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YMCA Adventure Guides is designed for a father and his child (AK-3rd grade).

In YMCA Adventure Guides , the focus is on the parent’s role as a guide in a child’s life. Parents lead, direct, supervise, influence, and teach while presenting opportunities for children to explore the world around them. They lead by example as they set their children on a path through life. In the early years, the program experience begins as a side-by-side journey for a parent and child, until the children are launched into more advanced, independent activities.

In the YMCA Adventure Guides program, the journey happens within the context of a small Circle community. The Circle is the program’s basic group unit, providing a structure, a sense of community, and support for all group activities. Adventure Guides (parents) and Explorers (children) meet in Circles twice a month and participate in Expedition adventures (e.g., overnight camping) throughout the year.

Program Goals

Foster companionship and understanding; set a foundation for positive, lifelong relationships between parent and child.

Build a sense of self-esteem and personal worth.

Expand awareness of spirit, mind, and body.

Provide a framework to meet the mutual needs of parents and children for spending enjoyable, constructive, and quality time together.

Enhance the quality of family time.

Emphasize the vital role that a parent plays in the growth and development of a child.

Offer an important and unique opportunity to develop and enjoy volunteer leadership skills.

Program Purpose

To foster understanding and companionship between parent and child.

Program Aims

To be clean in body and pure in heart
To be friends forever with my dad/mom/son/daughter
To love the sacred circle of my family
To listen while others speak
To love my neighbor as myself
To respect the traditions and beliefs of all people
To seek and preserve the beauty of Our Creator’s work in forest, field, and stream

Program Theme

At the forefront of the program are the compass points. The compass points lend an inspiration for activities but also provide a framework from which to build an adventure theme. The compass-points approach retains the program’s focus on strengthening parent-child relationships through small Circle communities while participating in activities that help meet the program’s objectives. The four main directional points on the compass are the essential components of the program:

The Family is True North—the focal point of the program.

Nature and the camping experience are integral parts of the program.

The spirit of the program is experienced through belonging to a small community called a Circle.

Fun is the magic of the program.

The YMCA core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility make up the other directional points. Along the journey, adults should model, teach, and demonstrate these values. They also should give children many opportunities to practice and celebrate these values and to discuss behavior that is inconsistent with the values. Initially, these values will provide guidance in helping children select activities, make decisions, and decide on an appropriate course of action, both within the program and in all aspects of their lives. Ideally, as children grow, these values will become their own internal compasses. Please contact us for more information.