Taking Turns

During Spring Break week, the weather warmed up enough for us to spend lunch at the park. We weren't the only school group excited to see the sun and it was a packed park! Chris showed interest in the merry-go-round, but there never seemed to be an opening to get on it. Finally, Assistant Instructor - Theron, encouraged Chris to ask the community members if he could have a turn. Chris walked up the family and said "Is it alright if I come on this?" The father of the group smiled and said yes. Three more of our students jumped on the merry-go-round and the father happily spun his kids and our kids all together for five minutes. We are proud of Chris for finding a way to communicate with the community members and happy to see our kids making new friends and getting along.

Spring Break - Wings Over Rockies

During Spring Break week, the kids ventured to Denver and toured the "Wings Over The Rockies" museum. The group followed a guided tour and learned about airplane models used in historic warfare and the specific features on each plane. After the tour, the building offered a variety of hands of activities: flying a simulator plane, sitting in an actual cockpit, and throwing paper airplanes. Accomplished actor, Harrison Ford, has a passion for flying and frequently visits this museum to give talks and lead workshops for kids. Unfortunately, we missed Han Solo this time around, but watched a short movie that explains his relationship with this Denver attraction. We are grateful to the staff who led a great tour and look forward to revisiting in the summer!

Go Team!

The After School Program had some fun with the pom pons during Movement class. Between the shaking, noise and colors, pom pons serve as great sensory objects.

Quintin: Feature Participant

Every other month, Out & About highlights a participant from Children Services. For March, we turn our attention to Quintin.

Quintin attends Swimming and Art Exploration once a week with the After School Program. At the start of every activity, Quintin runs up to all his friends with a huge smile and greets them with a high five. The Out & About staff admires Quintin's sincere approach to saying hi to all his friends. Over the holidays, Quintin attended a School Closure Day with another participant who was having a difficult day. He independently walked up to his peer, put a hand on his shoulder and said, "you okay?" The other participant responded, "Hi, yes." Quintin LOVES football and can name every NFL team for you. His enthusiasm for art and swimming with friends allows him to make the most out of activities with Out & About.

Bowling!

Every other Thursday we go bowling at Chipper's Lanes in Broomfield. They are a great venue and very accomodating to us, and always happy to see us! We bowl every other Thursday, alternating with Sports & Games. Here is a picture of Jessa and Ally bowling from the summer!

Bowling is a great activity for developing hand-eye coordination, as well as being a place to socialize with peers and develop friendships.  Bowling promotes sportsmanship and increases independence through skills acquisition.

Swimming!

Swimming has ALWAYS been a favorite activity at Out & About, for kids and staff alike! This school year we decided to offer Swimming on 2 days, Mondays and Wednesdays. They are our biggest days and really allow for some great socialization with peers. Here is a picture of Rachel and Erin in the pool.

Swimming is such a great activity for building motor skills as well as having fun! We work individually with participants to ensure safety and allow them to fine tune their swimming skills.

Summer Camp has come to an end and we have begun our first week of After School Program! This past summer was a huge success and tons of fun. Below you will find a picture of our Treks-n-Trees activity, during a fishing outing. We caught more fish this year than we ever have before!

After School Program is up and running but if you wanted any information about enrolling please contact me at mgalgoczi@imaginecolorado.org. We also have options for a full day of service during school closure days, and possible other days as well.

Carousel of Happiness!

This has been a very busy time around Out & About. Summer Camp planning is in full swing and we have an action-packed summer for you! We also had a week and half of full School Closure Days over Spring Break. It was such a successful week. The weather was great so we were able to spend time at the Zoo, various parks, and a fun trip to Gateway Fun Park. We also went to the carousel of happiness, here is a picture of Brittany & Evan on it.

The Carousel of Happiness is up in Nederland and has always been very accomidating to our group. Everyone (both participants & staff) love this activity. We will definitely be taking a trip up there again! Just a reminder that Summer Camp registration was due on April 23rd. If you missed the deadline and want to enroll please call me.

Sorry it has been a little while since the last blog update! We have been very busy with School Closure Days. Last week Boulder Valley & St. Vrain School Districts were on spring break. It was a week filled with fun activities for us! We were busy going to the Aquarium, Denver Zoo, Butterfly Pavilion, and Botanic gardens to name a few activities. We were lucky to have such nice weather, it made us all really excited for Summer Camp 2012. Below is a picture of Luca and Bethany during Art Exploration.

 

Remember that Summer Camp registration is due Monday, April 23rd. You can always contact me at mgalgoczi@imaginecolorado.org or 303-928-9766 with any questions!

Music & Movement

On Friday afternoons our group heads to Grace Studios for our Movement class. It is a class lead by Lisa Hofmann, CTRS. We start the afternoon by gathering the group together and having a quick 'check-in'. The class involves group movement activities, working together to create different dances, learning and creating new yoga poses, and finishes up with a quick debrief and relaxation exercise. Here is a picture of Lisa, Sophia & Tess after the relaxation portion of the day!

Each week we use music as a therapeutic medium to build social, cognitive, psychological, physical and emotional skills. Participants work with various instruments and visual aids while socializing and growing with one another.

On the Move

Every other Monday we offer what we call 'On the Move'. It is a fun energy release in which participants have the chance to learn new sports and try out games, it is designed for all skill levels.  On the Move is held at many locations including area parks, climbing walls and sensory engaging facilities.  On the Move incorporates the mind and body while fostering teamwork! It is facilitated by Brian Zapp, who has great enthusiasm for sports. Here is a picture of Shaun & Chris engaged in a soccer game.

 On the Move offers kids the opportunity to work on their physical abilities (strength & endurance) as well as their cognition skills (new games, rules, strategy & teamwork). On the Move will be every other Monday thorough out the summer. The alternating Mondays we go bowling at Centennial Lanes.

Summer Camp Preparations

I have gotten a couple of calls and questions about Summer Camp 2012. I will be sending out the registration packet in March, so if you do not receive one by the first week in April please get a hold of me and I will add you to the mailing list and send you one. During the summer, Wednesday mornings we have our Treks ‘n’ Trees activity. This is lead by Caitlin Looney, MACP, our Therapeutic Team Lead, who is a registered Wilderness psychotherapist.

The kids will be challenged by the abundant natural resources here on the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies! Campers will have the opportunity to ride horses, paddle canoes, go fishing, learn archery and other outdoor skills. Using experiential education to foster learning, we emphasize tactile, auditory and visual sensory integration. Outdoor challenges will be structured into our activities to add elements of excitement, fun and personal challenge.

Bird Feeders

Last week (before the big storm hit!) our group made homemade bird feeders and hung them up outside of Imagine!. We used pine cones as the base and attached the birdseed with peanut butter. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and it was a great way for our kiddos to work on their fine motor skills. Here is a picture of Shaun and Allie hanging up his finished product.

 As a reminder, when Boulder Valley & St. Vrain School Districts are cancelled we typically are as well. If for some reason they close and we are still open Mary will call you and see if you would like to join us for a half day. We would set up a time to meet at a basesite (usually around 2-2:30) and then have our regularly scheduled activity. Enjoy your week & stay warm!

Giving Back

Out & About offers participants a chance to give back to their community through Stepping Stones.  The program includes opportunities to volunteer in the kitchen at the Boulder Homeless Shelter, cleaning up local parks, making cat toys and dog biscuits to donate to local Humane Societies and more!  Also several times over the last couple months these groups have collaborated with an organization called A Soldier’s Wish List.  A Soldier’s Wish List is a non-profit organization established to support American troops serving in combat zones around the world in order to let them know how grateful we are for what they do on a daily basis.  They ask for care package donations which include the items most requested by troops like toiletries, batteries, socks, playing cards and homemade sweets & snacks.  Out & About’s Stepping Stones programs chose to help out the troops by baking cookies and writing cards!  These activities are a great opportunity for our participants to practice their cooking skills (following a recipe, measuring and mixing ingredients, using an oven safely, etc).  Making the care packages also gives Out & About’s participants an opportunity to help others and gain a broader perspective of the world.  One of the participants in Stepping Stones was creating a card after baking a batch of cookies when she stated her uncle was in the Army.  She said to her instructor that she wished either he or someone like him could receive the cookies and card she had made! Here is a picture of some of the kiddos with our finished product.

Winter Fun

We have had such a mild winter this year. While it has been nice to not be freezing, we have been missing out on some fun winter activities. Over the Holiday break we ventured up to Nederland so we could fit in some sledding. It was a nice sunny day, and everyone really seemed to have fun!

Here is a picture of Jessa and Scott before taking off down the hill. Jessa really seemed to enjoy sledding as she was laughing the entire time and kept asking to go more! Hopefully we can get some more winter activities in before the spring!

Transitions

Hello and welcome to the Children's Blog for Out & About! Each week I will be writing a little blurb about what our kids and program are up to, with pictures of us in action. Monthly I will be spotlighting one of our employees to let you get a chance to know them better.

As the new year began, one of our kids transitioned to the Adult Program at O&A. I would like to take this opportunity to let Autumn know how proud we are of her, and how much joy she brought to O&A children's program over the years. We know she will fit right in with the Adult Program!

 This is a picture of Autumn during our 'Halloween Bowling'. Her laugh and smile are so contagious!