Design your own t-shirt!

 Last Friday, the kids were able to design their own t-shirts for art.  The activity, led by Pearlena, was very successful and each child was able to express their creativity. They loved doing art on the patio and enjoyed the sunshine.  Everyone looked like they had a blast and the designs they came up with were fantastic. Hope you like these photos!




Cheers,
Vanessa.

Meet Jack!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Jack, and since this is my first time posting on the JR OSC blog, I’ll start with a short introduction about myself.  I joined the OSC staff last winter as an Assistant Leader, and I come every Tuesdays to join the Juniors.

 I still consider myself pretty new since I still do not know how to play all the board games that we have. Just this Tuesday, one of our kids taught me how to play a game that is similar to Go.

Last week, a group of the kids were playing on the red circle swing. Since it was only big enough to fit 4 people, not everyone could go on at the same time. However, one of the kids decided to volunteer to get off for another. This was quite a nice act of kindness, and all the kids around recognized it.

-          Jack

Spring Break!

Spring break felt like it just flew by. The last two weeks were a nice change for the kids who got a chance to not think about school and just enjoy some quality time with friends. As staff we were looking forward to running some awesome In days, as well as taking the kids out of the centre on some fun adventures. I would have to say our most exciting In days were "Minute Challenges" where we had a variety of "minute to win it" style challenges and the other day was the very popular "Slumber Party" mainly because the kids got a chance to dress up in their pajamas, make some pillows, listen to stories and of course get treated to some delicious hot chocolate.

During the days we were planning on leaving the centre, we didn't let the weather stop us form heading to our destination. Rain or shine we were determined to get the kids out and about for some fresh air. We visited the very popular Garden City Park & Terra Nova Park. Our Garden City visit was a wet one as the rain poured down, but the staff and kids geared up and trekked out to make the most of our day. While at Terra Nova we had the sun on our side, as we spent the entire day playing at the playground, field and zip line.























While everyday had its own adventure, I would have to say the highlights of spring break were our visits to Town n Country for some bowling and the Aquarium. Many of our kids got the opportunity to bowl for the first time and while it was nice to have a high score, a lot of them took with them the simple enjoyment of celebrating in each others success, STRIKE! The Aquarium was just an all out amazing day as the kids got to see so many cool creatures of all shapes, sizes and colours.





Feel free to approach any of the staff if you want to find out more about our awesome spring break and if you have any ideas or suggestions of things we should check out let us know as summer is just around the corner.

Thanks,

Jason

Beanie Boos!

Hey everyone,

 

This week, Sara E prepared an awesome art activity that was very popular with the kids; we made DIY Beanie Boos! First, each child decorated a fancy colourful sock. With assistance, the kids used hot glue to decorate their socks with googly eyes, felt and pipe cleaner. Some of the kids even tied on "leashes", so that they could walk around their pet Beanie Boo. We waited for the glue to dry and the next day we got to fill the socks. We had a big bag of bean bag beans (try saying that 5 times fast), and we used it to fill up the socks. Once we tied off the socks with yarn, the Beanie Boos were completed! Take a look at how they turned out!

 

-Ryan M

Pink Shirt Day

Hey everyone!

 

Just a quick introduction. My name is Ryan M, not to be confused with Ryan S. I guess you could say I’m new to Junior Out of School Care, but you can usually find me at Senior OSC throughout the week. However, I now work on Tuesdays with the Junior kids and am very excited about the working with the young ones once a week! I’m doing my best to get to know all of the families at Junior OSC, but if you see a new face please don’t hesitate to come talk to me. I love a good conversation!

  
 

 
 
 

Last Wednesday was a very important day, with many people all around the world being able to relate. February 25^th was Anti-Bullying Day, while the entire week was Anti-Bullying Week! This day has been growing in popularity over the years, and here at Junior Out of School Care we want to help our kids be more aware of bullying and more aware of how they can stand up for themselves and others.

 

We had a few fun activities planned for the kids to get them thinking about anti-bullying. Some of the kids got their pinky nails painted pink! Not only did it look awesome, it also had a symbolic meaning as they pinky promised to stand up to bullying. We also had small pink t-shirts cut out of paper, and the kids wrote a nice message on the t-shirt about what they can do to be nice to others. Our more adventurous ones even painted their faces pink!



 

 

Dixon Elementary School had a great idea of wearing a different colour, representing different types of bullying, for each day of the week. So if on Wednesday you saw any kids wearing green, it’s because our Dixon friends were standing up to cyber-bullying!

 

Although this is one of the only times we focus heavily on anti-bullying, it is very important that the themes from this week are thought about every single day.

 

Ryan M

Jungle Jac's

Taking Aim!

On Friday February 20th, we were able to enjoy the provincial wide pro-d day at Jungle Jac's. This was a new location for many of the children and staff members as well. After we got through the long bus ride to Pitt Meadows, the kids finally got a chance to run and explore all around the indoor playground. Some of the children mentioned the best part about the playground was the slides, whereas many of the other kids spent most of the day in the mini soccer arena and ball pit. Whether they were playing tag or just exploring throughout the tunnels, they all burnt a lot of energy at Jungle Jac's. Which led to some nice long naps on the bus ride back to West!

Collecting Ammo!

Thanks

Aislinn

Fun Art for Home!

On the note of art, I thought I'd offer you guys another art activity to try! I will admit, this is not an activity I've tried with the kids as it's trickier to modify with a large group of kids but it's too cool not to share.

 

I've included a picture from a link I found on Pinterest, but this is a popular project that you could find all over the internet. So what you would do is use either white glue or hot glue to stick the crayons side by side across the length of any size canvas. Let them dry. Then, as pictured, you could cut out any shape from contact paper or cardboard and stick it to the canvas to leave a print or you could leave the canvas as is. Next, you should place your canvas upright over a tray, cardboard platform or outside (anywhere, as long as you don't mind the potential of crayon wax spilling onto it) and use a hairdryer to slowly and gently melt the crayon wax. I would recommend pointing it towards the crayons in a downward motion, which will prevent it from potentially splattering. Continue to melt the wax until you reach your desired look. If you used a cut out, peel that off and let everything dry! 

 

If you happen to try it at home, come let me know how it turned out!

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Sara E

 

***