My son, he is 8 going on 9, and he loves canoeing. All year he will ask “When are we going on the next canoe camping trip?” He has been camping since he was 6 months old, and I am so happy that he loves it. This year we are buying a canoe, and he needs to learn the canoe strokes.
I get updates from the Canadian Canoe Museum, and this past update showed there was a canoe paddle day camp. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for my son. He can be stubborn (just like his mom), and we find that he has a better time learning certain skills from a third party. That meant for the day we headed to Peterborough just for him to attend this day camp. There is not much in our area for these types of camps, and I actually do not mind driving to Peterborough. It is a lovely place and I get to explore and even shop for items for our future trips.
Drop off happened at 9 am, and only four kids in the program. Awesome! Lots of great one-on-one instructions. Pick up happens at 4, so lots of time for me to get things done (that’s another post LOL).
At pick up, I was able to catch him swimming and jumping into the river near the rowing club, and hear about how strong of a paddler he was. The other great part was that he received a Safe Canoeing patch from ORCKA (Ontario Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association). On the ride home, he was telling me how he learned to paddle forwards, backwards, complete a draw, pry, pivot, side displacement and do circles. All great skills for when he will be out with us.
So, can we see a future canoe paddling career building? Maybe even getting more certification (like him mom) down the road?! I sure hope so. I’d love to hear about your experiences with your kids and how you introduce them to the canoeing world!