Kicking, Dribbling, The Environment, and Kolas

Once again last Wednesday we were back at St. Mary's School in Cortland to work with the kids as part of their after school program. This day's theme was the environment, which I'll get to how my group incorporated it later.

We started off in the gym with the K-2 grade kids observing their kicking and dribbling skills. The kids seemed not to be to interested today with the games but we were still able to observe what we needed to while two other groups lead their activities.

My group was chosen to work with the Pre-K kids this week, which I wasn't that excited about, but in the end found it really enjoyable. We basically get to just go into the room and play with the kids for a little bit. I joined a group of kids that were cutting out letters in play dough. It was fun to challenge them and see if they knew their alphabet. One thing I did notice was at that age most kids don't play together. Even if they are playing with the same thing they are in their own space and not working with each other. After cleaned up the kids listened to two stories read by a fellow classmate of mine.

Both of the stories had to do with the environment and peoples surroundings. The first book was about being on the farm. The second was about a duck who was traveling home. It talked about the duck's surroundings and what colors they were, and ended up making a rainbow at the end.

After that the children had a bathroom break and then snack time. While other members of the group set up a physical activity for the kids, I got to read a book about Kola's to both classes of Pre-K kids. It was a neat experience. The kids pay attention so well and always want to make comments about the story and whats going on. And yes, I was able to read while holding the book out to the side.

We then went into the gym where we played a game where the kids got to act like animals moving through the environment. There were sharks swimming in the ocean, alligators in the swamp, foxes in the forest, and even some butterflies flying through the air. It was fun to become involved in the activity and make the noises with the kids. We made sure each kid got a chance to pick a card and lead the rest of the group. Soon the kids were leaving and we were only left with a handful of students. So we broke and did whatever the kid's wanted. Some wanted to play a game where one person chased the others (like tag) but as an animal growling. Another student was shooting under-hand baskets and was able to make more than 5 in a short amount of time, it was amazing.

Soon I realized that there were more college kids than Pre-K kids so I went and interacted with some of the older students and played with them. We ended with a cheer with all the kids that were left that day.

It was another great day where I got to observe and learn things about younger kids.