YMCA Children's Discovery Centre

New Programs Available

Check out the New Child & Youth Programs. These 6-week programs are offered for the winter season.

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• How do you turn wind into power?


• Why did dinosaurs die off?


• What makes muscles move?

Answers to these questions are discovered by children every day through the many interactive exhibits and programs offered at the YMCA Children's Discovery Centre. As of September 2007, the YMCA of Niagara assumed operational responsibility for the Centre on behalf of the Children's Discovery Centre of Niagara Board.

The Centre offers four main services:

School Age Curriculum
Thousands of students have gained from the Science and Technology school curriculum based workshops offered at the Discovery Centre. The workshops designed for specific grades include such topics as Life Systems, Energy, Dinosaurs, Structures & Mechanisms, Earth & Space Systems and more.

Workshop leaders provide students with a hands-on, interactive, learning experience that can't be duplicated in a classroom setting. The workshops are offered both inside the Centre for topics such as Energy and Dinosaurs, or outside utilizing the Wetland Pond and surrounding park setting for topics such as Habitats & Communities.

Child & Youth Programs
New for this winter, the Children's Discovery Centre will offer 6-week programs after school and weekends. These programs for 6 to 12 year olds will consist of hands on experiences, experiments, crafts and more.

Family Visits
Promoting family togetherness, fun and learning, many parents or grandparents with young children enjoy casual use of the Centre on a drop-in or membership basis. Children often revisit their favourite exhibit and engage in casual play facilitated by parents and Centre staff. Birthday parties take on a special twist at the Centre.

Day Camp
Surrounded by Lester B. Pearson Park, the Discovery Centre transforms into a Day Camp hub each summer offering outdoor and indoor experiences while exploring and interacting with the many exhibits.

History
The YMCA of Niagara is a charitable organization, serving Niagara for close to 150 years. The Discovery Centre has been serving the Niagara community for more than 5 years from the historic Buchanan House. The house is over 140 years old and was the family home of the first mayor of the amalgamated city of St. Catharines, Ivan Buchanan. More recently, this was the former site of the Niagara College School of Horticulture and earlier was the plant pathology lab for the Canadian Department of Agriculture. Throughout its former lives, and for over 30 years, the grounds have been painstakingly prepared and now contain an irreplaceable collection of plants, shrubs and trees. The Buchanan House provides an ideal location for the Children's Discovery Centre as it has exhibit space and sits on 5 acres of land surrounded by 27 acres of park and green space.

The historic Lord & Burnham greenhouse, located on our property, has been refurbished and now houses our TD Canada Trust Dinosaur Gallery. The grounds around the Centre include an arboretum, Walker's Creek, and extensive teaching gardens; all are used as tools in our hands-on educational programming and are also open to those visiting the Centre for a day of fun and hands-on learning.

The Discovery Centre is located right next to Pearson Park which houses the fully accessible "Infinity Playground," soccer fields, tennis courts and a new splash pad.

The YMCA operates the Discovery Centre supported by admission fees, donations, exhibit sponsors and government grants. The YMCA is grateful for the support of many volunteers and students involved in school placements.

Click on these links for more information on Volunteer Opportunities or to learn how you can become a Donor or Sponsor.