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."