"Friendship Rocks": Last Day of BIA's Summer Camp!

Today was bitter-sweet since it was our last day of summer camp. We all had such a great time at camp. We learned many new games but most importantly made lots of new friends. A BIG THANK YOU goes to all of our wonderful friends at Kaiser Elementary School in Oakland, especially Mr. Guikema, who let us use his beautiful school to run our camp and Mr. Hardin, who opened the school doors for us every day and was always there for us when we needed him.

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Down the Line

Waiting for the game to start!

This game looks easy at first glance but it requires lots of checking in and good impulse control. 

Kids stand or sit shoulder to shoulder. Each player holds a yogurt cup in his or her hand. The first player fills his or her yogurt cup with dyed water and then pours the water into the next player’s cup. The water is passed down the line until it reaches the last player and that player pours the water into a bottle with fake bugs in capsules that will grow when soaked in water. The player then moves to the front and the game will continue until the bottle is filled.

Materials:

·        bin with dyed water

·        Yogurt cups (1 per player)

·        Bottle on tray or in bin

·        Funnel 

·        Chalk to mark where to sit/stand

·        Bug capsules

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Milk Painting

Milk Painting is another activity that will produce lots of 'ahhs, oohs and wows.' The basic concept of this project is that when you add a little bit of dish soap to milk and some food coloring, the colors burst and swirl around to form an abstract painting.

MILK PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS

 Materials

• Milk
• Dish soap
• Q-tips
• Food coloring
• Shallow bowl or deeper tray
• water color paper

Instructions

• Fill a tray or bowl with milk so the bottom of the bowl/tray is fully covered with milk.
• Add drops of different colors of food coloring. 
• Dip the end of a Q-tip in dish soap.
• Dip the Q-tip into the milk touching a drop of food coloring.
• Watch the colors burst. It will only work for a little while since the more dish soap is in the milk the less the colors will burst.
• Gently swirl the Q-tip through the different colors.
• Before the colors begin to mix too much and become brown place a piece of watercolor paper onto the colors, gently press it down and lift it up again.

The Beautiful Results

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Volunteer Marley

Featured Blogger MARLEY. Marley, 11 years old, volunteered for 1 week at our summer camp. THANK YOU, Marley.

Here is her entry describing her experience:

Clubhouse is a great experience for many children. I really enjoyed volunteering. There were quite a few responsibilities. For example, I took pictures and set up games. I also had to interact, and play with the children, while they were playing. 

There were many fun and exciting activities. Some were art projects, and some were games.The children had lots of fun participating in the games. This one boy, laughed more than anyone else in the camp.

One of the most loved activities, were the stations. The first station was water beads. The other ones were magnets and sand, ice and water, and  water and funnels. In the ice station, there were colored ice cubes, water, and toys and nets. The colored ice cubes colored the water when they melted. It was fun watching the children play all of the games.

Volunteering was fun because I had a chance to help children and have an awesome summer! I had a great time volunteering!

THANK YOU CAMP VOLUNTEERS!

A big shout out goes to our wonderful camp volunteers. THANK YOU for your enthusiasm, dedication, commitment and tireless support. YOU ROCK!!!

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Marble Painting with Balloons

Today, we painted with water balloons. Everyone loved the activity and we really had to work as a team to get great results.

Materials:

• Water balloons, filled with water, but not so full that they are about to burst.
• Big bin for each group
•  Large piece of paper that fits into large bin.
• Tempera paint on flat plate

Instructions:

• Divide kids into small groups.
• We took  turns dipping water balloons into paint partly or all the way and then set the balloons gently on the paper in the bin 
• Next, each small group took position around their bin, lifted it up, and tilted the bin back and forth and around to make the paint-covered water balloons roll around and make designs on the paper.

A Stunning Water Balloon Painting

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Bubbles

Everybody loves bubbles. Today, at camp, we not only played with bubbles but we made our own bubble solution.

One of our campers loved the activity so much that he created this drawing at home.

Here is the recipe for our giant bubbles:

Giant Bubbles

Measure 6 cups of water into one container, then pour 1 cup of dish soap into the water and slowly stir it until the soap is mixed in. Try not to let foam too much while you stir. Measure 1/4 cup of corn syrup and add it to the container. Stir the solution until it is mixed together.

Here are some ideas how to promote communication and social interactions while making and playing with bubbles:

•  Assign one group leader per small group. The group leader follows the recipe and communicates the steps to his peers. Provide a visual recipe that is easy to follow for readers and non-readers alike (see example).
  

  

  I WISH I COULD GO IN THE BUBBLE.

•  Practice taking turns when making the bubble solution. e.g., one child pours he dish soap in, another child measures the corn syrup. Let children negotiate who is doing what.
• Promote the idea of helping each other, e.g., one camper holds the measuring cup while the other pours the water into the measuring cup.
• Provide a variety of different wands (e.g. some that produce big bubbles, some that produce only small ones) so kids need to share and talk to each other what wand they want to try.
•  Playing with bubbles is a great way of increasing awareness of personal space: not bumping into each other, or having wands too close to each others faces.
•  Encourage language: "This bubble is really big." "Look at all the tiny bubbles." "These bubbles are high up in the sky." "They are flying fast."

YOU ROCK!!!

A BIG SHOUT OUT GOES TO OUR FANTASTIC CAMP STAFF. Camp would not be possible without the following people.

We also like to thank everyone who has come visit our camp and who has helped out: Anna, Hilary, Meghan, Rachel, Regine, Talia, Tina.

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Cooking Together

Every Friday at camp, we cooked together to prepare a special treat for snack. Cooking and eating together is a great social event that encourages communication, cooperation, and teamwork.

Here is one of our recipes:

TROPICAL BEACH SWIRL

• 3 bananas
• 1 container of strawberries
• 1 ½ cups orange juice

Peel and cut bananas. Add to blender.

Wash strawberries, cut of leaves, cut in half and add to blender.

Add orange juice to blender.

Mix all the ingredients in the blender.

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Lava Lamps

Today, we worked together in small groups and made lava lamps. Everyone was mesmerized by this project.

Here is how it goes:

Materials needed:

• Water
• A clear plastic bottle
• Vegetable oil
• Food coloring
• Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz).

Instructions

• Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full.
• Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
• Wait until the oil and water have separated.
• Add around a dozen drops of food coloring to the bottle (choose any color you like).
• Watch as the food coloring falls through the oil and mixes with the water.
• Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (e.g., 3-4) and drop one of them into the bottle. Observe what happens.
• When the bubbling stops, add another piece of Alka-Seltzer.

This simple science experiment is a great way to practice making comments or to have a conversation. Here is an idea how to get the conversation going with the help of a little worksheet:

Summer Camp "Friendship Rocks": Cooperative Relays & Obstacle Courses

Daily highlights at camp are our obstacle courses or cooperative relay games outside. The games always require teamwork and cooperation.

Here are some of our favorites:

Stomp Rocket Obstacle Course

Players partner up and carry a bin with the foam rockets across the field. At the end of the field, they put the foam rockets on the stomp rocket device and activate the stomp rockets together.

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Materials:

·        Stomp rocket(s)

·        Bin

·        Materials for obstacle course

Water Balloon Scooter Board Race

Kids work in pairs. Both players choose a water balloon each and place it into a small bin that is taped to a scooter board. The scooter board has a rope attached and the 2 players have to work cooperatively to transport the bin with water balloons from one end to the other. At the end of the course, they throw their water balloons onto targets.

Materials:

1 scooter board per group

1 rope per group

Water balloons

Chalk

FRIENDSHIP ROCKS: BIA CLUBHOUSE SUMMER CAMP

We were very excited to start camp today. We saw lots of familiar faces from last year but also greeted new friends. Everyone quickly got settled and the fun began.

OUR DAILY SCHEDULE DRAWN BY ONE OF OUR CAMPERS

Here is our daily camp schedule:

1. Arrival and free play
2. Opening circle, roll call, rule review and greeting ritual
3. Cooperative art/science/sensory or cooking project
4. Music/dancing game
5. Snack
6. Cooperative outdoor game such as obstacle courses, relays, treasure hunts
7. Playground time
8. Turn taking game with focus on practicing good sportsmanship
9. Lunch
10. Quiet time: painting to classical music
11. Favorites/dislikes: Reviewing the day
12. Movement or gross motor game: following directions
13. Closing ritual: friendship handshake, friendship points, prize box

Throughout each day we earn friendship points for showing good friendship behavior. Here are some things we earn points for.

• Sharing with a friend
• Helping a friend
• Using kind words
• Giving a friend a compliment
• Cheering and giving high 5s
• Taking over a group job
• Listening to our friends
• Having a conversation with a friend
• Following the Clubhouse camp rules

At the end of the camp day, we count how many friendship points we got as a group and we turn in our points and receive a small prize for all our hard work.