Array of Activities

In class on (2/22) we started off with one last short activity.  This activity was artist, clay, and model, which was a very unique game where one person was the artist who had a blindfold on, another person was the clay which the artist shaped, and finally the model who chose a creative pose.  This activity was really innovative and included no outside materials besides ourselves.  Its a great activity to have as a backup because its quick and easy to explain and do. 
After completing that activity we moved to talking about ways to change and modify simply games to meet different needs and goals of individuals.  We looked at the game red light green light, another way Dr. Lewis explained to us was using a train with different rules.  It was very interesting and may appeal to different populations of people.  Then we broke into our groups to construct a program for the population spinal cord injuries based around the show Project Runway.  My group chose to construct a program based around creating a hat out of non traditional materials like feathers, leaves, or pipe cleaners.  Its a fun way for participants to express themselves.  These activities are great and innovative and can be tweaked in ways to accommodate many populations to accomplish any array of goals.

Short Activities

In class on (2/15) our groups presented our short activities we chose.  The first group presented innovative art, which was really fun and gave us the participants a chance to express ourselves using random household items like cotton balls, sponges, ribbon, feathers, and leaves.  There were different colors of paint to create our own masterpieces on paper.  This was a very positive activity that many populations of people could benefit from!  The second group presented making magical music which was also a very creative activity where groups had to construct their own band to make music for the class with random supplies.  Our group decided to play a version of twinkle twinkle little star with our innovative instruments.  The third group presented musical expression which was a very unique game.  It was a very relaxing activity where groups got together to draw our feelings out on paper as different genres of music played in the background with the lights off.  After each song played we would switch papers and draw on that one.  It was really interesting at the end to turn the lights back on and see the creations we made.  The fourth group started off presenting an ice breaker game called shoe ID, we all took one of our shoes off and threw it in the middle of the room then picked up a random shoe and chatted with it's owner to learn a little more about our classmates.  Following the ice breaker we were instructed some basic chair yoga stretches.  This activity brought us all together to relax.  Finally my group presented egg drop, this activity is an active activity where groups collaberate together to form a contraption around their egg using straws, paper, and tape to prevent the egg from breaking.  Groups seemed to get pretty competitive when we dropped the eggs of the third floor balcony.  This was a great team building activity which involved good communication skills.  Overall this was a very fun class period and I learned a lot of good activity which I will add to my bag of tricks for the future!

Research in WINGS

Last week (2/8) we met in the technology center where we learned different techniques to use when researching for our upcoming paper.  We learned a great way to access journal articles by  logging on to our library website, and searching by key words or terms to really narrow down our search results to specific finds directed towards our interests.  This is really a good spot to find accurate interesting journal articles which can help us in our future as TR professionals or in other college classes.  Its a short simple search that will help us greatly in the future!

Tape Art

This past week in class (2/1) we learned about collaborative arts specifically tape art.  We were given clear packaging tape and plastic wrap along with other random objects to represent and relate Therapeutic Recreation and our assigned populations.  This group activity was very innovative and fun but we still learned a great deal from it!  My group was given addictions, which at first seemed pretty challenging and it took us a couple minutes to think of an idea and get to work.
Eventually we thought of an idea it snowballed from that.  We decided to make a long tunnel with an arm coming from one end reaching towards a light with barriers in its way like alcohol and drugs.  This symbolizes not only a goal of someone with an addiction but a metaphor of the meaning "reaching for the light at the end of the tunnel".  When talking about the benefits of this activity for an addictions population we said its good social skills for the individuals to interact with each other in a safe environment which ties into good communication skills allowing them to express themselves.  Some problems to watch out for is to set guidelines so their tape art is appropriate, and to have good ventilation because the tape did have a strong scent. 

This was a great activity and I feel our group worked well together given the time frame and materials involved.  This is something I will hold on to for awhile and use in the future.  Its cheap, fun, and easy! :)