Blog #7

Wednesday, June 1st started our final weekly theme at the treehouse, which was camping. The sensory bin looked different than usual today- there were bins of flashlights and crates of firewood (paper towel rolls). There was also a big tent which the kids could play in. Red tissue paper acted as a successful fire. The kids had a lot of fun making shadow puppets with the flashlights and pretending to build fires. The craft this week was more of a skill-based one. The kids had to practice cutting out paper that has different prints of objects you would find while camping- mud piles, sticks, waterfalls. The kids glued them in order on the map printout they were given. This craft practiced their fine motor skills. Then, we took the maps and acted out what we would do at each landmark as if we were going on the camping trip. After, we made an obstacle course consisting of a pool noodle which they used throughout the course, traffic cones, a scooter, and colorful plastic rings. They used these objects as pretend for different things you would see while hiking and they had to complete different activities to practice their growth motor skills. The kids had a lot of fun with this obstacle course. So many kids wanted to go through it several times because they enjoyed the challenge. However, there were some kids that had trouble focusing on the new skills so we have them put-in tasks. Put-in tasks are good for kids who have trouble sitting still and focusing because it gives them something simple to do with their hands. This put-in task was to put popsicle sticks through the slit in the lid of an old container. With some leftover time, the group decorated small wooden slabs with paint and strung beads to it to make a necklace. The kids really enjoyed this activity because they could take it home and show it off.