Adventure 12

On April 19th our class had a group presented on exercise and how it is beneficial for different populations. Before we started the activities that they had planned, we did a short warm-up.
We did some head circles, stretched out our arms, legs and sides. Our first activity that we did was called sheet volleyball. This is where we had to work as a team to catch and throw the ball with our sheet to the other team without it hitting the floor. They made it more challenging by having the two team step further away from each other. This game was a lot of fun but very challenging. I think this game would be great for any populations where team building and social skills are the goals.

After sheet volleyball we played charades, for this game we had two circles. One smaller circle that was inside the larger one. Your partner for this game was in the opposite circle and when the caller would call out a action such as "churning butter", you would have to find your partner and act it out.

for our final game we played humans verse zombies. For this game we had walk around with our eyes closed. The game started out with one zombie and the rest were humans. As a human when you bumped into someone you had to scream, when the zombie bumps into a someone, they did not scream. When only one scream is heard, the other person knows that they turn into a zombie. When two zombies bump into one another, they both turn back into humans. With the right adaptions, I think these games would be wonderful for any population.

kaleidoscope

Activity: Kaleidoscope

Target participant group: kids in homeless shelters

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity helps improve imagination, creativity, following direction, self confidence, social skills and fine motor skills.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may be beneficial to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, kids of abusive homes or dealing with a terminal illness.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity is not age appropriate for most adults or the elderly.

Activity description: Begin by cutting your mirror card into three strips. Sellotape the three sides together to form a triangular prism. Make sure the shiniest sides face inwards. Push into kitchen roll tube so that the prism is flush at one end. Then Cut two discs of plastic. One disc needs to be totally transparent whilst the other needs to be frosted. If you haven’t got frosted plastic to hand then simply glue a piece of greaseproof paper onto a transparent disc. Put the transparent disc inside the tube so that it rests at the end of the prism. Tape into place. Pour your beads into the end of the tube. Do not overfill. Place the frosted plastic disc onto the end and secure in place with tape. Turn the kaleidoscope over. At this end tape a disc of cardboard with a peephole cut into the center. now decorate as you wish!

Resources needed: For this activity you will need a kitchen roll, Mirror card, Small colourful transparent objects (e.g. beads, sweet wrappers), Three transparent plastic discs, Scissors, Glue stick, Sticky tape, Greaseproof paper disc (optional), Black paper disc (optional) and Paper to decorate (optional)

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a democratic style. As the leader it is important to give clear directions to your participants and to make sure

Where did you find this activity?
This site also has other great craft
http://www.minieco.co.uk/kitchen-roll-kaleidoscope/

Where can others find more information on this activity?
This link is to a site that give instructions on how to make a kaleidoscope from PCP. This may be a nice alternative to the paper roll construction.
http://www.optics.arizona.edu/academics/kaleidoscopehowtomakeakaleidoscope.htm

Disc in one!

Activity: Disc Golf

Target participant group: Inmates in a correction facility

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity can help with gross and fine motor skills, exercise, social and behavior skills, self-esteem and confidence.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may be of benefit to individuals with physical disabilities, youth at risk, or individuals with weight issues.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for the elderly or very young children.

Activity description: The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc. Each onsecutive throw is made from where the disc came to rest after the last throw. Score is determined by counting the number of throws made on each hole plus penalty throws and then summing all holes. The winner is the player who completes the course with the lowest score.

The course consists of a series of holes laid out so that when the player completes one hole he or she proceeds to the beginning of the next until all the holes have been played. The player is provided with a teeing area from which to begin each hole and a target to complete the hole.

Resources needed: Outdoors, Frisbees and the pole hole

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. It is important to allow the participant the freedom enjoy this game but at the same time not to wonder off.

Where did you find this activity?

http://www.pdga.com/

Where can others find more information on this activity?
The link below is to a site that develops equipment for the needs of disc golfers. From this site you can by discs, custom discs, pole holes and bags.
http://www.innovadiscs.com/home/about-us.html

Lets get excited about plants!

Activity: Mason Jar Terrairum

Target participant group: Elderly

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity is great because it not only brings the outdoors in, but allows for creativity. It helps improve social skills, patience, and fine motor skills.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity can be of benefit to almost any population with the right adaptation. This could be youth at risk, individuals with intellectual, developmental, or physical disabilities. 

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity is very adaptable, however individuals with severe developmental or physical disabilities may get frustrated if someone needs to fully assist them with this activity.

Activity description: Make sure your mason jar is nice and clean with the labels removed. Add 1" of small stones, pebbles or gravel for drainage. Follow that with a thin layer of charcoal to absorb odors. After that add 3-4" of potting soil. You can create mini-mountains with the soil by mounting up the soil in one area. Add in the plants you desire. Make sure these plants are sutable for the type of terrarium you are making. Once the plants are in cover the rest of the soil with moss. After the moss is placed, you can add decorate as you wish with a variety of rocks as mini boulders, shells, plactic toys or whatever you like. Once done, water your tarrarium lightly.  

Resources needed:  For this activity your going to need a mason jar and lid. depending what kind of terrarium you want, you may also need some of these items: small stones, pebbles or gravel, activated charcoal, potting soil, sheet moss, plants, decorations and skewers or chopsticks.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. as a leader you want to give clear directions to your participants so that their terrariums will be a success, give assistance when needed and allow participants the freedom to be creative.

Where did you find this activity?
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Mason-Jar-Terrarium/786/1

Where can others find more information on this activity?
This site is great because it give you different information. such as what the best plants are to use for a open or closed terrarium.
http://www.terrariums.com/terrariumaccessories/plants.cfm

Crayon Stained Glass

Activity: Crayon Stained Glass

Target participant group: kids with cancer

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity helps improve fine motor skills, social skills, increase attention span and encourages creativity.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity activity would be beneficial for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism. However, this activitiy can really be adapted to a wide range of individuals.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for anyone were the safety of burning one self with an iron my be an issue.

Activity description:  For this activity you want to sharpen different colored crayons. Make sure to seperate the different colored shavings. Put the shavings in between 2 peices of wax paper. You want to put like colors togethers otherwise they just all blend in with one another. Iron the top wax paper, this should melt the crayon shavings. Cut out a design in the middle of a black peice of construction paper. Do the same design on another peice of construction paper. Put the wax paper with the melted crazyon shavings in between the 2 peices of construction paper. Voila, you have a stained window!

Resources needed: For this activity your going to need wax paper, crayons, pencil sharpener, iron, and black construction paper

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. As a leader you want to make sure that your participants are able to be creative yet safe.

Where did you find this activity?

http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/trapaint.htm

Where can others find more information on this activity?
This website is wonderful because it give you step by step instructions for making the stained glass along with tips. 
http://crafts.kaboose.com/melted-crayon-stained-glass-window.html

Who am I?

Activity: Who am I?

Target participant group: Youth at risk

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity is great because it helps improve self esteem, socially appropriate feedback and brings awareness of self and others.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may be benifical for individuals with eating disorders, depression, mental disorders, dealing with a chronic illness or coming from a abusive situation.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity can be adapted to a wide range of individuals but it may not be as appropriate for the elderly.

Activity description: Participants lay down on piece of paper that is equal to their body size. Trace their body and have the participant cut it out. (keep in mind that not all participants might feel comfortal having their body traced, in this case just have them draw a body). Ask each participant to write their first name, and draw a picture or write a word that best describes what they feel is their most positive attribute on their outline.  Have the particpants go around the room allowing them to writing something POSITIVE that they feel or know about the others on thier body cut-out.  Also have participants write something positive of what they like about themselves on their body cut-out. Hang the finished Project somewhere to remind them of all their positive qualities everytime they see it.

Resources needed: Roll of paper, scissors and markers.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. It is important to give clear directive directions but allow individuals the freedom within those directions to express their thoughts and feelings.

Where did you find this activity?
http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txself.htm

Where can others find more information on this activity?
http://books.google.com/books?id=v_UvCUHiYzAC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=tracing+your+body+activities&source=bl&ots=ZxVCqpzMti&sig=tnFRXpFqfAk6TMLJP28oBy9dO48&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9A6gT9TFL4mq8ASfk9igAQ&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=tracing%20your%20body%20activities&f=false

Adventure 11

April 12, our class had Courtney Bent come and talk to us about her work. Courtney is a photographer who gives photography workshops for individuals with disabilities. She shared with us how the workshops came about and what she does during them. They ended up making a documentary called shooting beauty. It’s about her experience and the experience of the participants and the bond that has formed between them during these workshops. Courtney also shared some pictures that the participants had taken. I thought that most of those pictures looked very professional, which surprised me.

After Courtney's presentation, it was our groups turn to present our chalking challenge. This was a directed chalk art project where the participants could reflex back on their day and thoughts. We chose to focus this project towards individuals with HIV/AIDS. However, other populations that could benefit from this could be individuals dealing with cancer, women who were abused and youth at risk. We gave the participant about 10 prompts with such things as "draw a figure of how you are feeling right now." or "draw or write the word that describes what makes you sad." or even "draw a picture of the first thing you saw this morning." when working with other populations, the questions for this activity may need to be changed to fit the needs of your participants.

After we were done presenting, the next group presented new games. New games are cooperative games and are meant to be non-competitive. Some of the games that we played were people to people, cat and mouse, the caboose game, and a game where the ball was not allowed to touch the ground. Some adaptations that the group had made to the games were being blindfolded or only using your non-dominant hand. This was a great way to show our class how we can implement these games while working with different populations such as visual impairments or amputees. Every week I am reminded that even a minor change to an activity can have a huge impact. This can change it from being exclusive to inclusive.

Adventure 13

The week of April 26, we had two presenters come in to our class and talk to us about timeslips. timeslips is where you allow the participants to create a story based on a picture. Timeslips are mainly used with individuals who have dementia because instead of forcing someone to remember past experiences this activity can passively help bring back memories of the past. As a class we were also able to participate in a story. It was a lot of fun and it helped me see exactly how timeslips are done.

After timeslips, we had another group presentation. This group presented on the dramatic arts and as an activity we made sock puppets. We were all able to pick out a sock and decorate it as we pleased with googly eyes, feathers, pipe cleaners and much more. Once we were done decorating, In our groups we had to perform a short skit. They had given everyone a list of topics that we could choose from as ideas for the skit. some ideas were going dress shopping for prom or getting stuck in an elevator. What I noticed is that I was more comfortable acting out a skit using my hand then if I were doing it myself. I think that is really important to be aware of especially when working with certain populations. I also think this activity is great because with a few minor adaptations this can be use with almost any population.

Adventure 10

The week of April 5th, was an AWESOME class! We had Allison Surber come and facilitate a hula hooping class. She talked a little bit about her journey to the how she got to be hula hooping and where it has taking her. Seeing her spirit and her love for it was inspiring. You could see and feel the passion and the love that she has for this activity. This has inspired me to find something that I can connect with, as she connected with hooping. After her short presentation we were able to make our own hoops, which was probably my favorite part of the whole activity. I made a small hoop for arm hooping. We were also able to make them our own by decorating them with different color duct tape. The tape not only makes your hula hoop look amazing but it helps with traction. Mine was purple and orange. It was fun to sit with the class and chat about our hoops that we were making, while listening to music. It was really neat to see how the others decorated theirs. After we had decorated our hoops Allison went through a short warm-up and a cool-down with us. What I learned from Allison is that the reason why I was so excited about hula hooping was because of her. This is something that I want to bring to my job. That passion, love and spirit that is able to intrigue, motivate and excite the participants that your working with.

Article 3

Name of article: How Nature Can Be Used To create a Therapeutic Outdoor Environment

Name of journal: Nursing Older People

Name of author(s): Carol Davis

When and how did you locate this article? I found this article by using the library’s EBSCOhost database search. Since I was interested in the benefits of nature, I typed in the words “therapeutic benefit” and “horticulture”.

Two paragraph synopsis of what you learned in this article:

A pilot program, in a nursing home, was done by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The program urges people to encourage wildlife back into their gardens by making it animal and bird friendly. Due to the amount of positive effects on the residents it is now being implemented in 305 of the organization’s care homes. RSPB aims to bring many of the species back into gardens that are on the decline. The nice thing about this project is that the residents and their relatives can enjoy the creativity and relaxation that gardening for wildlife brings at the level that they prefer. This can either be by help building a bird bath or keeping watch for their favorite birds.

     The plan is to bring something different to the surroundings of the care homes and to enhance the day-to-day experience. RSPB aimed to provide access to wildlife within easy reach of the buildings and to create bird tables that can be visible from the bedrooms, lounge and dining area. Assembling some of these areas can be done cheaply and easily. Hedgehog hotel was constructed out of bricks, the butterfly bistro is a nectar stick and the bugs’ bed and breakfast was made from dead wood.

     Residents have been a great part of the project. They work with staff to make fat cakes, bird watching, building and painting nest boxes, and helping staff create habitats. Some of the benefits that have been observed are: motivation in the residence, help spark memory for individuals with dementia and it provides a nice break from the TV. 90 percent of the participants said that the pilot was useful or very useful in terms of improving their experience. An interest in wildlife and bird watching is now incorporated into the homes monthly activities.

How will you apply this knowledge to your professional development?

Something that I will take away from this article is the power of nature. Most of us get so wrapped up in our everyday lives that we take the fresh air for granted. There are many participants that have all of their activities within the same four walls.

Would you recommend this article for other TR students?  Why or why not?

I would recommend this to others. The article talks about the positive changes they saw within their participants after the garden was established. 

Article 2

Name of article: Creative Leadership: it’s a decision

Name of journal: Leadership

Name of author(s): Robert J. Sternberg

When and how did you locate this article? I found the article using the schools EBSCOhost database. To narrow my search I used the key words “creative leadership”

Two paragraph synopsis of what you learned in this article:

The idea that good leadership is in large part a decision, a decision to think creatively, analytically, practically and wisely. A creative leader is someone of vision, who proposes ideas that are original. For example the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts, promoted for a teaching center at the university that provides continual in-service to help teachers reach all students, not just the ones they are most comfortable teaching. Great leaders are also analytical, they ask if their ideas and the ideas of others are good ideas and if they are appropriate for the circumstances. As an administrator, one should ask themselves 1. What is the best possible outcome of the course of action? 2. What is the worst possible outcome? And 3. What is the most likely outcome of the course of action?

     Good leaders lead by moral authority. Leaders who blatantly need to show their position authority quickly lose it. Great leaders need tremendous emotional/social/practical savvy. It requires them to think about how they can successfully execute their ideas and how they can bring others along with them. It merely isn’t enough to have good ideas. Good leader are also wise leaders. They use their creative, analytical and emotional/social/practical skills for the common good. They balance their own interests, other people’s interests and institutional interests, and they think for the long-term as well as the short-term. Most individuals think we are inborn with these various skills, and that one is fated to have certain level of them. However, we develop our creative, analytical, emotional/social/practical and wisdom-related skills by using them.

How will you apply this knowledge to your professional development?

One thing that I will take away from this article is that a great leader, who is also creative and wise, is someone who has developed their creative, analytical, emotional/social/practical and wisdom skills by using them, not because we were born a great leader.

Would you recommend this article for other TR students?  Why or why not?

I would recommend this article. I think this article was very informative about leadership in general and what it takes to be a great leader. Even though this article is geared to creative leadership in schools I think as TR’s we can implement almost everything the author was speaking about.

Article 1

Name of article: Palaestra

Name of journal: I can skate Dorothy Hamill’s Adaptive Skating Program Gives Children with Physical Disabilities a Chance to Soar

Name of author(s):  Lauren Manfuso and Meredith Purvis

When and how did you locate this article? I found this article using the schools library’s EBSCOhost database. Keywords that I used to narrow down my search was “therapeutic recreation” and “adaptive equipment”

Two paragraph synopsis of what you learned in this article:

Dorothy Hamill, an Olympic gold medalist and figure icon helped start an ice skating program at Kennedy Krieger located in Baltimore, MD for children with different physical disabilities. The program provides several levels of participation. All of the sessions start off with a set of land exercises that are followed with an on-ice warm-up. Over the course of this program the skaters are able to pursue levels of certification through the United Stated Figure Skating Association Adaptive Program, this helps with achievement and skill development.

     To let children and their families know that skating in not impossible, the I-Skate program utilizes instructors, volunteers and a wide variety of adaptive equipment. Some of the different adaptive equipment that can be used are: Skates designed to allow for individual to keep their orthotics on. Standard walkers, which are great for individuals with reduced strength or balance and bar walkers which is great for individuals with increased impairment because it allows them to sit down immediately when needed.

     I-Skate is a community based program, because of this it operates without the individualized educational program (IEPs). However, instructions and learning is designed especially around each participants unique needs and success is more gauged by a child’s increase in confidence and ability then a measurable set of criteria.

How will you apply this knowledge to your professional development?

Before reading this article I thought that ice skating for someone with a physical disability, such a spinal cord injury would not be possible. This article reminds me that as long as I have the right adaptive equipment anything is possible. This is something that I need to keep in mind as I plan activities for participants.

Would you recommend this article for other TR students?  Why or why not?

I would recommend this article to other TR Students. I think it is always great to find resources about activities that you can do with participants. This article is great because it explains about the adaptive equipment that they used for ice skating.

Adventure 9

I was super excited about Thursday’s class. The topic for that class period was about adaptive equipment and inclusion. We were instructed to do a small class presentation along with an activity. The topics included goal ball, cycling, hunting and fishing, fitness activities, kayaking and extreme sports. Our group’s topic was cycling. I made me really happy since I enjoy cycling and I think it is a recreation that everyone can enjoy. We talked about the adaptive equipment that would be needed for visual impairments, intellectual impairments and physical impairments. Our main focus for the presentation however was physical impairments. Because we thought it would be really neat to allow our classmates to try adaptive cycles we decided that for our activity we would bring in different types of handcycles and set up a relay race. One of the handcycles we had was a recumbent and the other was an up-right, it was really funny to watch everyone line up behind the up-right handcycle.

I really enjoyed learning about all the other activities, especially goal ball. I heard of it before but I didn't know much about it. It was interesting to find out that they blindfold their players. Since it’s a game for the Visual impaired, I didn't think that would be needed. I didn't realize individuals have different degrees of visual impairment and to make it equal, they blindfold them.

As someone who uses a wheelchair, I sometimes can get frustrated or disappointed because I do not always get included in activities. This class is a good reminder of really how simple inclusion is, either with fancy technology or a simple construction.

Adventure 8

For last weeks class we learned about blindness. We watched a couple of videos pertaining to the subject. the first video was about a lived experience of a man who paints. We also watched a video about how GPS's, can be used to help someone with blindness orient and locate different locations with out a guide. We also watched video about Orientation and Mobility Specialist and how one can be a sighted guide.

We were able to put the sighted guide information into practice by partnering up a classmate. We took turns being blindfolded and being the guide. As a leader we were instructed to guide our partners to a different building. For our excursion, we were suppose to allow our partners to experience different terrains and not give clues to where we were located. As the person being lead, we had to try and orient our self by making a mental map and listening to the noises that one heard around themselves.  I am someone who watches the road and tries to avoid pot holes and sorts. During this activity, I felt it was especially difficult for me to fully let go of my control and trust my partner. When I was the ginny pig and being lead around campus, I constantly felt like I was about to roll into something or off of something. I would flinch or duck my head if there would be different light shadows. As the leader, I noticed that I would forget that my partner could not see where we were going therefore, I would turn before I would give her the direction to turn.

When we came back together, we continued with two other activities.   For these activities, we were not allowed to speak to each other for communication. We had to find other means.  For the two activities we did wall tape art, this is were one can create a mural with painters tape. The other activity was creating different objects with clay. I was also blindfolded for the tape art activity. With no communication, I was confused to what I was suppose to do.  I was the guide for clay activity and there were moments that I became frustrated because my partner was not understanding what I was trying to tell her.

Through out these experiences I learned better ways to communicate with individuals who may be blind. I also have gained some understanding to what it may feel like to be guided. Having this experience helps me become a better guide to someone when needed.  It was interesting to be able to help other individuals as a change, instead of individuals always helping me. 

Adventure 7

       In class the evening of March 8, we learned about adaptive art equipment and how to make our own adaptions to supplies that we may already have.  Before coming to class we had to look up adaptive art equipment to share with the class.  Out of pure coincidence we as a class ended up with research from the same websites. These links are added at the bottom of this post. 
      Our in class activity included adapting art supplies that was provided to us. An examples of art equipment that we practiced adapting was; using a cup to make a larger handle.  It was also interesting to see what other groups had come up with, because when we ended up sharing our ideas, I saw multiple ideas that were very similar.  One of the other adapted crafts that we made was
using bubble wrap to make a roller and using bigger handles.  This would make the object easier to use.   Out of cardboard, hemp and tape we were able to create a paintbrush in which individuals could use if they did not have the ability to use their arms. 

Having this experience was great. After learning about this activity in class, I will be able to apply it to my life if I ever need to adapt anything.  This activity has made me feel more confident and comfortable in doing so. At the end of this activity we shared all of the adaptions that we came up with. It was inspiring to see the number of creative ideas that our class was able to come up with.

One of our classmates built a very interesting contraption using cardboard, yarn, an egg crate and markers.  It goes on the front of someones wheelchair and allows them to draw while using their chair.  Although it did not work every time, it allowed the individual to have the Independence of doing it themselves.  I think this is huge and important because the fun of using ones own object that he or she created can bring a smile to any participants face.  Every week, I leave this class in surprise with how amazingly creative my fellow classmates truly are.  I feel, very grateful to be in this class and learning a plethora of ideas next to my fellow classmates which I will be able to use in the future.

adapted art equipment links:
http://www.zotartz.com/assets/files/printcat.pdf

http://www.infinitec.org/learn/art/artequipment.htm

Adventure 6

For the week of  March 1st, in class we did a collaborative art activity. We started of by discussing what exactly this meant and how it could be used in therapeutic recreation settings. We also discused the importance of being frugal, since we will not always have access to as many materials as we would like. After the overall activity was explained to us, we split up into our groups and discuss what kind of activity that we wanted to create. From there we had to select our materials that we wanted from the pile that was provided to us. Our group decided to create a picture-story book. We made a small book from regular paper and bound the sheets together with hemp. On the first page we wrote a couple fun sententences which the following group would have to draw on to the next page.  The following group after the one who drew the picture, would have to write a sentance about the picture...and so on. To keep it fun we provided markers, feathers, googly eye and much more. Once we had our activity set up, we were able to move around in our groups to try other group activities. I loved seeing the creative idea in which other groups were able to come up with.

 I really enjoy doing different craft activities even though I am not a pro. I was pleasantly surprised that I felt more creative doing these activities with my three crafty group members. I felt that their creativity and possitive thinking was adding to my creativity. Once we were able to go around and encorporate our own ideas into the other activities, we shared the end results with the class. I really enjoyed seeing how amazing everything turned out and how creative everyone in our class truely is. 

Who Spilled the Beans?

Activity: Bean Art

Target participant group: This activity is great for a wide range of individuals.

Therapeutic potential of this activity: Bean art can benefit fine motor skills, help self expression and cognitive development.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may be beneficial for individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities, mental illnesses, attention deficit disorders, intellectual disabilities, seeing impairment and the elders.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for individuals were choking hazards may be a concern.

Activity description: Bean art can be adapted to fit the needs of the individuals. This can be done in so many different ways for example, decorating a pre-cut shape (such as a letter or a cat), gluing beans to an object,  or creating a piece on canvas.

Resources needed: Depending on what kind of art work your making you may need different things. The essentials will be a flat surface with plenty of room. You will need a variety of beans, containers to place the bean in, tacky glue, cardboard style paper, canvases, or objects, be as creative as you want. If you do not want to use regular beans you can also use jelly beans.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity is democratic. It’s important to encouraging and allow individuals to be creative in their bean art as well as assist when needed.

Where did you find this activity? We did bean art as one of the activities with special recreation.

Where can others find more information on this activity?

The link below is to the jelly bean candy store. You can buy jelly beans in bulk here and they also have a gallery of amazing jelly bean art.

http://www.jellybelly.com/Art_Gallery/bean_art_gallery.aspx

The link below is to a blogger's page that has a tutorial on bean art. They go into details of how they did their project along with showing pictures of some steps.  

http://easyascutandpaste.blogspot.com/2011/02/bean-art-tutorial.html

Lets go sledding!!

Activity: Sledding

Target participant group: This activity is wonderful for a wide majority of individuals because it can be adapted to fit the needs of your participants and your goals.

Therapeutic potential of this activity: Fun, exercise, communication and social skills.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may benefit individuals with different physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism, mental illness and attention deficit disorder.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for elderly or individual.  

Activity description:  In sledding your traveling down a snowy hill using a sled this can be anything from a flexible flyer, a flat plastic disc or a intertube.

Resources needed: for this activity your going to need to have snow outside, a good hill, warm clothes and a sled that is appropriate for your participant. Make sure that there are facilities in the area were you can go too to warm up if it gets a little chilly.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be democratic.  allow for participants to be independent and assist when needed. It is very important as the leader to make sure that everyone is safe.

Where did you find this activity?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledding

Where can others find more information on this activity?

The following link is to a site that helps you locate sledding hills.

http://www.sledriding.com/

The following link talks about sledding safety and why it’s important to follow certain safety precautions. This site is has very good information and tip on being safe while sledding.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/safety/sports_safety/safety_sledding.html

Lets go Treasure Hunting!

Activity: Treasure Hunt

Target participant group: Treasure Hunting can be adapted to a wide range of individuals that’s why it’s so much fun!

Therapeutic potential of this activity: problem solving, team work, endurance, communication, gross and fine motor skills.

What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may benefit youth at risk, individuals with addictions, physical and cognitive disabilities.

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for individuals who may have major cognitive disabilities.   

Activity description: There are a couple different treasure hunting games.

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which you use a global GPS or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers called caches anywhere in the world.

Letterboxing is another treasure hunt game. It is played outdoors and combines elements of orienteering, art and problem-solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a logbook and a rubber stamp.

An armchair treasure hunt uses a book or a puzzle as basis, in which clues are hidden.

Resources needed: depending on which treasure hunt your are planning on doing your going to need different things. If you’re going geochasing you’re going to need a GPS, coordinates for the cache and if you’re placing the cache yourself then you could need to find a small item for that. The cache can be anything from a self made coin to small toys. If you're going letterboxing you're going to need to find where there are letterboxes in your area, a logbook and a rubber stamp.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity would be a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. Depending on your participants and your goals you may want to use one style more than the other. The important thing is to give clear directions, be encouraging and allow for your participants to accomplish the goals that were set for them.

Where did you find this activity? 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_hunt_(game)

Where can others find more information on this activity?
The link below is to a website that has everything about geocaching. This is a great resource to get started and to find caches in your area.

http://www.geocaching.com/

The following link has all the information that you may need about letterboxing.

http://www.letterboxing.org/

The following link is a great website that can help you get started with letterboxing.

http://www.letterboxing.org./GettingStarted/getstart_finding.htm

The link below will take you to a website that can help you find letterboxes in your area.

http://www.atlasquest.com/

The link below is to the armchair treasure hunt club. It has information listed about the club as well as public hunts.

http://www.treasureclub.net/

Adventure 5

The flash mob was a BLAST! I know, surprising to hear from the girl who was apprehensive at first. We had decided that we would meet up at the library before and after the flash mob. When everyone was at the library, we had a pep talk and addressed any last minute concerns. We then sporadically started heading over to the REC in small groups. Being one of the first persons in there, I now had a half a hour to kill. I found it extremely difficult to act like I was just "hanging" out at the REC. I never go to the REC, so I was unfamiliar with what the appropriate behavior was. The music started roughly around 4:30. Because I was one of the first people to start the dance, I was able to see the expression change of the bystanders which was a lot of fun. When we had practiced it previously I had always been exhausted and out of breath but surprisingly this time I had lots of energy, there wasn't one moment in the dance were I felt tired. Someone from the schools news paper came out and took pictures and our professor was able to video tape it which was great. I am very glad that we were able to capture the moment. Once the dance ended we dispersed as if nothing had happened. We all met back at the library as planned for some processing and debriefing. Since this was part of a class we spilt up into our small groups and answered some questions about what we had learned from this experience. I can say for myself that I learned that compromising is very important when you work with others and that the activity does not always go as planned and that is okay. I also learned that sometimes it’s also okay to let my guard down and really enjoy an activity.

Here is the link to our awesome flash mob, check it out!
http://youtu.be/0GS9FIr282Y

Much Love -

Yay for Buttons!!

Activity: Button Art

Target participant group: This activity is great for a wide range of individuals.


Therapeutic potential of this activity: Button art can benefit fine motor skills, help self expression and cognitive development.


What other groups may benefit from this activity? This activity may be beneficial for individuals with physical disabilities especially those that affect the hand, mental illnesses, attention deficit disorders, intellectual disabilities, and the elders.


What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity? This activity may not be appropriate for individuals were choking hazards may be a concern.


Activity description: Button art can be adapted to fit the needs of the individuals. This can be done in so many different ways for example, decorating a printed picture, attaching buttons to an object or creating a piece on canvas.


Resources needed: Depending on what kind of art work your making you may need different things. The essentials will be a flat surface with plenty of room. Of course buttons, containers to place buttons in for easy sorting, glue, wire, paper, canvases, objects, you name it just be creative!


Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity is democratic. It’s important to encouraging and allow individuals to be creative in their button art.


Where did you find this activity? We did button art as one of the activities with special recreation.


Where can others find more information on this activity?
The following link is to an artist website that uses buttons and other miscellaneous objects. It’s a great site to get inspiration for activity ideas.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/button_art_18353

Etsy in general is a wonderful website that can inspire any individual to start art and craft projects. The following link is to different kind’s button art on Etsy which can give rise to some great ideas for activities.
http://www.etsy.com/search?includes%5B%5D=tags&q=button+art

The Awesomeness of Adventure Challenge Courses

Activity: Adventure Challenge course

Target participant group: This activity is great because it can be adapted to fit the needs of your participants and the goals that your trying to achieve.

Therapeutic potential of this activity: This activity can help build trust, self-confidence, communication, cooperation and leadership. It can help individuals build up strength and endurance; increase their fine and gross motor skill.

Groups that may benefit from this: Adventure Challenge course can be of benefit to many individuals. This could be youth at risk, individuals overcoming addictions, intellectual and physical disabilities.

 

 

Groups it may not be appropriate for:  For the elderly population this activity may not be as appropriate.

Activity description: Adventure challenge course is a course that provides challenges for individuals to work through physical and mental situations. Challenge course allows for team building skills, problem solving skills, leadership skills and to learn about them self’s.

Resources needed: For this activity you’re going to need a facility that has a challenge course that is accessible to your participants. Make sure there are trained and certified instructors and safety gear at the facility.

Best leadership style for this activity: The best leadership style for this activity is a combination of laissez-faire and democratic. Depending on the needs of your participants you may want to use one style more than the other. It is important to make sure individuals are safe and to encourage them while at the same time allow them to develop the skill that adventure challenge courses are designed to do.

Where did you find this activity? http://www.nycgovparks.org/programs/rangers/adventure-course

Where can others find more information on this activity?

The following link is to an interesting article about universal challenge courses. It talks about making challenge course accessible to individuals with disabilities.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1145/is_3_35/ai_61793380/?tag=content;col1

The link below is to another adventure challenge course.

http://www.northernlightsvt.com/nlri/

The following link is to a study that was done on the effectiveness of a challenge course. The study was to see the impact it would have on leadership and work efficacy among college students. Even though not everything applies from this study the article does talk about some great things.

http://juptrr.asp.radford.edu/Volume_1/Challenge_Course_Effectiveness.pdf