Dungeons & Dragons

Hey Folks, Peter here with an update on Dungeons and Dragons at Junior OSC. Our quest is still going strong. More kids have joined the adventure since I last wrote a blog. D&D is a role playing game where the children's actions have immediate effects on the game. So, for example, if a player decides to freeze the lake, it may or may not change the outcome of the story, which I have created. I've been trying to reward good behavior in the game by giving extra points to children who use their 'abilities' for good, and also help their friends in the game by sharing items like health potions. The stories I've been using are mostly made up, but I've taken parts from Disney movies as well as Greek and Aboriginal mythology to make it really interesting for the kids. Here are some of the things the kids have said about the game:

"I like the snakes" - Mia, Fire Fairy

"Finding treasures" - Vlad, Red Robot Guy

"Using powers like Fire Breath" - Justin, Dragon Guy

"Getting new powers!" - Alarii, Wizard

"When monsters come out!" - Nyah, Fairy

That's all folks, cya soon!

- Peter Sammarco

Fossil Fun in Science Club

Dinosaurs are an ongoing interest for most kids, so for Science Club we took this interest and looked at it in a different way. When asked how people knew about dinosaurs the kids quickly came up with the word fossil, and when asked what a fossil is? The replies were varied and the group came up with responses like “Dead Dinosaurs,” “Rock shapes,” and “Bones.”

After a discussion about how fossils are made, we went on to make our own using a simple recipe involving coffee grinds. Not surprisingly one of the highlights of the entire process was the kids passing around the coffee to smell, and making faces while exclaiming “EWWW,” or “GROSS,” followed by much laughter.
Everyone went about making their fossil a different way. Some, like Emily, spent the entire time meticulously printing a single leaf, others, like Trenton, made as many prints as possible on the fossil surface, and Camryn even designed a scene on top of their fossil before leaving the prints behind. Take a look at some of our creations.

-Gemma