Pro-D at West

Although it is sometimes a daunting challenge to plan an entire day in the community center, the day tends to fly by. Many of the children see this as a chance to spend more time with their favorite toys, games, or leaders, and look forward to taking part in more time consuming activities unavailable on a regular day.  We get a chance to visit the park, the turf, the gym and to make yummy snacks like oatmeal cookies. Oftentimes we adjust the day based on what the kids suggest, and this is how half of our room became a “museum.” One activity that is quite difficult to fit into a normal day is face painting. There is something very exciting about having an animal, design, or favorite cartoon painted on them, and many kids wait almost patiently for a chance in the chair. Although there are always requests for the usual designs such as butterflies, or cats, recently we have been having more difficult and/ or unusual requests. Logan and Cole have become used to my “thinking” face as I try to figure out requests such as “I want a robot arm that is controlled by a panel,” or “veins like a strongman.” An even more challenging endeavor has been the recent Pokémon revival, and trying to figure out not only what a “krookodile” is, but how I can possibly draw one on Alden’s arm. This past pro-D way definitely a fun one, and was a reminder of the summer days to come.

Gemma.

Stars in the Making!

Hey folks, hope everyone is having a great spring so far. Lately we have been taking full advantage of the good weather by going outside whenever we can. As some of you may have heard, I have started working on a short film called, "The Mystery of the Missing Lunchbox." The film is about a child's lunchbox that goes missing, but upon finding it they notice that instead of the food being inside, they come across something most unexpected! The film will star some of our very own jr celebrities and most enthusiastic performers. I will update the blog when it's all done. Enjoy the rest of your long days of sunshine! 


Peter Sammarco 

¡Feliz cinco de mayo!

¡Feliz cinco de mayo! 

A popular Mexican holiday, adopted by the United States as well (why not, it's another reason to eat, drink and be merry) is celebrated to commemorate the Mexican victory over the French in Puebla, Mexico. But ultimately, it's a celebration of Mexican heritage. 

The word piñata struck some excitement in the kids when I announced art, but to their disappointment and their parents' delight there was no candy involved. These were more like 'pull' piñatas; we decorated an empty toilet paper roll with streamer, covered the bottom side with tissue paper and taped some ribbon to the tissue paper which would be where the treats fall out from. They filled their piñata with 2 prizes from the prize bin, small enough to fit into their TP roll, and of course sequins and glitter to jazz it up. I made one myself, so that I could demonstrate what their piñata might look like when they pulled on, releasing all the glittery, sequiny mess. What's good fun without a little mess? Seems to be an ongoing theme for my art activities... But if they're having fun, I am too!

- Sara

Integration Art Days!

 Ever since the Grade 2's have began the weekly integration day at Senior OSC, Tuesdays have been pretty quiet at Junior. Couple that with the fact that this past Tuesday was beautiful (well, not cold and not rainy) and you've got a very quiet art table. With only a handful of kids signed up, we decided on two simple spring crafts. We tried our hand at tissue paper flowers. Not much to it, but very cute. We used tissue paper and streamers and kind of just folded, crunched, and layered our 'petals' until they looked like a flower. We moved onto butterfly paintings which is just how it sounds! My initial idea was to suggest that they only paint one half of the butterfly and then fold it onto the other half to demonstrate the symmetry of a butterfly's wings. HOWEVER, I don't think that made sense to most, so they just painted the whole butterfly, which was totally fine too.

Though it was a quiet day at Junior OSC, there was no shortage of fun nor creativity!

- Sara

Butterflies!

"Would you like some cookie with your icing?"

My over used, not-so-funny joke during our cookie decorating activity this week in celebration of Easter.

I know that baking and decorating sweets will always make for a messy but enjoyable art table at Junior OSC and as Easter was nearing, why not! Sorry parents, I know, as if they weren't already going to be spoiled and 'tummy-aching' from chocolate this long weekend. Instead of baking cookies, I went ahead and baked some really quick flower shaped sugar cookies on my own to create a blank canvas for our little Picassos. Some white frosting mixed with neon food dye, sprinkles and a handful of skittles were all we needed to occupy them for a whole half hour. Unsurprisingly, some kids preferred a 3:1 icing to cookie ratio - AKA a whole lotta icing, while others were more conservative, carefully icing each petal a different colour. 

- Sara

Decorating each petal

Cookie artists at work

Sprinkles!

Slopping on icing

How we imagined the cookies would look

How they actually look

Keeping track of which cookies belong to whom.

Bring out the Looms

Rainbow looms are one of the most popular recent trends in OSC. There are endless combinations of patterns and colours, and with every new creation the kids only seem to like them more. Recently we dug out looms that were relics from my own childhood, and yarn looms began. A surprising number of kids instantly took interest in these instantly, and very soon all twelve were occupied. This activity has attracted boys and girls from all age groups, some very unexpectedly. Some of our greatest enthusiasts include Logan, Emily and Keira. 

-Gemma

Using some teamwork

Different sizes

Tangled yard, a loomer's worst nightmare

Our art cart ever since the children discovered looming

City of Blocks

The Keva blocks have been a hit since first introduced to both Sr. and then Jr. OSC, and almost every kid has devoted a good chunk of time to building various structures at some point. This interest has only grown for many children, and has resulted in the invention of a variety of games. Some of these games include designing marble tracks to race marbles, or building towers that can withstand a strategically thrown object. We were all impressed one day when a group of kids took it upon themselves to organize and build an entire Keva city.

OSC Tower

The core crew of this endeavour included Logan, Peton, Andrew, Sean, Adriana, Toby, Noa and Leo. The city they built included buildings contributed by many children, such as city hall, OSC tower, main road, and many unique houses and scenery. They collaborated on this project from 3pm until about 5:30, which is a long time considering everything else happening around them, and all of them were extremely proud of their City of Blocks. 

-Gemma

An aerial view