Summer Camp: Friendship Rocks, Day 5

Another exciting day at camp: As always we started off the day with free play and our Clubhouse camp chant. Two of us stand in front of the whole group and lead the chant (a great way of practicing talking in front of a group as well as greetings).

 Here is how the chant goes:
Friendship.
Group: What?
Friendship.
Group: Rocks!

The two campers, who led the chant, then each pick a picture of another camper from the roll call board and greet those campers by handing the picture over to them.

We received our super fun Clubhouse hats and of course we had to take some pictures:

 

 

We also would like to thank our wonderful volunteers Elizabeth, Addey and Amanda. All three are full of energy, enthusiasm, dedication and commitment and help make our camp run smoothly. YOU ROCK!!!

Elizabeth, Addey, Amanda!

Summer Camp: Friendship Rocks, Day 4

Today, we had a super busy and fun day at camp:

• We made volcanoes.
• We played musical chairs.
• We went trough an obstacle course with a yogurt cup on a scooter board. practicing our team work skills and cooperation skills.
• We created camp poster by painting plexi glass and pressing paper on top of the plexi to make an imprint.
• We practiced our non-verbal communication skills by playing the "Silent Cup Game."

 

Featured activities of the day:

VOLCANOES

•  This is a great activity to get all age and skill levels excited and motivated while focusing on turn taking, waiting one's turn, peer communication, following directions and impulse control (e.g., pouring the vinegar into the hole slowly).
• Let students take turns to fill the bottom cup with baking soda (e.g., cup needs to be filled about 2/3). Let them add a small amount of food coloring and mix with baking soda. Attach cup with hole (upside down) to cup without hole and tape. Let kids take turns pouring vinegar with the help of a yogurt cup into the hole of the cup. Make sure that kids don’t get too close to the hole with their eyes. Encourage peer communication (e.g., “What do you think will happen when the vinegar is poured into the cup?”). Tip: Use fresh baking soda and make sure that the cup is filled 2/3 with baking soda. This way you will be able to produce plenty of volcano eruptions.
  
  

  Silent Cup Game

• The students are divided into small groups. Each group receives three opaque cups that are turned upside down. One player closes his eyes while the other player hides a treat under one cup. The other player then tries to find the treat. However, only non-verbal communication is allowed so it is crucial to play close attention to each other. The student who is looking for the treat has to point to a cup and then wait for his partner's non-verbal response (i.e., nodding for "yes" or shaking his head for "no").

Summer Clubhouse Camp: Friendship Rocks, Day 1

Our Summer Clubhouse Camp "Friendship Rocks" is off to a great start. We were excited to see new and old friends.

We played many fun games:

• We made our own bowling pins for camp and then of course we had to use them right away and played a round of bowling outside. We tried not to melt away in the really hot weather while cheering for our friends.

• We explored the fun play structure on our camp site. The climbing wall was a hit.
• We also played with the parachute and danced the FREEZE DANCE.
• We earned many friendship points for being good friends.
• And we learned a new friendship handshake.
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  FEATURED ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
  
  
  Friendship Placemats
  
  
  
  
  
  Students created placemats by using stamps or cookie cutters dipped in paint, stickers and markers. The twist was that they did not make their own placemat but that they decorated it for one of their camp friends. To determine who they made the placemat for, they drew a picture of a Clubhouse camp friend out of a bag. 
  
  Variation: Students add pre-made compliment sentences to the placemat. Encourage kids to think about the friend they are making the placemat for: What does the person like? What do I like about the person? They can also ask the friend, they are making the placemat for, questions.
   
  

Explorers (Fun in the Sun): Free Play

Connect 4 Launchers Game

When we arrive at Clubhouse, we first engage in free play with our friends. There are stations around the room set up with different activities. One of our new favorite turn taking game is the "Connect 4 Launchers." At free play, we practice how to join a game or an activity. It's a less structured time and we put our acquired and practiced skills to use, e.g., taking turns, sharing toys and materials, and staying with our friends.

We also played bowling today and used our self-made 'ocean in a bottle' bowling pins. All our hard work at Clubhouse over the last weeks definitely has paid off: We are pros in cheering, giving high 5s, and turn taking.

Adventurers: Newspaper Tent Structure (Fun in The Sun)

NEWSPAPER TENT: This highly cooperative activity was a big hit. We created a tent structure using rolled-up newspaper and tape. The focus was on teamwork to achieve a common goal. To attach the newspaper rolls two people working together were pretty much needed at all times: One person holding the newspaper roll and the other one securing it with tape. 

Here is the result:

To stay with the tent/camping theme, we also prepared S'Mores for snack. Everyone loved them.

S'MORES

Break a large graham cracker into two parts. One is for the top of your S'More and one is for the bottom.

Place one graham cracker part on a plate and top it with a large marshmallow. Put in the microwave on High for 10 to 12 seconds or until the marshmallow doubles in size.

 

Top the marshmallow with a square of chocolate and then with the remaining graham cracker part. Squeeze down until the marshmallow begins to puff out the sides of the S'More.

Adventurers: Summer Charades (Fun in the Sun)

Today, we played a games of charades. The category was "All the things you can find in the summer." Here are some of the things we acted out and guessed: octopus, sunscreen, sunglasses, swimming, hula dancing, surfing.

Charades is a great game to practice social and non-verbal skills (e.g., identifying expressions and body language) as well as to promote teamwork, to improve communication and to help with impulse control since the player(s) cannot say or blurt out what they are acting out. Its for all ages and it can be played in larger and smaller groups. Last but not least, charades promotes applying inference skills through visual clues.

Here is how we played it at Clubhouse:
A team of players drew a card out of a bag. They then acted out together what was depicted on the card, while the rest of the group guessed what it is. 

Here are some ideas how to break down the game and how to teach the game to younger students:

• Take turns drawing cards out of a grab bag, depicting summer activities or objects, and practice acting out what is depicted as a group first.
• Use a 'cheat sheet' with duplicate cards to help with the guessing.

Explorers: Ice Cream in a Bag (Fun in the Sun)

 ICE CREAM IN A BAG
 After our friends in the Adventurers group loved making ice cream in a bag so much, we had to try it as well.

HERE IS WHAT WE NEED:

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• ½ cup milk (any kind: whole, 2%, chocolate milk) or half and half.

                          

• ¼ teaspoon flavoring (or to taste, if the flavor is pure a couple of drops might be enough). Flavor suggestions: vanilla, chocolate, mint.
  
  

                 

• Ice

                         

• 6 tablespoons rock salt

                     

• 1 gallon-sized/1 quart-sized Ziploc freezer bag

                    

HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:

• Measure the ingredients and pour sugar, milk and flavoring in quart-sized Ziploc bag. IMPORTANT: Seal bag securely.

                            

• Fill the gallon-sized Ziploc half full with ice and add rock salt.
  
  

                               

• Place the quart-size Ziploc bag into the gallon-sized Ziploc bag and seal (you may want to double bag).

                 

            

• Zip outer bag shut (make sure is sealed well) and shake, turn, toss and mix the bag for at least 5 minutes.

     

Caution:

• The hands will get cold very quickly. You can use some towels as a protective layer.

YUMMY!!!