Posts Tagged ‘Spring Camp’

Bus Manners

Saturday, August 27th, 2016

The “Can Dos were excited to be taking a bus from their town to a neighboring town on a field trip. The “Can Dos” rarely got to ride a city bus as they either walked to school or rode the school bus.

As the “Can Dos” got on the bus, Hector took the seat behind the driver and Bobby sat alongside of him.  When Miss Sue, the camp director, got on the bus she asked Hector and Bobby to give up their seats as they were sitting in a section reserved for riders with disabilities and senior citizens. “But there isn’t anyone sitting her, said Bobby. “That doesn’t mean you should sit there, said Miss Sue. “Read what the sign says, please. “

Hector read out loud so that everyone on the bus could hear. “These seats are reserved for persons with disabilities and the elderly.”

Hector and Bobby joined the other “Can Dos “ taking seats in the middle of the bus. Hector and Bobby made it their business to watch who got on at every stop and where they sat. A lady with a walker got on and sat in the section reserved for people with disabilities. Then an elderly woman with a cane got on and sat in the same reserved section.

At the next stop two teenage boys got on the bus and plopped themselves down in the reserved section. Hector and Bobby got all upset and pointed the two teenage boys out to Miss Sue saying, “Miss Sue, make them move. They don’t belong there!”

Miss Sue smiled and said, “Wait and see what happens.” Just then a man in a wheelchair got on the bus. There was nowhere for him to sit. The teenage boys were sitting on the seats usually lifted up to make room for a wheelchair. The bus driver got up, and in a voice that could be heard  all over the bus said, “Hey there you boys, you know better than to sit there. Get up, move to the back of the bus, and make room for the man and his chair.

The boys turned beet red as everyone on the bus stared at them. They found seats in the back of the bus.

A few stops later, a woman with a preschooler and a baby in her arms got on the bus. There were no seats left; she had to stand. There was a grown man sitting right by where she was standing.  He pretended he didn’t see her, so he would not have to give up his seat. The teens in the back of the bus pretended to be sleeping.

Hector looked at Bobby, they nodded to each other, got up and walked up to the lady. Hector said, ”We have two seats a few rows back you can have. She thanked them and followed them back to where they were sitting.

All the “Can Dos” clapped for Hector and Bobby. Miss Sue gave them a big smile and said, “I am very proud of you both. You practiced good bus manners!”

Hector and Bobby beamed. Hector said, “We learned a lot about bus rules today and about being kind to people who might need extra help when riding a bus.”

Pocket

Tic Tac Toe Waffles…a Great Game and a Good Snack!

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

picture of girl hwith long hair holding a bookOn day two of camp, the Pre-K  campers got to combine a game with snack time by playing Tic Tac Toe Waffles.

Since Maria suggested the game, Miss Sue called on her to show the campers how the game is played. Maria brought a box to the front table that had a paper plate with a tic tac toe game made out of decorated mini waffles.

Maria invited the campers to gather round the table and watch as Annie and Hector showed everyone how to play Tic Tac Toe Waffles.While Annie and Hector played Maria explained the game, saying, “To play, a camper needs to be an O or an X.  The center of the tic tac toe board is a free space for either player. To win, a player needs to eat a straight line of Os or Xs. Each child in the 2 camper team takes  turns selecting a waffle and puttinga tic tac toe board made out of edible waffles on a separate plate to be eaten after the game is won. The volunteer is responsible for marking the plate where an O or an X waffle is removed .

If, after one member of the team wins, they don’t eat their waffles, then, if the loser finishes his or her waffles, they become the winner.

Maria then asked the volunteers to divide the campers into teams with 2 campers to a team making 5 teams, with one team at a table. Then she asked  that each team have a volunteer to help play the game and keep score. Each team drew straws for who got to go first and select whether they wanted to be an O or an X.

All but one camper finished eating their waffles. She was not happy to lose her place as a winner for not finishing her waffles. But, she learned something about being a good sport and following the rules of the game Tic Tac Toe.

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Pre-K Games for Spring Camp

Tuesday, March 15th, 2016

 It was that time again. It was spring camp time with all the games that going to camp over spring break brings.

Miss Sue is the director of thev Community CenterGames are an important part of any camp, so Miss Sue went to see the “Can Do'”Kids to get ideas.”Hello boys and girls,” said Miss Sue. “I came to ask your help with games for the Pre-K group in spring camp.”

The crafts class all stopped working on their crafts class projects and listened to what Miss Sue had to say.

“Miss Hattie tells me you came up with wonderful crafts ideas for the young campers. I am hoping you can suggest some games that will be good to do with the boys and girls in the Pre-K group. There will be 10 of them.”

Jay raised his hand and when Miss Sue called on him, he said, “How about a few games of crunch and toss”?

Miss Sue looked puzzled and said, “I don’t know that game.” Jay said it was a beginner throwing game for points. It was safe to play indoors. Miss Sue asked Jay to bring in a sample of what was needed to play the game and give a demonstration. Jay agreed, saying, ” I’ll have it ready for our next crafts session. You can come by and see how it is played.”

Miss Sue thanked Jay and said, “Does anyone else have any suggestions”?

Maria raised her hand and said, “How about a few games of TIC TAC TOE Waffles? You’ve got to eat them to win”!

The class laughed and Miss Sue smiled and said, “That sounds wonderful Maria! Please bring in a sample and we can all see what it takes to play TIC TAC TOE Waffles.”

Just then the bell rang and crafts class was over.

Miss Sue said, “Thank you for your ideas. I am looking forward to seeing you in your next class and learning how to play the games you talked about today. “

Pocket

Spring=Sports

Friday, April 11th, 2014

The “Can Do” kids agreed that they all had enough of winter. There were just so many snow forts and snowmen they enjoyed making and snowball throwing that was fun. It was time for spring and sports.

springDuring the cold weather, Hector practiced his skateboarding in the basement of his house; he was getting ready for the skateboard race during spring break camp at the recreation center. The problem was…his basement just wasn’t that big. Before he could get up any speed, he would be up against a wall.

The cold weather found Kathy practicing her jump rope in her basement. She had her problems too. The floor was slanted and made jumping a real challenge.

For Yundi, the cold weather forced him to practice for the bike race in his driveway. He had a hard time balancing himself with all the clothes his mom made him wear while riding. Also, thespring driveway wasn’t long enough to get any speed or practice sharp turns.

Annie was lucky; the cold weather didn’t stop her from keeping her basketball skills up. She just practiced indoors at the recreation center and she has a hoop in her garage. She was ready for the outdoor hoops tournament at spring camp.

Jay, like Annie, would be ready for his tournament at spring camp. He had been playing table tennis and winning all winter long!

The same was true for Orrie, who had been keeping up his horseback riding skills all winter at the indoor riding ring at the local riding stable. On the last day of spring camp, in the afternoon, a bus would take Orrie and the other “Can Do” kids to the riding stable where Orrie would participate in a riding event. All the other campers would be there to cheer him on.

Willie, Bobby, Arthur J, Nellie, and Wendy had been practicing their ball throwing and catching in the recreation center gym. However, they didn’t really have space to practice their running or hitting skills. They really needed to get on an outdoor playing field!

The warmer weather couldn’t come soon enough for the “Can Dos” . They couldn’t get outside soon enough to get ready for the spring tournaments.

How about you, boys and girls? Are you ready for spring and sports? Do you need to get outside and practice to be able to compete?

Pocket

Pre-K Games for Spring Camp Began with Crunch and Toss

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Miss Sue asked Jay to come to the front of the room and demonstrate to the Pre-K campers how to play Crunch and Toss.

As Jay walked to the front of the room he was carrying 3 paper plates and some sheets of different colored paper.  When he got to the front of the room he placed the white paper plates on one of the  tables the campers use for crafts.

The campers saw the numbers on the three plates…10…20…30. Jay placed the plates close to one another, but not too close. Then he put down 6 sheets of paper in two different colors.

He turned to the campers and said, “Crunch and Toss is played in teams of two. Since we have 10 campers, that’s five teams. Miss Sue please help form the teams and give them each a table to play on.”

crunch and toss is a game played with paper plates, and colored paperOnce this was done, Jay gave each team, at each table, 3 paper plates with the numbers 10, 20, 30 on them and 3 sheets of one color of  paper and 3 sheets of a different color. Then Jay said, “First you take your sheets of paper and you crunch them into a ball for tossing on to the plates. Each camper gets three turns to score 50 points. The camper who scores 50 points first is the winner. If neither camper scores 50 points, on their first 3 tries, they play until one of them wins. I will keep score for the game. “

Then Jay asked Bobby and Kathy and Hector and Maria and Orrie to each take a table and a team and help the campers to play Crunch and Toss by crunching  their sheets of  paper into balls and tossing the paper balls into the plates.

At first, some of the campers had a hard time aiming and landing on the plates when they tossed their paper balls, but soon they were scoring and having fun. Before they knew it the games session of Crunch and Toss was over and it was time for the campers to move on to the next activity.

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