Spring Break Day Camp

A forest school in the heart of Montréal!

March 3 to 7, 2025

The winter camp program “Tell Me About the Forest” offers children aged 4 to 12 the opportunity to maximize their time outdoor during the spring break. Through storytelling and art activities, children will cultivate their curiosity, creativity, and wonder about the natural world. Free play will also be highlighted, allowing us to move and let loose!

A program of stimulating and inspiring activities has been planned in line with Jardin William's founding values.

Autonomy - Fun - Cooperation - Respect

Little Owls and Big Caribous

During the Jardin William winter camp, we welcome children at 9 a.m. every morning, and activities are planned until 4 p.m. A drop-in service for parents who need to pick up or drop off their children early is also available, at a cost of $10 per time slot.

The program is offered in French and English. Educators will adapt to the children's level.

Little Snow Owls with Kathryn

• 7 spots (age 4 to 7)

Big Caribous with Ansona

• 8 spots (age 8 to 12)

Tell Me About the Forest

Tell Me About the Forest is an opportunity for children and their families to redefine their experience of the forest in an urban environment. In their own words, and through artistic practices, they get to express what the forest means to them. Together, we learn to look at, understand, relate to, respect and care for the beings - human, animal and plant - that inhabit our green spaces. We learn to belong to the natural environment that surrounds us.

In a context of climate crisis and performance-driven society, we are choosing to take our time. We want every child to dream and have fun, while developing their physical literacy, manual skills and ecological knowledge. We want to build communities that encourage access to the outdoors, regardless of social class, gender, cultural background or physical ability.

By moving around and meeting others, human or otherwise, we recharge our batteries and marvel, find ourselves again and build on our strengths. New ideas are formed, memories and stories are woven, and a vision of a new world emerges.

Free play

Jardin William's winter camp and the Tell Me About the Forest program see children as their own guides to learning. Free play is an important part of our program. Outdoor free play offers children the opportunity to develop their imagination and creativity, take risks and test their limits, develop their resourcefulness, get moving, soothe their nervous system thanks to nature's benefits, gain independence and learn to collaborate with their peers.

Invitations to create and imagine

Storytelling

Throughout the day, through play and encounters with other beings that inhabit our urban forest, we'll tell stories and invent some more together. Stories are the cornerstone of our program. They lead us to question ourselves, to cultivate a sense of belonging to a group and a territory, to reconsider our prejudices, to assert our identity. Stories help children to learn technical skills, such as building shelters or learning to tie knots. They infuse meaning into our artistic creations, make our group games more fun, fuel conversations and free-play sessions. Finally, stories are an extraordinary vehicle for learning more about the first peoples of North America, traditionally known as Turtle Island, about the history of our territory and about the natural world. They connect us with the world.

Nature arts and crafts

The Tell Me About the Forest program aims to give children more time to explore their creativity, while spending time in nature. As the digital world takes up more and more space in our lives, less and less time is allocated to activities that require manual skills and that has us experience with matter. Like our stories, our daily invitations to create are rooted in a desire to make wonder a daily practice. Our activities allow us to learn more about the plant and mineral materials around us, while having fun at the same time. They spark curiosity through crafting or scientific experiments that help us learn more about natural phenomena.

Movement

Modern sedentary lifestyles and long hours at school don't always allow us to let off steam and move around as much as we'd like. At Camp Jardin William, movement is a priority. Free play, group activities, walking and yoga-inspired games are important components of our program.

Specialized activities

Specialized activities will be offered to Little Owls and Big Caribous throughout the week!

• Tracking
• Shelter building
• Snow sculptures
• Slidding and active games
• Arts and crafts
• Cooking
• And more!