Week 9
This week was filled with a ton of fun programs and a chance to reflect on our summer with the start of our written report.
Saturday: Saturday started off as a rainy morning at the Uptown Marion Market. We were not sure if we were going to get any kids at the market to participate in PoP Club. Luckily the rain let up around 9 and it was only a matter of time before kids showed up to take part in all of the PoP Club fun. The activity for this market was fruit thumbprint bookmarks. Everyone enjoyed getting to press their thumb into the ink pad to make thumbprints on their bookmarks which they then turned into various fruits such as apples, strawberries, and cherries. The tasting for this week included a strawberry spinach salad. All of the kids loved the strawberries but some were a little hesitant to try the spinach. Many kids found creative ways to try both together including little spinach wraps where they wrapped a spinach leaf around the strawberry. It was such a wonderful time to see both new and old faces all excited to take part in PoP Club. We cant wait to help plan for the next Uptown Marion Market on August 14th!
We got the chance to travel to Shellsburg, IA on Monday for our first program with the Creative Kids Company. We helped the kids learn about planting seeds, what seeds need to grow, and all about the different layers of soil with our popular soil cup activity. Everyone had a great time planting their M&M “seed” and many of the kids even pretended they were planting different seeds such as corn, tomatoes, and blueberries. While the kids enjoyed eating their “soil cups” we read to them the creative and funny story, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. We can’t wait to return to Shellsburg next week to teach the kids about mindfulness with our calming glitter jar activity.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent preparing for upcoming activities in Linn and Benton Counties. We made a quick trip to Hy-Vee to pick up ingredients for the smoothies we will make Friday with the KOC students. In Benton County, we got ready for Active BINGO at Happy Time at Tilford Elementary and prepared Calming Glitter Jar Kits to take to Creative Kids Company next week. We also had time to begin our final written report. It is sad for us to think that we are just a few weeks away from our internship wrapping up.
We spent the morning in Benton County preparing our calming glitter jar activity and talking with the Benton County fair intern, Shelby, as it was her last day in the office. In the afternoon, we traveled to Tilford Elementary to do our last program with Happy Time. Today’s activity was all about the importance of physical activity. We first talked about how physical activity can be good for our bodies and then discussed how we like to stay active, such as gymnastics, soccer, and basketball. The kids also had a lot of fun getting to move around with Active BINGO, and many of them tried spot tag for the first time, which is like regular tag but with a bit of a twist. We started with activity dice with the preschoolers to get some energy in them after nap time, and then we talked all things carrots. We read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, tried some baby carrots, and then had a fantastic time making carrots out of pipe cleaners for them to take home.
Friday was a blast, as we spent the morning at Cleveland Elementary in Cedar Rapids, IA making smoothies with the blender bike. We talked about what goes into a smoothie and why it is healthy to eat. Our ingredients included mixed fruit, bananas, ice, spinach, and oat milk. The students were nervous to try the smoothies because they contained spinach, but we assured them they would taste like fruit. Then, each of the students loved having the opportunity to blend up their smoothies while riding the blender bike. Afterward, they got to taste test the smoothies they made. Most of the children said they tasted great and asked for more.
Catch us next week with more exciting programs!
-Tatum and Maelyn