily.

The most famous lunchtime activity at Explorations! This exhilarating form of dodgeball is a free-for-all of frenetic fun, where players can get back in the game after being eliminated. 

Show off your knowledge by competing in a daily trivia contest. Topics vary widely and change from day to day, providing opportunities for campers with many different knowledge bases to engage.