Eden Hills OSHC: July 15 Vacation Care

Blog July 15 Vac Care

This week we have been truly spoilt with variety. Each day has been jam-packed with lots to try. We started our week at the Marion Gym where we did gymnastics using the spring floor, parallel bars, mats, trampolines, balancing beams and climbing rope. We also played lots of games like hide and seek. In an environment like that, it was a real treat hiding under giant foam shapes, laying under big mats and some hid behind the people counting. During our time there we also got to jump and play in the foam pit and had a disco in the main gym.

Tuesday we had a Japanese culture day. Kerrie the Japanese teacher from school came with a friend and their food truck and cooked everyone a teriyaki chicken and rice lunch! Unfortunately we had quite a difficult day with the weather. Crazy wind meant that by the time we got to the food truck and back we were bedraggled and wet and our meal was slightly cooler than we’d prefer. But to much delight the OSHC building was attacked by hail. Under the tin roof it sounded amazing and the hail was great to play with, so much so that some was kept in the freezer for later.

A favourite game this week has been Adventure Time Fluxx. It is a card game that starts with simple rules; draw one card, play one card. But as the game progresses new rules are added, the goal is reset and players need to keep changing their strategies. This game is a great one for critical thinking, problem solving and analysis skills. Aside from this there has been a lot of Scrabble, guess who and connect four.

Aside from special days from our program we have also been playing lots of tennis, badminton and basketball in the SAC. Also Wii Sports has been back in action, with boxing being the favourite.

We have also watched a few films this week including Matilda, Frozen and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Because the days are so long during vacation care, from 7:30am until 6:15 it is important for all of us, staff and children, to take time away from all the hustle and bustle and chill out and re-energise.

Wednesday was our painting day. <Please scroll to the bottom of this post to check out our gallery>. We were lucky to have Helen join us this day and to encourage and inspire some different techniques. Some features, such as poop emoticons were used in interesting ways, but we don’t mind as long as people are taking an interest and giving it a go!

Thursday, David from Mobile Science came to visit and talk about all things that fly. Our young people were able to make plans, spinning helicopter made out of paper and an indoor kite. This was a great day for experimenting with designs to better understand how things work. We were really pleased with some conversations between staff and students about what things in nature behaved similar to our helicopter paper. Some great suggestions were leaves, seeds and flowers. As we know, nature has always been a great source for scientific designs.

On Friday we had quite a small group with only eighteen children. We spent the day outside in the sun! Many were so happy, even though it wasn’t truly warm; it was mild enough to be out doing some nature play. Many of the younger children spent time breaking apart rocks to look for gems and crystals. They also chipped away at soft rocks to try and form shapes.

Jewellery making was our organised event for Friday. Our crafty lot made bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings. Some were made for themselves, others made gifts for family and friends. We worked with leather thongs, twine, beading wire and waxed thread with all kinds of beads for decoration.

Looking forward to another full on program next week! J