YMCA Adventure Guides at the Richardson YMCA Family Programs Director Nick Echtenkamp (972)231-3424 : nechtenkamp@ymcadallas.org WATCH OUR VIDEO

Established more than 70 years ago, the YMCA’s Adventure Guide programs are designed to foster a lifetime of companionship between parents and their children. This program specifically encourages fathers and their children to spend uninterrupted time together as members of a larger group, building lifelong memories and bonds. Our Y-Guide programs emulate the YMCA’s core values – caring, honesty, respectful, and responsibility. The YMCA encourages today’s fathers to “get to know your kid while your kid is still a kid.”

As a member of YMCA Adventure Guides, you will have the opportunity to develop a stronger relationship with your child by joining a unique “Circle” with whom you’ll participate in activities like games, camping trips, ceremonies and family adventures.  You and your child will take a journey around  the Adventure Guide compass points – family, nature, community and fun. The YMCA character development values – Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Fairness, Trustworthiness, and Citizenship - provide a sense of direction and inspiration for activities.  As a Y-Guide member, you will be able to participate in larger scale activities such as weekend camp outs, parties or parades.  Conducting group exercises in the Circle fosters leadership, problem-solving, group work skills and a sense of commitment to larger community – all of which reinforce the YMCA’s pledge to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities.

The Program Pledge is "We, YMCA Adventure Guides/Explorers, through friendly service to each other, to our family, to this Circle/Expedition, and to our community, seek a world pleasing to the eye of Our Creator." The Adventure Guides mottos is "Friends Forever" and the objective of the program is to

           Foster companionship and understanding and set a foundation for 
             positive, lifelong relationships between parent and child. 
           Build a sense of self-esteem and personal worth. 
           Expand awareness of spirit, mind, and body. 
           Provide a framework to meet a mutual need of spending enjoyable,
             constructive, and quality time together. 
           Enhance the quality of family time.

The Program aims are:

           To be clean in body and pure in heart 
           To be friends forever with my dad/mom/son/daughter 
           To love the sacred circle of my family 
           To listen while others speak 
           To love my neighbor as myself 
           To respect the traditions and beliefs of all people 
           To seek and preserve the beauty of Our Creator’s work in forest,
              field, and stream

Fall 2010 Schedule!

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Fall Campout Registration

Registration Information

2010-2011 Adventure Guides Flyer

$10 off the FIrst Campout!

Registration Form

New Member Guidebook

Need More Information?

Contact the Base Camp Volunteers

Absent Guardian at Campout

Alcohol Policy 

Navigator Tips  

How to Make a Torch/Walking Stick

For information about Richardson YMCA’s Adventure Guides programs, contact: Nick Echtenkamp, Program Director (972)231-3424 nechtenkamp@ymcadallas.org