CONNECTING DADS AND KIDS
Celebrating the unique bond between dads and kids, Adventure Guides is a wonderful way for fathers and children to share entertaining, age-appropriate activities. This program allows for uninterrupted time to connect, tune into needs, and show pride and affection. More than ever, families need Y programs to help stay connected. Adventure Guides gives kids and dads the opportunity to spend quality time together and strengthen their relationship. Plus, they become part of a community committed to teaching kids critical life skills and the importance of serving others. Everyone is welcome in Adventure Guides. Through the generosity of our donors, we provide scholarship assistance so that families in need can participate.
If you would like to inquire about joining or have any questions about the program, please reach out to an Adventure Guides Director at adventureguides@ymcacharlotte.org or by calling (704) 716-4118.
Join a Crew
Start a wonderful adventure together.
New members, with children ages 5-8, join crews with five to ten father/child pairs that live in the same geographic area. Father/son pairs are placed in Guides crews; and father/daughter pairs in Princess crews.
If your child is over the age of nine, you may join an existing crew with similar age children if space is available for new members. Contact our Adventure Guides staff for help in finding available options.
Adventure Guides Interest Form
Start a New Crew
Gather a group of five to ten dads with same gender and age children.
Most crews find members in their neighborhood, in their school, in their church, on sports teams or in dance classes. Utilize neighborhood social media pages or church/school bulletin boards and newsletters to build interest. Attend neighborhood family events. Ask your child’s friends from school to join. It is helpful to live in the same zip code.
Adventure Guides gives dads a chance to see and influence their child's interaction with other kids. The program also gives the child a chance to see their dad lead and interact with other dads. It's a great social learning and development opportunity and - oh, by the way - it creates fun memories that last a lifetime!
— Sassy Strawberry, Advenutre Guides Director
Adventure Guides has been one of the coolest things I have done with my daughter. She gets excited about all the activities, whether it's a Princess Date Night, an overnight camping trip or just a monthly event with our tribe. And I get excited to see how much she enjoys it, and how it helps bring us that much closer together. Adventure Guides has taught her different life lessons, whether it's the value of some of the charity work our tribe has done or the confidence she's developed after scaling a climbing wall. We'll be back next year for our third year doing this, and my rising kindergartner is very excited that come fall, she will finally get her chance.
— Waterfall Tiger, Adventure Guides Father
Events
Keep Your Crew Wanting More
We host Signature Events throughout the year for dads and kids to enjoy time together and connect with other crews across our area. Register online for these events as individuals, not as a crew.
Outings are Signature Events that occur at an area camp. We schedule these annual weekend camp adventures in the fall and spring. These weekends provide quality time for dads and kids together with their crew plus award presentations and plenty of activities. Activities vary from camp to camp and include:
- Archery and Riflery
- Challenge Course
- Climbing Wall
- Crafts
- Fishing
- Group Games
- Hiking
- Horseback
- Paintball
- Skeet Shooting
- Waterfront: Canoes, Paddle Boards, Tubing, Swimming
- Zip Line
We encourage all Adventure Guides crews to attend at least one Outing together twice a year. Most returning crew Outings begin on Friday night and end on Sunday morning. Participants choose to stay one or two nights. Crews bunk together in cabins.
Every fall, we offer special one-night Outings for first-year crews at YMCA Camp Thunderbird.
Tradition
Traditions help bring a sense of continuity, community, intrigue and magic to Adventure Guides.
Each dad and child chooses an Adventure Guides name which they use in the program. These are like camp nicknames.
Each dad and child chooses to purchase a vest to wear at meetings and events. The vest displays the patches that you earn and receive during each year of participation. Your vest becomes a wonderful memento of all the memories you create at Adventure Guides. Other program attire is optional.
At each Outing, a fun magical ceremony adds to the intrigue and continuity of the program. This ceremony combines awards and special private moments between a dad and a child. This evening ceremony is a highlight for all participants.
History
How it all started.
The YMCA Indian Guides Program was developed in a deliberate way to support a father's vital role as teacher, counselor and friend to his son. The program was initiated by Harold S. Keltner, Director of the YMCA in St. Louis. With the help of his friends – Joe Friday, an Ojibuway Indian and William H. Hefelfinger, chief of the first Indian Guides tribe – Harold organized the first tribe in Richmond Heights, Missouri in 1926.
The Y-Indian Princess Program was an outgrowth of the Indian Guides Program. It enabled fathers and their daughters to participate together in a variety of activities that nurtured mutual understanding, love and respect. The first Y-Indian Princesses Program was formed in the Fresno, California YMCA in 1954. Today, as then, the Princess Program affords a wonderful opportunity for the concerned and busy father to facilitate growth in a daughter's development and an understanding of the world around her. The father's role nurtures his daughter in developing self-esteem, confidence in her peers and appreciation for the differences in people and families.
The program has recently been renamed to Adventure Guides.
Give to Adventure Guides
When you give to Adventure Guides, you make our community better through life-changing experiences for dads and kids.