Hidden City Bike Adventure Camp - Jane/Bloor

Our Day Camp is Different

The Hidden City Day Camp is a unique combination of:

• Activity (cycling)
• Discovery
• Inspiration

Each day is a cool bike hike in the city that will spark a further love for Toronto. Exploring the city by bike will give campers the opportunity to see the city differently as they discover “hidden” areas and aspects of Toronto that they may not have seen or known about before. Campers will be inspired by the places they visit and the people they meet. They will get a better sense of what it takes to make the city go each day, and what future role they might like to play in the running of the city.

Everyday is an Amazing Experience

They will see… “hidden” places and processes in the city and learn what makes them a cool and important part of everyday life in Toronto.

They will meet… "makers or shakers" in fields such as industrial design, aerospace, urban farming, special effects and more. Campers will learn what these Torontonians love about their work, how they help make the city the place that it is, and how they are shaping what the city will be in the future.

They will do… “hands-on” activities that put them in the shoes of the people they meet so they can experience firsthand what it’s like to be a “maker or a shaker.”

They will ride… their bikes throughout the city, exploring new worlds and developing an innate feel for how the city’s diversity of urban, park, water and neighbourhoods stitch together to form the amazing mosaic we call Toronto.

A Typical Day Would Be…

Every day of camp will kick off with an intriguing question. The purpose is to spark conversation amongst the campers about that day’s Hidden City theme. For example, it could be, “Does anyone know how water from Lake Ontario ends up coming out of the tap at your home?”

Possible answers to the question will be discussed by the group and then the leaders and campers will jump on their bikes, ride out to a new neighbourhood, and meet up with a “maker or shaker” to hear and see what the answer is. Campers will learn about the role this person plays and why what they do matters to the city. Then they will get to put themselves in the ‘shoes of a shaker’ by participating in a hands-on activity/simulation derived from a ‘real world’ situation. The experiential portion of the bike hike will encourage creative thinking, teamwork and practical application of what the campers have learned earlier in the day.

Once the hands-on activity is completed, the leaders and campers will pedal back to the morning meeting spot, inspired and with a better understanding of the day’s topic.