The Adventurers: Drums (Moving and Grooving)

Art Project “Drums”: We worked with a partner and created a drum out of tin containers. While doing the art project, we practiced negotiating with our partner (e.g. sharing ideas what designs to create).

Here are the instructions:

• Optional: Cover tin container with construction paper. 
• Decorate the tin container with stickers and markers.

Call and Response: Trying out our the self-made drums was a lot of fun. We engaged in a game of call and response. One of our friends led the group by playing a rhythm on his drum and we followed by imitating the beat. This game required good observational and listening skills. We loved the game and were very patient taking turns to ensure that each of us was able to lead the group once.

The Adventurers: Movement Shape Game (Moving and Grooving)

Musical Chair Matching Game: When the theme is movement and music, playing the classic game of musical chairs is a must. We added a little twist to the game. Pictures of musical instruments were taped to the chairs. Each player received a corresponding picture that was attached to a Popsicle stick. When the music played, we walked around the chairs. When the music stopped, we had to find the chair with our corresponding picture and then had to sit down on the chair. One important rule was not to push our friends while looking for the matching picture. 

Movement Shape Game “Moving and Grooving”: We played a fun new game in the hallway today. Different shapes were taped to the floor and spread out from one end to the other end of the hallway. Each player placed a game piece onto the shape that said “Start." The first player rolled the dice and then moved that many spaces. Once the player got to his spot, he read the instructions that were written onto the shape and the whole group did the action. Here are some of the activities: "Do a bear walk with a friend." "Do 10 donkey kicks." "Do 5 jumping jacks." "Give your friends a high 5." While playing the game we worked on cooperation, teamwork, and sportsmanship.




 

The Adventurers: Musical Instruments Board Game (Moving and Grooving)

"Down the Line": At Clubhouse, we focus on games that are not only fun but require us to work together as a team. Today, we were divided into two teams. Each team lined up in a row with players standing behind one another. The first player on each team was given a beach ball (a regular ball or a balloon would work as well) and then passed the beach ball backward over her head to the second player. The ball continued to be passed backward down the line until it reached the last player. The last player, receiving the ball, ran to the front of his line and began to pass the ball backward again. We played different variations of the game, e.g., passing the ball backward between our legs.

Board Game “Musical Instruments”:  
We were divided into small groups and each group played the board game. Each player had a game piece that was placed on "Start." The first player rolled the dice and moved forward the corresponding number of spaces. If we landed on a field with bells, we drew a bell card from the stack. The bell card was like a joker and had instructions/questions written on the back, e.g., "What's your favorite instrument?" We were not only supposed to answer the question but also to ask the other players. Before the game started, we talked about good sportsmanship and came up with the following rules: 

•      PLAY FAIR!!!
•      TAKE TURNS.
•      CHEER FOR YOUR FRIENDS.
•      USE KIND WORDS SUCH AS "GOOD GAME."

   

The Explorers: Scooter Board Shuttle (Moving and Grooving)

Art Project "Homemade Rainsticks": We created  homemade rainsticks like our friends from the Adventurers group  (for a detailed description of the activity see Adventurers 10/04/2012). The only difference was that we used paint and feathers instead of markers and stickers. We experimented with different sounds: Larger beans made a harder sound, smaller beans a softer one.

Getting ready for the game

Scooter Board Shuttle: Playing with the scooter boards was one of our favorite activities during the Clubhouse transportation theme (spring 2012).  Here is the description of the game:

One player sits on the scooter board while two other players pull the scooter board across the field. This game is truly cooperative since it is only successful if all players work together.

The Adventureers: Homemade Rainsticks (Moving and Grooving)

Art Project “Homemade Rainsticks”:  
We created rainsticks out of poster mailing tubes. The twist was that we worked with a partner on 1 tube, which meant we had to share and to compromise. We  also had to check in and discuss with our partner our different ideas how to decorate the tube.

• Measure aluminum foil piece that is slightly larger than the tube.
• Work with your partner, each of you holding the foil on one end and carefully twisting it. Place foil in tube.
• Fill the tube with beans (approximately 3-4 spoons).
•  Seal tube with lids.
• Decorate the outside of the tubes with markers and stickers.
• Reinforce the lids with duct tape.
• Experiment with the rain stick by moving it in different ways. Discuss if the sound resembles the rain.   

Rocket Launch:  
We went outside and tried to launch a foam rocket across an open field. It was not easy to get the rocket going but we were very persistent in working together: Two of us had to hold the long rubber bands that were attached to the foam rocket so that they would form a triangle. The third person on our team then pulled the rocket launcher device. We noticed quickly that we had to be in perfect sync to launch the rocket so we came up with strategies such as pulling the device on a count of three.

The Explorers: Maracas (Moving and Grooving)

“Beach Ball Toss to Classical Music”: We love beach balls. They are easy to find and inexpensive props that can be used for many different games. Today, each of us sat on a carpet square in a circle. We then passed around a beach ball while classical music was playing. When the music stopped, we briefly stopped the game and then played a different variation of the game, e.g., changing direction how the beach ball was passed, passing the beach ball to our partner overhead, etc.

Although this game seems fairly simple at a first glance it addresses many different skills:

• Paying close attention to a partner.
• Following directions.
• Responding to non-verbal clues (e.g., stopping the ball pass when the music stops).
• Controlling impulses such as not throwing the ball when the instruction was to pass the ball slowly to a partner.

“Yogurt Cup Maracas”: After a beach ball game, we created self made maracas. Here are the steps:

• Each of us decorated 2 yogurt cups with stickers. Some of us worked with a friend.
• We then filled one of the  yoghurt cups approximately one third with beans. This step required that we helped each other, e.g., one of us was holding the yogurt cup while our partner scooped the beans into the cup. We had a choice between different kinds of beans (e.g., Pinto beans, black eyed beans). We learned that the different beans make different sounds.
• Last, we put the two cups together and attached masking tape where the two cups met. Again, this step required teamwork.
• Of course, we wanted to try out our maracas and engaged in a little percussion session to the music of the "Gipsy Kings."

Welcome Back, Explorers! Moving and Grooving!

We were very excited today since we got to check out for the first time our new Clubhouse site at Beach Elementary School in Piedmont. The classroom we are allowed to use is really big and has lots of space for all kinds of activities such as dancing, movement games, art projects, etc. We also can use the outdoor areas. Thank you Beach School for providing us with a beautiful new Clubhouse home.

We were also very happy to see our Clubhouse friends. Since the new theme is music and movement, we warmed up by engaging in one of our favorite HIP HOP dance routines "Following Directions by Mark Pencil."

Then, we made new placemats for this Clubhouse session by using the familiar art technique "Drip and Fold." We worked with a partner and created a collage by putting blobs of paint with Q-tips on a piece of paper (i.e., pre-cut and taped together musical instruments),folding it in half, rolling a rolling pin over it and open it up again. Fun!

Moving and Grooving: Music and Movement

At the Beach!

The Adventurers: Shoebox Race Car (On the Go!)

Art Project “Shoebox Race Car”: We were divided into small groups in order to start with our 2-week project. The objective was to build a race car using a shoebox. First, we decorated 4 discs (i.e., our wheels) with stickers and/or sharpies. Then, we painted a shoebox together and also attached tissue paper to the box. We came up with different race car team names: Angry Birds, Station Wagon, Purple Booster.

Some cooperative strategies/ideas:

1. Students discuss the design of their car.
2. Students brainstorm different team names and then take a vote to determine the race car team name.

The Adventurers: Transportation Memory (On the Go!)

Memory “Transportation”:  We had fun playing this turn-taking game and tried to find as many pairs as possible. Focus and flexing our memory muscles were required. Of course, the memory cards showed different modes of transportation.

Cooperative Race “The Rope Train”: We worked in teams. We held on to a jump rope with one hand and then started to move together as a group and pretended to be a train. We were not allowed to let go of the rope while we were running. Like our game with the hula hoops from last week, this required lots of cooperation and teamwork. After each completed turn, the player in front moved to the back and a different player took over the position of the driver.

The Explorers: Playdoh Wheel Tracks (On the Go!)

"Subway Musical Chairs”: We played this game from last week again and practiced not to bump into our friends while we were looking for a seat on the "subway." This game can be played in a non-competitive way (i.e., no chairs are removed with each stoppage of the music) or in the classic manner (i.e., removing chairs one-by-one with each stoppage of the music).

Sensory Project “Playdoh Wheel Tracks”: We made playdoh using very basic ingredients every one can find in a kitchen cabinet. Then, we used plastic vehicles and created tracks by rolling them. across the plahdoh and compared how different the tracks looked.

Salt Dough Recipe (by Mary Ann Kohl "Mudworks"):

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup salt

4/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients in bowl and knead into soft dough.

The Adventurers: Cooperative Relay "The Train" (On the Go!)

Welcome back Adventurers!!!

Small Group Art Project “Race Car Painting”: We worked with a partner and created paintings using race cars with attached magnets, paint and paper: Raised plexiglass was covered with a piece of paper. Blobs of paint were placed on the paper as well as two race cars.  We moved another magnet against the underside of the plexi 
and painted with the race cars (e.g., making tracks). A very fun and interactive activity.

Cooperative Relay “The Train” : We worked in teams (groups of three or four students). We held on to a hula hoop, pretended to be a train and then moved together as a group. Cooperative relays are a great way to promote teamwork and to work together for a common goal as well as to learn how to pay close attention to a partner(s).