The Clubhouse is the Behavioral Intervention Association's (http://www.bia4autism.org) after-school program. Once a week, children between the ages of 5 and 12, who have communication and social challenges, meet and engage in fun activities to practice different social skills. The Explorers focus on skills such as staying with the group, greetings, turn taking, participating independently in activities, and brief exchanges with peers. The Adventurers focus on skills such as initiating and maintaining conversations, perspective taking, and negotiating with peers.

BIA Clubhouse: Where Friendship Rules

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Welcome Back, Adventurers!

Warm-up Game 'Beach Ball Toss' : The students stood in a circle and tossed around a beach ball. We came up with different variations how to play the game e.g., we threw the beach ball to a specific person and the student with the ball had to make sure to say the name of the peer first and to make eye contact.


Small Group Art Project 'Clubhouse Placemats':  We decorated a construction paper with different collage materials according to the theme 'games.' We will use the final product as our placemat throughout session. 


READY SET GO!!!
Obstacle Course  'Ready Set Go' : We split up into two teams and completed an obstacle course. First, we had to hop trough a hula-hoop maze. Then, we had to balance a plastic egg on a spoon. At the end of the course, we activated our favorite stomp rockets. Everyone did an excellent job cheering for their teammates and giving 'high 5s' to their friends.

Jamal is hopping through the hula-hoop maze.
Jared is balancing a plastic egg.
Mateo is activating a stomp rocket.
High 5 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Welcome Back, Explorers!

We were so excited to see our new Clubhouse site at St. Johns in Berkeley for the first time. It's a fabulous space and we have lots of room to play. We can use two outdoor areas. One is great for having snack, doing art, etc. The other, we can use for races, relays, and ball games. Even when it rains, we don't have to worry anymore since the indoor room is very spacious, too. We love it!

Today, we explored the new site and familiarized ourselves with the new space by playing some of our favorite Clubhouse games. We played "Freeze Dance," bowling, and with the parachute. We also created new Clubhouse placemats by attaching different collage materials to contact paper.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011