I volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club on Monday and Friday this week. Monday was just a normal day except I did homework help the entire two hours instead of play time for the last thirty minutes; this was because this one little girl needed a lot of help writing her state report. I really felt like I accomplished a lot because I helped so many kids in that two hour time. Friday was very interesting because there were about twelve other volunteers there from a sorority and a fraternity at Purdue. Seeing as how it was a Friday, the vast majority of the children did not have homework and the few who did only had spelling words that took less than fifteen minutes. Friday is always the day for fun activities and this one was extra special activities. It was the World Wide Day of Play and the Keystone group planned a group of relays for the kids. The first relay was the egg relay in which the kids had to carry an egg on a plastic spoon down the field, around a cone, and back. My team actually won this one! The second event was a variation on a tradition water balloon toss. The kids lined up in two lines about three feet apart with the each kid directly across from another kid. The first person tossed the water balloon to the person across from them who then proceeded to hand it to the person next to them who then tossed it to the person across from them; this continued on down the lines and then back up the lines. The game was really fun but my group totally didn’t win; they broke five balloons before they could even get all the way through the lines one direction! They ran out of water balloons so most of the groups, including mine, had to finish the game with the eggs from the egg relay and all I can say about that is thank goodness that the eggs were hard boiled. In the final relay the kids had to run down the field and back while bouncing a balloon in the air. This would have been challenging enough on a normal day and the wind on Friday made this a bit of a failed game because the kids became discouraged rather quickly. The whole activity ended with a little awards ceremony followed by hot dogs and ice cream sundaes. The kids seemed to have a great time and so did I, plus I got quite a workout when I had to run back to campus to make it to crew practice since the bus didn’t come!
Until next time…
XOXO Service Girl
That sounds like so much fun! It reminds me of elementary school when we would have field day on the last day of school. It’s nice that they get to be rewarded like that. I would love to play games and get hotdogs and ice cream sundaes after I finish my homework! Maybe that’s why the dining halls always have ice cream? (:
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you’re really helping a lot of the kids out! Do they ever come back to you the next time you’re there and tell you how they did on a test or project? I remember how exciting it was when the boy i tutored would come and say he got an A on his test. It was exciting for me to know that I helped but it was more exciting to see his reaction.
It really stinks that your bus never came! I think the bus system is the most stressful part of our service work. It’s so hard to plan your day when you have to maneuver around the bus schedule! Best of luck with the rest of your work! (:
All I can say about that is I commend you for being able to work with kids! I don't know how you do it! I've done a lot of volunteer work in my life, and although most of it was with animals or the elderly, I have had a bit of experience with kids. I volunteered at the YMCA in my hometown one year for a kids' summer camp and it was absolute chaos! You know how sometimes you're walking around campus and you see one of those chipmunks? Then you look away for 3 seconds, then you look back, and it's gone? That is how those children were. But it really is great that you're getting the chance to not only have fun with them, but to help them academically. It's really great that you're able to have fun, and know that you're helping these kids out at the same time!! :)
ReplyDelete