Friday, March 27, 2009

Origami

Hello again!

We're bringing back an older program that we used when we first started visiting the YIC! It's a fun program filled with hands-on activities. At the start of this program, the teens will need to learn to work together in order to complete a group juggling ice breaker.

Some read alouds like One Red Dot by David A. Carter will show the residents the many amazing objects and designs, even 3-D ones, that can be made with paper! This book is too cool, see what's inside here.


After the read alouds, we're passing out origami "how to" books, pulling up chairs, and helping each other figure out how to make animals, water balloons, hearts, and many other fascinating objects from a single square sheet of paper! Residents will learn a bit about this Japenese art form and will listen to authentic Japanese music while folding.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Folktales & Cultures

Hello!

We are ready this week to introduce an improved version of an old program, Folktales & Cultures. On Wednesday, we will be visiting the Youth Intervention Center (YIC) to read Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, an African tale by John Steptoe, and The Red-Ribbon Leprechaun, an Irish folktale. The residents will create and play Mancala, a traditional game that originated in ancient Ethiopia, with simple materials like egg cartons and stones. They will play an Irish memory game as a group that utilizes several Irish and Celtic symbols and their meanings. After learning a little about Saint Patrick and enjoying a treat, the group will look through some selected library books about cultures and their folktales.

I have already received a message from Bryan, the program coordinator at the YIC. Resident's have been submitting their writings for the upcoming issue of What's Up? magazine already! We look forward to reading them this week.

We want to encourage anyone interested to post their writings or upload their artwork onto the blog! Thank you!