The Adventurers: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Water Balloon Valentine's Day Toss: It was a glorious, hot day today so we decided to open the water balloon season early this year. We partnered with a friend and balanced 2 water balloons on a tray and transported the balloons across the field. Then, we tossed the balloons onto targets. In the true spirit of Valentine's day, our targets were hearts and the balloons followed the red and pink Valentine's Day color scheme.

Valentine's Memory Game: We were divided into small groups and engaged in a memory game. The goal of the game was to find as many pairs of hearts as possible. We shuffled the cards and laid them in rows on the table. On each turn, the player, whose turn it was, turned over two cards and kept them if they matched. If we found a pair, we got to go again. When a player turned over two cards that did not match, we turned over those cards face down again and our turn was over. We worked on good sportsmanship during the game: A good sport does not tease another player, always plays fair, follows the rules and does not gloat when he or she wins! 

The Explorers: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Today, we took a hiatus from our weather theme to celebrate Valentine's day since this special day is all about friendship and kindness.

Valentine’s Day Jell-O: This was a fun sensory activity for everyone. We had two big bins filled with red Jell-O in honor of Valentine's Day. We were divided into small groups and explored the Jell-O. It was sticky and it smelled fruity. We noticed that the more we played with the Jell-O, the more liquid it got. There were little trinkets such as hearts and cupids hidden in the Jell-O and we had a great time looking for them with our Clubhouse friends.

Here are some tips for kids who don't like to touch sticky substances:

• Provide spoons/small shovels and containers so the tools can be used to explore the Jell-O.
• Scoop the Jell-O into a Ziploc bag and let the students touch the Jell-O through the bag.

 

Valentine’s Day Matching Games: Today, we played a bingo-type matching game. Each player had a board depicting hearts in different colors. The objective of the game was to find the matching hearts and place them on the board until all the matches were found. We worked on turn taking and following the rules of the game. Simple matching games are also a great way of promoting peer communication: We practiced asking questions such as "Who has a purple heart?" and responding to our friends.
 

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.