Sports can very often be said to be the key to youth development – the practice of working with teammates in friendly competition, encouragement of sportsmanship and idea of fair play, and lastly improvements of physical health. When our Fall 2023 to Winter 2023 Season of Intramurals were completed, we introduced the Seasonal and on-going Grand Masters event. Between a set of multiple events, youth can participate in Basketball (Game of 21), Soccer (Free kicks with targets), Badminton (Singles), Just Dance (XBox), and Chess.

Late in 2023 at Crystal Kids, we saw a large increase in interest in badminton. Some of the youth at Crystal Kids from various schools in the area had already been involved in the sport to begin with, but with schools entering the 2024 badminton season in March, the youth were more visibly interested in practicing and preparing for February try-outs. To accommodate for this interest, a badminton club was born in March offering three hours of dedicated gym time on Saturdays for youth interested to develop and hone skills related to the sport. Improvements on general fitness is also a large factor. With an increased number of people playing badminton, many youth who normally only played other sports such as hockey, basketball or soccer took notice and also tried their hand at the sport.

The Youth in Transition program for older youth is designed to seamlessly bridge from our universal programming to prepare the youth to grow into contributing and productive members of society. Between searching for summer jobs, preparation for post-secondary education, as well as life-skills coaching to prepare our youth for independence. Some of our youth have successfully completed the Learn2Earn program over the years. Some of our youth have successfully found and held full time employment, which leads to the next step, which is completion and submission of taxes. Some of our youth have also experienced the process of finding roommates and moving out.

Cultural

Guided by a knowledge keeper, Sweetgrass Warrior, Crystal Kids have been able to learn more about their Cree culture through experiences outside of the city, and at the centre. This past summer, the older girls at Crystal Kids went to Alexander First Nation for a Sweat. At Crystal Kids, we have events for cultural activities such as rattle-making, ribbon-skirt making and beading. It’s a special way to learn cultural skills right in your neighbourhood. Learn more about the land you live on and your own culture.

Nutrition is a large part of our services at Crystal Kids, and part of that is the skills necessary to put together a meal from some of the sources of food that is available to our families – the Foodbank being a key part to this. Youth will have the opportunity to, with the guidance of staff, to learn how to cook and bake entire meals with the commonly available products from a weekly Foodbank hamper that is delivered to any and all Foodbank depots.