This week OSC was jam-packed with many fun activities like group knitting and a 'Big Two' card tournament. The week culminated on Friday in a Pro-D Day out-trip to the Richmond Olympic Oval for Jumpstart, an initiative hosted by Canadian Tire and its affiliates. 

Many out-of-school-care programs participated in the event, and it was awesome to see everyone taking part in such a fun and active community event. Groups rotated through various activities such as basketball, table tennis, relay races, and a fantastic obstacle course. Each rotation provided the group with new challenges, and each child had to opportunity to participate in every event. 

By far the favourite activity of the day was wheelchair rugby, which was taught by a Paralympic athlete. The kids had the opportunity to practice moving around in the wheelchairs while catching and throwing a ball to each other, and they even played a rugby match with the professional athletes. It was great to see everyone interacting together in a fun and engaging environment with many varieties of activities!

Until next time
 

Sarah C

I can not believe that it’s November already! As you could tell from our last 2 blog posts, we’ve been anticipating Halloween for a while now.  Last Monday, it was finally here!  Halloween is such a great occasion for us to channel our inner zombie DJs, cats and many other great costumes!  It was so cool to see everyone’s take on each character and to celebrate creativity.  The leaders welcomed all of the kids into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter by dressing up as the best Harry Potter squad in town.  Corey created and led an exciting and spooky escape room, challenging kids to put their problem-solving skills to the test!

One other interesting activity we did this week involved a little bit of reflecting in the spirit of We Day.  Matt lead a short activity that invited the kids to think about the world beyond our Gilmore walls.  In small groups, we shared our thoughts on what we felt was working in the world and what we believe could use a little work.  It was a great opportunity to show what we understand about the world as well as learn from others who may have had different ideas.  Many social issues were brought up that we wouldn’t normally think about- it was a great moment of learning and reflection for both the kids and the leaders!  We are super grateful for all the fun things we get to do at OSC and hope that one day, others will get to enjoy them too!

Carol

Happy Hauntings OSC families!

We've had a spooky last couple of weeks at OSC getting the kids into the Halloween spirit! Your little ghouls and goblins have been getting crafty and made some eerie lanterns featuring pumpkins, fairies and dragons with Carolyn.

 

As I'm sure some of you know we had a big buddy pumpkin carving activity on Wednesday where some of the Seniors came over to West to help out some of our Juniors carve their scary pumpkins. The kids had a great time squishing  their fingers around in the icky, sticky pumpkin guts.  I'm sure you found dried pumpkin all over the kids and the floor when you picked them up, and I'm sure we will be finding pumpkin seeds around West for weeks! The kids used the tools of the trade to carve their creations into the pumpkins.  We were all super proud of the Seniors for being amazing big buddies and making it really special for the Juniors. 

 

Another exciting event this week was the Lantern Festival! The volunteers from seniors were super excited to man the cupcake walk station with Carolyn and spread the spooky spirit around! We hope your October will continue to be magical, we're counting down the days until all hallows eve! 

Stay Spooky,

Mackenzie 

Hey everyone!

With all these rainy days hitting us, Sarah C had an awesome idea to keep the kids entertained indoors. What better game is there to play than one you make yourself? That's what we did this past week; “make your own board game.” The kids started this project by choosing a theme. Then from there, designing the type of game and the rules along with it. With all access to the art supplies the kid’s creativity was astounding. Using supplies such as cardboard boxes as the game boards, and even baking clay to mold game pieces and characters, this made a unique variety of games.

Malia - Created a version of the game “life,” but played only with cards she designed herself.

Emma – Started with a Harry Potter theme in which the purpose of the game was to escape the forbidden forest.

Adrianna – Made two different games, one about a veterinary hospital and another game similar to snakes and ladders but instead of using a dice, she drew symbols on a ping-pong ball, which you used to move around the board.

Cole, Alden, Andrew, Brant, Carolyn – They all worked together to create a game called pokeMOMs. This was an adventure type game with a pokemon theme, were you began as one of the three starter pokemon (bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle) and you had to find their “MOMS,” (Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise).

AND MANY MORE…

In the end this was a great activity for the kids, not only for them but also for all to enjoy. I’m really excited to try these new additions to our game collections. Hopefully there will be more to come very soon. If you want to hear more about these games, please don't hesitate to ask or to join in!

Corey