Vacation Care October 2016

As vacation care is really busy we are just going to do one post for the fortnight.

1^st Week

On Tuesday our OSHC traveled to the SA Migration Museum. The group was taken for a tour around the museum and learnt about the arrival of migrants from the colonies and how the Indigenous people of Australia had existed for many years before their arrival. The children were spoken to about the conditions in which many people travelled on the boats to Australia. The children were invited to look around at artefacts and photos/images in the gallery. Here they found images of migrants from many different countries including Britain, Germany, Poland, China and Afghanistan. The Museum also focusses on the communities that have evolved here after migrating.

After spending a lot of time on foot, the group settled in for a movie in the afternoon. Others relaxed by playing games, quietly drawing or enjoying some sunshine outdoors.

Wednesday we had a day of problem solving. The kids were provided with tarp, pegs and rope and challenged to build a shelter. Everyone had lots of different ideas. Some set up on the playground, some on the oval and one group used the footy goals to make a tent. Everyone had a go at trying different strategies to make a good space under cover. We found it was best to make our shelters next to walls, trees or hedges to block out the wind.   

After too much crime in OSHC we took our young people to the Adelaide Gaol. Here they got to be involved with interactive learning, by trying to pick locks, being locked in jail cells and being locked up. While we were there we learnt some interesting facts.

21 people were executed during the time it was a functioning jail.

1 woman was executed.

3 people escaped.

We also got to see lots of interesting parts of the jail, including weapons made from kangaroo skin, etchings made in the bricks and artwork by a prisoner.

On Friday we were involved with a Stay Active group that visited the school. Everyone got involved playing active games and doing some fitness. We also had some spare time and baked cupcakes.

2^nd Week

On Monday we put our creative hats on for some art. We originally planned some spray art, using water bottles. This had to be done outside, but alas, the weather was too rough and we couldn’t continue. We also created some beautiful canvas pieces as a group with Helen. We are lucky to have her visit us during the holidays as she is a busy contract teacher at another school. The lizard was inspired by our friendly neighbour who lives by the front door of OSHC, we chose to use Indigenous dot painting as we talked about how this is part of Australia’s history, because it was the style of the Indigenous people of Australia. See our gallery at the end of the post!

On Tuesday we jumped on the bus and headed to Star Theatre to watch The Adventures of Broer & Zus. It was a show about two twins that wanted to move to Australia. They took different paths to get there, including rockets, buses, dog sleds and more. When they got to school they were nervous to begin in a new place. So they tried to do things that made them feel confident. It was entertaining and engaging. In the afternoon we played some groups games and chilled out.

We put our aprons on, and put our culinary skills to use on Wednesday and baked delicious cupcakes. We also got to frost them and decorate them with lollies. Although they are not healthy, we like to think that by making cupcakes and seeing what the ingredients are we are teaching the kids to understand the sugar and fat content in treats like this. We also had a Mario kart competition with four rounds including finals.

On Thursday we got our hands dirty working with DAS, which is an air dry clay. Some made flat 2D shapes with lots of detail, while others made 3D shapes. We had intended to paint them but unfortunately they were still too wet by the end of the day.

A great adventure was had at the end of the week. For an excursion we rumbled off in the bus and were taken to the Adventure Playground at Belair National Park. Here we played lots of chasey type games, including cops and robbers on the large wooden forte. Lunch was eaten picnic style under a big old gnarly tree. We were lucky to have a fun bus driver who led us in a sing along to some older rock songs. By the end of the day, after running around in the warm sun, many took the opportunity to relax watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week, when we are back to school.