A camp has set up in the city and it's putting the kids in charge. The Young Explorers Yoga and Nature Camp is run by camp leader Natasha McCagg, but it is the children that decide what the day's agenda will be each morning.
"We could sort of make it all about the kids and they could say and that they were the ones looking outside and scanning the weather and deciding what was possible that day," said McCagg.
"Because you get better buy-in if the kids are doing the things that they want to be doing."
The camp, for children aged four to 12, begins each morning with the children practicing "quiet, mindful activities," such as colouring and completing puzzles before they practice yoga for a minimum of 20 minutes.
However, once they have completed their first yoga session of the morning, McCagg said the children then decide what outdoor activities they will do for the rest of the day.
'Engage in various games'
"We spend a lot of time outside, we picnic outside, we snack outside, we craft outside, we engage in various games and play and do activities. We use all the spaces available to us downtown that are free and open for kids to play in," said McCagg.
Allowing the children to choose what activities they do on their outdoor adventures, lets the children have more freedom than they're used to, according to McCagg.
She says that the idea of the camp is to stop children from hearing the word 'no' so much.
"The other day we were out doing a hike at Niven Lake and one of the campers said 'oh we cant be on the rocks,' and I said 'why can't we be on the rocks? We can be on the rocks if were making safe decisions and engaging in safe play'," said McCagg.
The idea to get the kids outdoors and doing activities that they chose to do also serves the purpose of raising active leaders in the community.
She said the camps can show kids that they can have fun while outdoors at a time where younger people are spending more and more time in front of different screens.
"I know a lot of folks spend a lot of time indoors, sleeping, gaming, watching TV, and you don't have to take my word for it, you just have to look at the stats right, the stats for how sedentary they're becoming," said McCagg.
"So lets create something for a limited amount of time that will encourage that demographic to come out and
do something different."
For those that missed the first two yoga camps, there will be one final camp this summer named Kid's Creative Yoga Camp which will take place the last week of August.
McCagg has also held day camps in the winter during school professional development days.
The camp is based out of RePose Yoga Studio on 50 Street.