Surprisingly, we had a good session for the K After School Program today, in spite of a few bumps along the way. I was able to not let J derail the activities too much, though I did complain to the home room teacher about him derailing my more meaningful explorations. I didn’t get much sympathy from her. It is part of the job. But we rolled through the hour.
I was glad I had my scarves to establish a centered group of kids and the “invisible” technique worked wonders. (If you put the scarf over your head, you become invisible – and quiet…) It led to some quality group / individual play as we turned the scarves into ninja headwear, cat tails, etc. We danced to Jelly in the Dish and turned the mood around. Egg shakers, puppets, rainbow sticks, maracas all came out in definable groups so the kids got to dance and play. We also brought back The Bear Hunt and expanded on that. Today, the time went quickly and I didn’t have to ride J to behave as much. Water off the ducks back, so to speak.
I gave red shades to the kids and we had some fun wearing them as I made up a tune for the occasion.
One more session next Monday. I am fulfilling my stated mission to “just have fun” though it, at times, seems like work.