Children's Eco Programs

Are you ready? Have you looked up your Registration Barcodes? Do you have your Family & Client Numbers ready? Most importantly … do you have enough coffee on hand (or refreshing beverage of choice!)!? This Saturday, March 5th City of Toronto Registration opens for spring and summer recreation programs located in Etobicoke/York District at 7 am.

That’s right Etobicoke/York FUN Guide Program Registration starts at 7 am on Saturday, March 5th, 2016!

So as our biannual tradition goes … it’s time for Registration Preparation! Below you will find plenty of tips and tricks to get you through the registration process (for any City of Toronto Recreation Program) as smoothly as possible.

Click here for Barcodes for Eco Camp Day Camp Programs in High Park

Click here for our Spring Cooking with Veggies Programs at the High Park Teaching Kitchen

Click here for our list of Spring Edible Cosmetics Workshops for Youth

For those of you wondering how the City of Toronto’s Recreation Program Registration process actually works here’s a little run-down:

• Each district has it’s own registration start date. For Etobicoke/York it’s Saturday, March 5th starting at 7 am (for other district dates click here). Anyone from across the city can register for a program in that district on the start date.
• You have six options for registering for Rec/FUN Guide Programs. Click here for a description and instructions on how to register for City of Toronto Recreation Programs. For our programs we suggest using the phone (416-338-4FUN (4386) or touch-tone 416-338-0000) or going online in order to have the greatest chance at registering your camper.
• Our available programming space (especially indoor space) is fairly small so our program size is quite limited. We would love to have hundreds of kids join us for Eco Camp each week but there’s only so much Garden. Also note many other Community and Recreation Centres have issues with space and are unable to hold as many programs as they (and the community) would like.
• If you do miss out on our Eco Camp we offer a free  Thursday morning drop-in program throughout July & Aug from 10 am to Noon. So please stop by and experience a bit of what our programs are all about!
• A note about online registration. It can seem impossible to get onto the online registration site on the first day of registration. There is a reason for that … The City of Toronto wants to ensure fair access to programming for all individuals. So there are only a certain number of people allowed to register online at any given time on the first day of registration in each district. This allows people without access to computers (or high speed internet) an equal opportunity to register through the phone. The City of Toronto is committed to ensuring accessibility to our programs for all residents of Toronto.

Another Turtle Break to Cleanse Your Mind Before the Important Stuff!

Now that you know the background info, here’s our yearly guide to registering for Summer Camp or any other popular city program. There are a few things you can do to make Registration Day a little easier for you! Here is a list of things to prepare for ahead of time:

1. One of the most important tips we can give you is to fully register for all camps first … then at a later time register for any extended care you might need. There will always be enough room in the Eco Camp (and any camp) Extended Care for every camper registered so you can sign up for it at any time.
2. Start by finding your City of Toronto FUN Guide Registration Family and Client Numbers. If you can’t find them or you’ve never registered for a City of Toronto Recreation Program before please call 416-338-4FUN (4386) and a Customer Service Representative can help you (it’s important to do this ahead of time so you don’t waste time on Sat., Mar. 5th!).
3. Once you are set to register you can print out or write down the barcodes for each program you are interested in. Barcodes for our Cooking Programs Are Here and for our Eco Camp Programs Click Here. Keep all of your Client/Family numbers and Barcodes together in a safe (but not too “safe” 🙂 ) place for registration day
4. Bookmark the Registration Information Page where you can launch the Online Registration Site.
5. Just before 7 am on Saturday morning (Mar. 5th) dial into 416-338-0000 (for touch tone registration) or 416-338-4386 (actual human being) and launch the Online Registration Site. This way you can start hitting redial/refresh right at 7am. It will take a few tries … make sure to be awake enough to stop redialing/refreshing when you finally get in! (I’m guessing if you’re signing up for our Sprouts Camp you’re most likely awake at that time anyhow!).
6. Once you’re in the system move quickly but not so fast you make mistakes. Also note that the Online Registration Site will timeout if you leave it alone for too long (and when I say too long … I’m talking less than 5 minutes).
7. Please remember to mark on your calendar what weeks your camper is attending Eco Camp … we often have a number of last-minute cancellations and are unable to fill the spot even though our wait lists are often quite long! 
8. Once registered you will receive a Camper Information Package in the mail sometime late in April or early May. This package contains forms that need to be filled out and sent back before camp starts and a Parent Handbook to give you all the info you need to know about sending your Eco Camper to camp. Please fill out the forms and send them back by the date stated on the package!
9. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions or kidsgrow at toronto dot ca (spelled out to reduce spam).

 

A couple other things for your Registration morning checklist:

1. Coffee, Tea or hot beverage of choice (for us non-morning folk … put everything out the night before so you can wake up just before 7 with caffeine available! For morning folk … please tell me your secret!  How do you do it!?)
2. Calendar and/or Datebook – The first week of Camp in 2016 is July 4 to 8.
3. Scrap paper, pen/pencil and/or printer for confirmation codes, etc.
4. Don’t forget to write it down on the calendar, once registered!
5. Having someone else around to cook you breakfast while you wait … certainly can’t hurt 😉

Good Luck Everyone and We Hope To See You At Camp This Summer!