We are launching our Walk into Summer program, we have our registration live please click HERE if you would like to register for the program.
Details about the program: Its free! No commitment, you do what you can when you can and submit the information to us using a google form on Friday evenings after you are done your exercise for the week! All activity counts, walking, running, skating, swimming. Your goal is to walk 15,000 steps daily to increase activity. National physical activity guidelines are suggesting 10,000 steps per day – but we want to try to get you moving more since the weather is warming up and we are Walking into Summer! You can do whatever you want, please don’t feel like if you haven’t hit your 15k steps you are failing, submit to us anyway on the form regardless if you do 500 steps a week or 180k steps per week.
Your first submission will be on Friday April 1, for the submission form please click HERE. This program will run from April 1 to July 1st.
For our shared spreadsheet to track your own numbers please click HERE, we will update the week following the submission date to be released.
If you would like to join our Facebook walking group please click HERE.
If you need a converting program for your activities please click HERE.
Wondering what’s going on? We have activities for everyone! Registration for all programs opens on Monday March 7th @ noon.
Monday – Sponsored swim @ Mariners on Main in partnership with Argyle Recreation. No cost to you, registration is required. Please click THIS LINK to register. Spots are limited. Kids under 7 need to be accompanied by an adult. Kids 8-11 years need to be accompanied by someone 15+. Participant cap of 25. Time slot: 12-1pm. This submission does not confirm your spot, we will call you to confirm.
Tuesday – Sponsored Skate @ the Mariners Centre in partnership with Argyle Recreation 1-2pm. No registration needed.
Wednesday – Sponsored swim @ Mariners on Main in partnership with Argyle Recreation. No cost to you, registration is required. Please click THIS LINK to register. Spots are limited. Kids under 7 need to be accompanied by an adult. Kids 8-11 years need to be accompanied by someone 15+. Participant cap of 25. Time slot: 12-1pm. This submission does not confirm your spot, we will call you to confirm.
Thursday – Sponsored Skate @ the Mariners Centre in Partnership with Argyle Recreation 1-2pm. No registration needed.
Friday – Sponsored bowling @ Brunswick Lanes. Limited spots, this is on a first come first serve basis. Please click THIS LINK to register. Time slot: 1-2pm. This submission does not confirm your spot, we will call you to confirm.
Friends of Ellenwood Park is having a March break scavenger hunt! Theme: Spring Cleaning When: March 13-17 Fee: none Location: Ellenwood Provincial Park To submit your photos from the challenge (once it is released on their website) send an email with your photos to tanya@district.yarmouth.ns.ca For more details please visit them on Facebook or their Website
**We will be postponing the start of the Heritage Day Walk to Tuesday February 15th due to weather. You can walk the Forchu River Trail at any time, but we will not have the trivia set up until 4:30pm on Tuesday.***
For Heritage Day this year we are changing things up!
This year for our trivia we will be doing a healthy living, physical activity challenge. As you walk the trail you will see different laminated sheets hanging in the trees, we will have 24 signs placed around the trail, they will be numbered so if one is missing you aren’t looking for it for too long. There will also be a few bonus challenges added to the cards which you can participate in and take pictures of to add to your submission for bonus points.
We will be releasing our trail map on Social Media by February 14th. The trail will be marked with different heritage day trivia for you to answer, and submit to sara@district.yarmouth.ns.ca by February 20th.
The Heritage Day Trivia Trail can be walked any time after noon on the 14th-20th so we have less people grouped together at one time, keep in mind if you meet another group we will be asking you to follow social distancing rules – we want you to be active, but keeping in mind the current pandemic we also want you to be safe.
Have fun, be safe, get active!
« Pour la Journée du Patrimoine cette année, nous faisons des changements! »
Cette année, pour le trivia, nous aurons un défi de manger bien et de faire de l’activité physique. En marchant le sentier, vous verrez des pages laminées suspendues d’un arbre. Nous aurons 24 affiches le long du sentier. Elles seront numérotées alors s’ils en manquent, vous n’aurez pas longtemps à chercher. Il y aura également quelques défis bonis ajoutés aux affiches dans lesquels vous pouvez participer and prendre des photos pour ajouter à votre soumission pour des points bonis.
Nous publierons la carte du sentier sur les médias sociaux par le 14 février. Le sentier sera marqué avec du trivia que vous pouvez répondre et soumettre à sara@district.yarmouth.ns.ca par le 20 février.
Vous pouvez marcher le sentier trivia de la Journée du Patrimoine après midi du 14 au 20 février afin que moins de gens soient regroupés en même temps. SVP notez que si vous rencontrez un autre groupe, on vous demande de garder la distanciation sociale. Nous voulons que vous soyez actifs mais étant donné la pandémie, nous voulons que vous soyez en sécurité.
« Ayez du fun, soyez prudents, devenez actifs! »
To access the trivia you can start at the Public Works Building (please do not block access of the workers by parking at Public Works. There is more parking at the Tennis Courts and Maple Grove**) at 103 Cemetery Road, OR park at Maple Grove and start at that portion of the trail. The answers do not need to be done in sequence, but make sure they are all numbered when submitted. IE: if you don’t see the marked entrance and see #23 – start there and walk the loop.
We are happy to say that we are starting After the Bell back up tomorrow, January 26th!
There are a few changes, we will need the participants to wear their masks throughout the program unless we are outside in an activity. We need to adhere to the current restriction guidelines and keep distancing, we will also be sanitizing between activities, as well we need to see current proof of vaccination.
We will meet the participants outside of Maple Grove at the bell @ 3:20pm and walk with them to the Hebron Recreation Complex, please pick up the participants @ 5:30pm.
If school is cancelled due to weather then the program is also cancelled for that day.
For any participants who aren’t currently registered please register at the office at Maple Grove, or on our online form.
We look forward to seeing everyone!
**This program is for persons identifying as female at Maple Grove Education Centre.
Did you know that there is a lot of research on how caring for a plant can have positive impacts on your mental health?
Here at Yarmouth Recreation we recognize that through the pandemic we have all had to be inside, stay put and a great outlet has been through nature on trails. This has been our goal, to get you outside and get you more active to increase your happy endorphins.
So Biophilia? What does this mean? “Biophilia is defined as the innate human instinct to connect with nature and other living beings. The term is derived from the Greek words for “life” and “love or affection;” making its literal translation “love of life.” This concept is foundational to biophilic design, which utilizes natural materials, patterns, and phenomena to maintain a connection to nature within the built environment. Biophilia is more than just a philosophy—biophilic design has been found to support cognitive function, physical health, and psychological well-being.” – Source
For our new program we want to help you by helping you connect to nature in your own space. Plants can be expensive and not everyone can afford them, but the mental health benefits are something that we would like to share with as many people as we can.
Our program: We want you to register on this FORM This program is running on a “while supplies last” basis, so register quick! We have different types of succulents, and some house plants we want to give to you to help with your mental health in this second year of Covid. These plants will be babies and starter plants for you. There is no charge for this program. If you register for this program you will need to make an appointment to come in and pick up your plant at the Municipal Building in Hebron, we will not be doing deliveries. There will be one plant given per submission on the form, please do not register multiple times as we would like to spread the plant therapy to as many people as we can. We will reach out when we have our final list, and our plants ready to go! This program will run for registration until February 1, and we will be handing out our plants within the month of February. Think of it as an early dose of spring!
Note: These plants will be starter plants, babies we have taken off different plants (they will be easy care). While you care for your plants we would love to see them grow by having you share them on our Yarmouth Recreation Facebook Page, or Tag us, or share in our Healthy Lifestyle Challenge group!
Congratulations for completing a year of walking programs through Yarmouth Recreation! We started off with Walk Fundy, then moved into Yarmouth to Yarmouth, into the Trail Walk Challenge and watched people increase their activity and commit to themselves for a full year! And we are SO PROUD of you!
So what makes this Challenge different?
We are increasing your step goal per day to 12,000. Physical Activity Guidelines have steps listed at 10,000 per day – which is still an amazing goal! But – it’s been a year, its time to spice things up a little.
We will also be including a healthy recipe component, we want YOU to submit your healthy recipes or things you think would be delicious and healthy, maybe a little deviation from your current diet – and help people become more aware of healthier nutrition choices. One of Sara’s favorite sayings is “you can’t out train a bad diet.” So if you’re going to put in the work, you need to fuel that body with some good nutrients. We do not have a dietitian on staff so this is just a loose interpretation of healthier meals, we want to help you but you should consult a professional if you have more complex needs or questions. Where to submit these recipes? Right in our Facebook Walking Group
Not sure if you want to join or think these goals are too much? Don’t worry about that! We still want to help, increase your step count by 100 per day, and slowly work your way up. The best part about these challenges are that you get to pace yourself for your own activity level. Do only walks count? No – all activity that you can track counts, whatever your fitness tracker, phone or pedometer counts during the day is what you submit as your days total. How do submissions work? There will be a form linked at the bottom of this blog (we will also include a link on the Facebook Group that you can access) that will link you to a form with Fridays listed until April 1, all you do is submit your total for the week – the previous Saturday through to Friday evening. Once the submissions are sent in we will put all the data on a spreadsheet and share that with you, while helping motivate as you move through milestones.
How to sign up? All you have to do is click THIS LINK and fill out the form, late to sign up? Not an issue, we still want to help you so just start submitting your steps when you decide to join this journey with us!
We are looking forward to welcoming our summer coordinator staff back in the next few weeks. Their first priority is planning fun, active and safe activities and events for youth, families and the whole community! We will be making all information available on our website and Facebook Page as it comes available. We are aiming to open registration on June 5th so please stay tuned!
