Today, the number of recreational pursuits that revolve around water is growing; it therefore becomes increasingly crucial for a child to master swimming. At Camp Winnebagoe, instructional classes are designed to teach swimming both as a skill of survival and as a recreational sport. Campers are assisted by qualified instructors who are thoroughly versed in the Red Cross and Royal Life Saving Society techniques.

Assisted by instructors who are certified by the Ontario Water Ski Association, any child able to pass the camp's swimming test can enjoy the excitement of water skiing. Like all activities at Camp Winnebagoe, water-skiing is taught to novices and the more advanced with techniques that suit the individual's ability and progress. Because of their popularity, knee-boarding & wake-boarding are also part of this program.

Camp Winnebagoe offers sailing, not only as a skill demanding both thought and physical co-ordination, but as an experience whose success depends largely on co-operation with others. If they desire, campers may also enjoy other water sports. Canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, surf-biking, peddle-boating and fishing are available to campers of all ages.

Recognized as one of the experiences most inherent to camping, canoe-tripping is offered as both an outdoor skill and a co-operative adventure. Led by trained staff, trips are taken to some of Ontario's most magnificent lakes where campfires by night and paddling by day forge memories long remembered.

Our youngest campers enjoy an overnight trip not too far from camp but far enough away to appreciate a night spent under the stars.

As an adjunct to our Canoe-tripping Program, Winnebagoe’s Outdoor Recreation Program is designed to teach the basic skills of outdoor living. Building a campfire, setting up tents, cooking outdoors, tree identification, the rudiments of astronomy, and orienteering are all part of this activity. Hiking along nature trails and overnight camping trips further enhance these skills. However, making Smores and roasting marshmallows over an open fire is still the most popular part of it all!

Living in the outdoors can best be experienced outside the urban setting. Surrounded by the natural beauty of northern Ontario, each of our youngest cabins participates in an overnight trip where packing up gear and sleeping bags, preparing meals over a campfire, and sleeping beneath an arc of stars become part of their earliest camp memories. Older campers spend longer amounts of time on canoe-trips, paddling the lakes of Algonquin Park, Temagami, Killarney and the Haliburton Highlands. These outdoor adventures educate in various ways. Besides improving skills in handling a canoe and co-operating as a member of a group, living in uncontaminated, pristine surroundings provides these future adults with an increased respect for nature and an awareness of the need for environmental protection.

Tennis skills are honed on six full-sized courts. Our qualified instructors ensure that campers at all stages of proficiency are exposed to the intricacies of this sport.

Learning to ride English-style is one of the most exciting and challenging programmes offered at Camp Winnebagoe. In two large rings, campers are taught the basics of walking, trotting, cantering and galloping and for the more advanced, the techniques of dressage and jumping. Grooming, tacking and feeding the horses are also included as part of the sport of riding.

Young artisans can participate in a wide range of creative activities at Camp Winnebagoe. Our brand new, (2003), well-equipped Arts and Crafts center has ample facilities and instruction in such varied skills as copper-enamelling, tie-dying, batik, candle-making, silk-screen printing, macramé, beading, painting and sketching. The ceramics area, equipped with wheels and kilns, offers campers the opportunity to expand their creative talents while learning the techniques of pottery and sculpture.

An individual skill, riflery is taught in a highly disciplined, very safe environment. Under the watchful eyes of qualified instructors, target shooting is conducted with quiet and focused concentration.

For those campers interested in the theatre, there is the opportunity to participate in such varied fare as Broadway musical productions, talent shows, cabin skit nights, and set and costume design. A major musical production is staged by each unit in camp and these performances are always among the highlights of the summer.

Located in the center of camp, the basketball court has six fully adjustable backboards which allow campers of all ages and ability levels to participate in this popular sport.

A newly surfaced court encircled by four-foot high boards provides campers with a choice of ball-hockey or roller-blade hockey. Protective gear is mandatory for those using roller-blades.

Situated behind the basketball courts – not on the beach! – this great facility is the perfect venue for a game that is consistently enjoyed by all.

Our athletic field, which sits conveniently in the middle of camp, is an ongoing hub of activity.

Baseball, soccer, parachute games, dodge-ball and other field games all take place here.