Green triangles, snipped from construction paper, dotted a black background.
Cotton balls glued in front formed a snowy blanket.
Snowmen and gingerbread houses added to the winter pop-up scenes crafted by participants in the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Occupational Therapy Winter Camp.
This was the first year the MMI Department of Occupational Therapy has offered camp sessions over winter break, said Jennifer Konieczny, an occupational therapist who helped with the camp. The department has offered similar summer sessions for the past three years.
“School districts’ breaks aligned, and it felt like we could offer a good option for families,” Konieczny said.
In addition to the arts and crafts session, campers also could choose from sessions on social skills and working with LEGO blocks. The latter sessions had participants working together as teams.
Winter camp switched things up while still working on critical skills. Campers worked on arts and crafts, which still let them work on fine motor skills, but without as much strict structure. The summer camp’s handwriting session also works on those same fine motor skills, but it follows more of a school-like structure.
During social skills camp, participants split into two groups and played games. One group circled up on the floor to play Hedbanz.
Rhett Durston sported a blue headband with a card showing a cartoon giraffe tucked in the front.
He asked his fellow campers a series of questions to guess what was displayed on the card: Can I fly? (No.) Do I live in water? (Still no.) Do I exist today? (Yes.) Do I have hair? (Technically.) Do I have legs? (A resounding yes from the crowd.) Am I bigger than a fridge? (Another boisterous yes.)
Rhett was met with applause and hoopla after he correctly asked, “Am I a giraffe?”
“I love giraffes!” he said.
Across the room, the other group of campers played Qwirkle, a tile-based strategy game. They started by grabbing six tiles from a bag before aligning the pieces in patterns on the table.
Both groups used problem-solving skills and good old sharing skills to settle some minor disagreements.
Camps have proven popular within the department, Konieczny said. Many of the participants are return campers.
“A lot of the kids miss school, so they really enjoy these sessions,” she said. “The winter camps empower children to gain independence in fine motor, social and problem-solving skills with their peers through play with accessible games.”