4th of July

I'm really excited about our 4th of July Celebration at Summer Camp. On Wednesday, we are having the petting zoo come to St. Luke's to celebrate the holiday. I know that the 4 year old kids in my class will love all the animals! We are also eating chicken and other snacks for lunch. After the petting zoo and lunch, all the kids are going to the pool for a "swim meet." We are going to do different swimming and outdoor activity relays and games. The students will be able to win ribbons and prizes. I think that this party is going to be a great way to celebrate the 4th!

The Exploreum and the IMAX

This week's field trip was to the Exploreum and the IMAX. When we first arrived at the Exploreum, we went to the IMAX to see a movie about the Hubble Telescope. I thought the movie was really interesting, but my 4 year olds were very bored by it. They kept asking when our popcorn was coming because they thought it was another trip to the movie theater. Second, we went to the hands-on exhibit where the kids played with different science experiments. They had so much fun doing this, but I don't think they understood the science aspect of what they were doing. Finally, we went to the play area of the Exploreum. In this play area, there is a large boat, balls for whatever, and different fish and sea animals to play with. They also have many puzzles and other games. My class loved this area. We spent most of our time there. I think that 4 year olds are a little too young for the Exploreum as a whole. I personally would wait until my child was in the first grade to take them.

Arts and Crafts

Because of the rainy weather this week, my summer camp class did lots of arts and crafts projects. I love doing arts and crafts, and I think my kids enjoyed it too. First, we made "Thumbprint Bugs." The students stuck their thumbs in paint and made caterpillars, butterflies, and other types of bugs out of their thumbprints. They turned out so cute! Then, we made fish out of paper plates and construction paper. We cut a "pie slice" out of the paper plate and it made a mouth. We glued the "slice" onto the backside of the plate to make a tail and drew and eye. The kids shredded pieces of tissue paper and glued them onto the fish body to make scales. They turned out really colorful and the kids were proud of them. Finally, we made self-portraits. The kids drew pictures of themselves on white construction paper using crayons. It was really cute to see how the kids perceived themselves. I hung all of their projects in the hall outside of our classroom for everyone to view. Hopefully, I will be able to upload some pictures of their arts and crafts products later this week!

Rainy Days

This week was very tough at summer camp. The kids' favorite parts of the day are swimming and playground time, which we couldn't do because of the rain. Most of this week was spent indoors and the kids were very antsy. I tried to take them to the gym to play as much as possible and we did many arts and crafts activities. By Friday, the whole class was exhausted and bored, despite my efforts to keep them entertained. 10 of the 17 kids at summer camp on Friday had major meltdowns. I dried more tears on this day than I have the entire summer. Hopefully this next week goes much smoother!

Chuck E. Cheese

This week's field trip was to Chuck E. Cheese. We left school at 10:45 and rode a bus. I think that the bus ride is just as much fun for my class as the actual destination. When we arrived at Chuck E. Cheese, each child received a cup of tokens. I let all my children run around and play the games for about an hour. After they ran out of tokens, they were allowed to crawl up in the tubes. Most of the kids in my class played on the games that didn't give out tickets, but a few won tickets from their games. We counted the tickets and picked out gooey lizards, tatoos, and markers from the prize booth. After the hour of games, we sat down for a lunch of pizza and sprite. Each child got two pieces of pepperoni or cheese pizza. They enjoyed watching the robotic characters sing and dance while they ate. The field trip was not a long one. We were back at school by 1:30. Overall, it was a really successful day!

The Last Day of VBS

The last day of VBS was more calm than the rest of the days. The kids have finally gotten used to the routine of the day and everything was more organized. The theme of the last day was "God blesses us." In bible study, we talked about all the things that God has given us and how thankful we are for his gifts. We read the Bible story about Sarah praying for a baby and God blessing her with one. The students are now singing the words to all the Bible school songs. Many of the students are repeating the stories that we have discussed during Bible study. I'm starting to think that the kids have gotten more out of VBS than I thought they were. Overall, I believe the week was a success. The children had a lot if fun!

VBS Day 3 & 4

Day 3's theme of VBS was "God watches over you." on this day, we discussed how Jesus died on the cross for us. We talked about how Jesus is always in our heart. I think this helped my little 4 year olds to better understand the concept of Jesus because they could put their hands on their heart and "feel" Jesus inside. This concept made Jesus more concrete for them. They made and decorated HUGE sunglasses. They wore them around school the whole day. Day 4's theme was "God loves you no matter what." I think this day was there favorite because they loved the Bible story. The story we read was Jonah and the Whale and the kids got to reinact it. We called each child to the front of the room and asked them to do something. They responded with "no!" and were then swallowed into the "belly of the whale." The belly of the whale was under a table with blankets around it like a tent. After asking forgiveness from God, the rest of the class screamed "we forgive you Jonah" and the child was "spit out of the belly of the whale." after this, we talked about how God loves you whether you are acting good or bad, and if you ask for forgiveness, then God will forgive you. In art, they made picture frames and we put a picture of them in it. They were really cute! I think the kids are getting into the activities more and understanding the purpose of VBS a little more. The church portion is still very boring for them. There is not enough stimulation to keep their attention during church. I feel like I'm saying "sit down and be quiet" the entire church service.

Vacation Bible School Day 1 & 2

This week at summer camp, we started Vacation Bible School. The theme ofnthe week was "PandaMania" and the church was decorated like a jungle. Day 1's theme was "God made me." this day, we focused on how we are God's creation and how we are all unique. Our bible story was the creation story from Genesis and the kids made key chains of themselves. They decorated the key chains to look just like themselves and we talked about how everyone looks very different. Many of the kids decided to give the key chains to their dads for Father's Day! Day 2's theme was "God listens to us." This day, we talked about the power of prayer and how God answers our prayers. The kids made noise makers in arts and crafts and used them while we sang songs in church. The children seem to be having a really good time with the activities, but I'm not really sure if they are truly understanding the purpose of VBS. They are 4 years old and lose interest in stories very quickly. One child said, "Church is boring." I'm trying to motivate the children to want to learn in VBS. I guess we will have to see how the rest of the week goes.

Missing the Kids

On Thursday and Friday, I did not go to summer camp. I had to go to cheerleading camp with the St. Luke's cheerleaders because I am also a coach at the school. I have missed the kids from summer camp while I have been gone and have worried about how things went while I was gone. I will go back on Monday to start a week of VBS! However, the cheerleaders did wonderful at cheer camp. We had so much fun and they worked so hard! I'm so proud of them!

Yogi Bear

This week, we took the summer campers to the movies on a field trip. We went to the Rave theater in Daphne, across the bay, for Family Fun Day. The Rave shows a free movie on their Family Fun Day and this week the movie was Yogi Bear. The kids thought the movie was hilarious and it kept their attention the whole time. We also bought each child some popcorn, a pack of gummies, and a sprite. We called ahead to order from the concession stand, but we didn't receive the food and drinks until the movie was almost over. This was the only problem on the field trip because the kids were starving. Besides the late concessions, the field trip went pretty smoothly. Next week, we aren't leaving the school for our field trip. We will be attending St. Luke's Church's vacation bible school.

Summer Camp Job

My favorite season is summer and I have the best summer job! I work for St. Luke's Episcopal School's summer camp program. I am the head counselor for the K4 grade level with two other counselors working with me. We have anywhere from 16 to 24 campers a day. Our camp has many educational activities along with a lot of fun activities. This is a copy of my class' daily schedule.

7:30 - 8:30 Check - In
8:30 - 9:00 Centers
9:00 - 9:30 Morning Snack
9:30 - 10:00 Art (Wednesday and Friday)/ Computer (Monday and Thursday)
10:00 - 10:30 Playground
10:30 - 11:00 French (Wednesday and Friday)/ Gym Sport (Monday and Thursday)
11:15 - 12:00 Lunch
12:15 - 12:45 Swimming
1:00 - 3:00 Rest Time/Movie
3:00 - 3:30 Afternoon Snack
3:30 - 4:30 Playground
4:30 - 5:30 Gym and Check-Out

We are very packed days, but we like to keep the kids busy and having a good time! Every Tuesday, we take a field trip!