Among the many enriching experiences and opportunities that outdoor summer camps offer, perhaps one of the most valuable today is the chance for children to be physically active. With more and more studies being released that document that rapid growth of obesity and other weight related diseases in children, some scientists are predicting that close to half of the children in North and South America could be overweight by 2010. With all of the forms of media entertainment available to todays children and the glut of advertisements being put out by fast food companies, lack of physical exercise combined with unhealthy eating habits is becoming a serious issue.
At Jefunira Camp, we develop programming that is welcoming and fun to all children, regardless of their skill level or athletic experience. By creating non-traditional games that create excitement for our campers and offer multiple ways to engage within the activities, our programming is designed to be accessible to all kids. Our advice for parents struggling to get their kids outdoors is to create activities that generate excitement and teach athletic skills in fun, innovative ways. For example, when working on throwing and catching skills, rather than simply tossing a ball back and forth endlessly, create a game such as the "Catching Olympics" in which kids get points every time they make a catch, or create a 'landing zone' out of cones and challenge your child to try to throw objects into the zone, awarding points for every successful throw. Keep track of the running 'Grand Champion Score' and challenge them in successive rounds to beat the score!
For more information on this topic and some ideas on how to help your children stay healthy, we recommend the NFL Play 60 website
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Transition Tips for a new School Year
We know making the transition from the summer to a new school year can be a difficult one for many parents. Figuring out new schedules, homework expectations and helping children adapt to new environments is a big task for parents and we here at Jefunira Camp want to help! Here is a list of tips suggested by the National Association of School Psychologists on their web site
* Re-establish bedtime and mealtime routines early in the year to help remind your child(ren) of their school year schedules.
* Turn off the TV. The NASP suggests keeping television off limits during all school weeks, but if thats not reasonable for your family, limiting TV time during the first month of school will help your child focus on getting into a good homework routine. Which leads us to...
* Designate a space to do homework that is consistently quiet and free of distractions. For older children, studying in their own rooms may be the best bet, while younger children should work in a common family space to help facilitate check ins and help.
* Remain calm and positive. We know its hard not to panic when you see that your child is in a class with someone who they have had trouble with in the past, but before you send your child into high anxiety, there a several steps you can take to set them up for a more successful year. 1) Let your childs teacher know of the past issues, and what was done to address them. 2) Reassure your that their teachers are aware of the issues and are working to create a positive experience this year. 3)Reinforce your childs ability to cope by giving them some strategies to use should minor issues arise. Make sure they know to tell a teacher if the problem persists or become more severe.
* For older children, find out from their teachers which days will be homework or study intensive, and plan extracurricular activities accordingly around that schedule
* And finally, remind your children that just because summer vacation is over, their enjoyment of the year doesn't have to end! Look over their upcoming curriculum together and find items that they are excited about, or projects you can work on as a family.
* Re-establish bedtime and mealtime routines early in the year to help remind your child(ren) of their school year schedules.
* Turn off the TV. The NASP suggests keeping television off limits during all school weeks, but if thats not reasonable for your family, limiting TV time during the first month of school will help your child focus on getting into a good homework routine. Which leads us to...
* Designate a space to do homework that is consistently quiet and free of distractions. For older children, studying in their own rooms may be the best bet, while younger children should work in a common family space to help facilitate check ins and help.
* Remain calm and positive. We know its hard not to panic when you see that your child is in a class with someone who they have had trouble with in the past, but before you send your child into high anxiety, there a several steps you can take to set them up for a more successful year. 1) Let your childs teacher know of the past issues, and what was done to address them. 2) Reassure your that their teachers are aware of the issues and are working to create a positive experience this year. 3)Reinforce your childs ability to cope by giving them some strategies to use should minor issues arise. Make sure they know to tell a teacher if the problem persists or become more severe.
* For older children, find out from their teachers which days will be homework or study intensive, and plan extracurricular activities accordingly around that schedule
* And finally, remind your children that just because summer vacation is over, their enjoyment of the year doesn't have to end! Look over their upcoming curriculum together and find items that they are excited about, or projects you can work on as a family.
Studies show..Recess is important!
The National Association of Early Childhood Specialists has put out a position paper that reiterates the importance and value of unstructured play time for children on a regular basis. As both current and former teachers and educators ourselves, the Jefunira director corps couldn't agree more with the sentiments of the paper. Allowing children the opportunity for free play time on a daily basis not only provides them with an opportunity for exercise and physical activity, but encourages them to be creative in coming up with their own games to play, rather than waiting to be provided with structured play by an adult. We at Jefunira Camp encourage families to find time each day to go to the playground or park- And rather than telling your children what games to play, let them teach you a favorite game, or even invent their own game for the family to play!
The Importance of Play
The NY Times Magazine contained an article, "Taking Play Seriously" which examined the developmental importance of play for children.
Examining both the potential dangers and rewards of play during the developmental years, several theories relating to the value of play are thrown out and discussed. I was particularly intrigued by experiments that hypothesize that rats neurological development in certain parts of the brain is affected by lack of play, and a project in which rats exhibiting behaviors similar to ADHD seemed to benefit from extra play time.
The article also opened up a discussion on whether play is as important to development as many adults claim, or if our nostalgia for the good old days of Shadow Tag and Kick the Can is causing us to assume kids are missing out on the unstructured play of past decades. Certainly, we at Jefunira firmly believe in the value of creative, unstructured play for kids and have noticed similar dialogues in this area- Playborhood, a local site was recently featured in the Palo Alto weekly, and local author Denise Pope has been sharing her "Stressed out Students" message through local lecture events.
We would love to know what other parents/educators/community members think about this issue- comment away!
Examining both the potential dangers and rewards of play during the developmental years, several theories relating to the value of play are thrown out and discussed. I was particularly intrigued by experiments that hypothesize that rats neurological development in certain parts of the brain is affected by lack of play, and a project in which rats exhibiting behaviors similar to ADHD seemed to benefit from extra play time.
The article also opened up a discussion on whether play is as important to development as many adults claim, or if our nostalgia for the good old days of Shadow Tag and Kick the Can is causing us to assume kids are missing out on the unstructured play of past decades. Certainly, we at Jefunira firmly believe in the value of creative, unstructured play for kids and have noticed similar dialogues in this area- Playborhood, a local site was recently featured in the Palo Alto weekly, and local author Denise Pope has been sharing her "Stressed out Students" message through local lecture events.
We would love to know what other parents/educators/community members think about this issue- comment away!
Games to Play at Home
Aww- the balmy evenings, later sunsets of Daylight savings and sunny afternoons- spring is nearing! And with the extra hours of daylight, we thought we'd throw out a couple ideas of games for kids (and grownups too!) to play at home.
Shadow Tag- This game is actually best played after sunset. A "home base" is chosen, typically the front drive or front steps of your house. One person is assigned to be the 'seeker' and counts down while the other players hide in the surrounding bushes/backyard. Once the countdown is finished, the seeker begins to look for the players in hiding. If they spot someone, the seeker must run back to the base and call out "1,2,3 on Joey (or whomever has been spotted)" before Joey runs and steps on the base. The players who are hiding must try to sneak their way back to base without being spotted- growing up, my friends and I would come prepared by dressing in dark cloths and covering our shoes with dark cloth! Once all players have either made it back to base without being called out, or have been caught by the seeker, the next round begins.. For variety, the seeker might be given a flashlight and the boundaries for hiding expanded.
Backyard Treasure Hunts- All you need for this game is a few sheets of different colored label stickers and some enthusiastic treasure hunters! Hide the stickers in various spots around your yard or neighborhood (with the sneakiness level of the spots depending on the ages of the participants), then give each kid or team a sample sticker on a notecard and challenge them to find as many others as they can! If your treasure hunters claim your hiding spots are too easy, challenge them to reverse the hunt and re hide the stickers for you to find! (But be warned, you may be finding stickers hidden on the bottom of your patio furniture for months to come...)
Shadow Tag- This game is actually best played after sunset. A "home base" is chosen, typically the front drive or front steps of your house. One person is assigned to be the 'seeker' and counts down while the other players hide in the surrounding bushes/backyard. Once the countdown is finished, the seeker begins to look for the players in hiding. If they spot someone, the seeker must run back to the base and call out "1,2,3 on Joey (or whomever has been spotted)" before Joey runs and steps on the base. The players who are hiding must try to sneak their way back to base without being spotted- growing up, my friends and I would come prepared by dressing in dark cloths and covering our shoes with dark cloth! Once all players have either made it back to base without being called out, or have been caught by the seeker, the next round begins.. For variety, the seeker might be given a flashlight and the boundaries for hiding expanded.
Backyard Treasure Hunts- All you need for this game is a few sheets of different colored label stickers and some enthusiastic treasure hunters! Hide the stickers in various spots around your yard or neighborhood (with the sneakiness level of the spots depending on the ages of the participants), then give each kid or team a sample sticker on a notecard and challenge them to find as many others as they can! If your treasure hunters claim your hiding spots are too easy, challenge them to reverse the hunt and re hide the stickers for you to find! (But be warned, you may be finding stickers hidden on the bottom of your patio furniture for months to come...)
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