Friday, March 25, 2011

Staff Reflection

We always encourage our staff to reflect on their experience with us.  It is an effective way to put the day into perspective and relive some of the interactions.  Here is one excerpt from last summer.  (Names have been altered due to confidentiality reasons)



Today was defiantly a tough day. I had two interactions this morning that were kinda different but ended in the same way and I just thought it was kinda interesting. Both Johnny and Suzy were upset about something (at different points in the morning) and I tried a few different ways of trying to get them to settle down but what worked the best for both was to have a plan of what we were going to do that was going to solve what they were upset about. In Johnny's case we needed a plan of something to do when we got into the pit. It turned into a top secret mission to push someone in the pit, but once that idea was planted in his head he was much more willing to entertain the idea of going in and playing. Although Suzie's case was a little different, the only way I could get her to stop crying was to have a plan to go talk to Armann about what was making her upset. I just thought it was kinda interesting how both situations could be so similar at the same time. 



Friday, March 18, 2011

Summer Camp Swimming

Summer Camp is coming up shortly, so we wanted to feature one of our activities.  Swimming has always been a fan favorite and we expect this year to be no different...

There are 4 areas to choose from:
  1. Shallow end
  2. Splash Pad
  3. Deep end
  4. 2 slides



This activity will give the campers the opportunity to:
  • Enjoy social interactions while in the water
  • Improve on basic swim skills
  • Continue to strengthen new or existing peer relationships
  • Participate in team games that will challenge each child's problem solving and negotiation skills
  • Strengthen self help skills while in the locker room

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tennis/Lacrosse

Many times we invent, adjust, or modify known sports or team building games.  Last week, there was a failed attempt to play hockey on an astroturf field, so we had to think fast.  In the van there was a bag of tennis racket and the goals were already set up...
So Tennis/Lacrosse was invented.



The Rules:

  1. Two teams
  2. Each person must have a tennis racket
  3. One tennis ball
  4. Each person is able to use both hands to secure the ball,
  5. Once the ball is secured, the person needs to run with the ball balanced on the racket face
  6. The other team could lightly bump the person with the ball
    1. This was reported as the best feature of the game
  7. We had two small goals to score on
    1. No goalie