Innovative Activity #1

Activity: Parachute games!

Target Participant group: mainly  young children

Therapeutic potential of activity: increase attention span, promotes social interaction skills, task/game rules and teamwork, enhances cooperation, control inappropriate behaviors, physical activity, sensory stimulation, task variation, inclusion, increase motivation/emotional well-being

What other groups may benefit from this activity?: children with Autism, individuals with cognitive disabilities, at-risk youth

What groups may not be as appropriate for this activity?: elderly, adults with various disabilities, individuals with schizophrenia/anxiety disorders, individuals with convulsive disorders

Activity description: A parachute is a great piece of equipment that can be adapted and used for various populations. It is a great activity for a big group!  There are many parachute games already invented and it is also rather easy to put a quick game together with a group.  Depending on the skill and ability level of the population, you can choose different games that are most appropriate.  A parachute is a good activity because it is easily accessible and non-competitive so individuals of various abilities are able to participate together as a group.  It is a great activity to facilitate to promote inclusion.  The most important aspect of this activity is space.  You must make sure you have a big enough space to spread the parachute out and for individuals to be positioned around the circumference of the parachute.

A few already invented parachute games are listed below:

Popcorn: Place a number of beanbags, small balls, or other ojects onto the parachute. Shake to make them pop up like "popcorn".

Ball Roll: Have the children try to roll the balls into the hole in the middle of the parachute. (Or have children try to keep the balls from going into the hole in the center.)

Making Waves: Children can make small, medium, or large movements to make various types of "waves." You can incorporate a story about a ship on the sea, weather, etc. &/or use your voice as a tool to emphasize directives.

Resources needed: parachute, balls/beanbags, space!

**Parachutes can be purchased in a variety of stores and also equipment catalogs such as "Flaghouse".

Best leadership style for this activity: Depending on the size of the group and the ability level, it may work best to have a couple or a few leaders to help facilitate this activity.  Safety may be an important factor in this activity.  The group should be aware of the leader in charge and be able to follow directions of the games involving the parachute.

Where did you find this activity?: I have used the parachute at a summer camp with kids many times. The kids I were working with had Autism or other cognitive disabilities.  As far as parachute games, there are many online resources that have lists of games that involve a parachute.

Where can others find more information on this activity?: There are many online resources such as : http://www.childcarelounge.com/activity/parachute-play.php and http://www.mrgym.com/MiscGames/Parachute.htm.

Adapting the activity: There are many innovative ways that this activity can be adapted. For example, if an individual does not have the ability to grasp/hold the parachute, you may try using a harness clip on a loop of the parachute or attach some other object to the parachute so it is easier for them to hold.  Another example is when working with a group of children that have low attention span, you may try music and have them wave the parachute up and down until the music stops. 

Week Five: FLASHMOB!!!

The day was finally here! FLASHMOB!! :)

  We all met at Murphy library around 4:00 and started going over in shifts with pairs or small groups.  We had to make sure it was not obvious of course.  Our class/extra friends were scattered around the rec working out.  Around 4:30, the song started to play and our first group began the dance on the middle basketball court. 

  Soon, we all started joining in at different times.  We all wore white shirts.  Everything went really well! We all remembered the dance and were together on the moves. Some people around us at the rec continued to play basketball, but there was also a decent sized crowd that was watching us. When the music stopped, everyone cheered and we walked away as if nothing just happened.  Overall, I would say the flashmob was definitely a success!

  Although many friends of mine could not believe a flashmob was our class assignment/project, it did have many implications that connect to TR. ( and they were just jealous that my major is way more fun than theirs :)  )  One big part of the flashmob was teamwork and planning.  As a therapeutic recreation specialist, you will most likely be working with other healthcare professionals or a team of others.  I think that working with the class on the flashmob was a good practice of teamwork.  There were a lot of us and we had to work together to come up with ideas and communicate effectively as a big group.  Planning was also another huge component of the flashmob.  We had to plan every detail of the flashmob : what song, how to play the song, what time, where, how many people, location of people in the dance, dance moves, timing, apparel, etc.  Planning is a huge part of recreational therapy because you will always be planning activities ahead and have to think of even the smallest details of the activities in order to facilitate them best for the population you are working with. 

   Lastly, one other big thing I learned from the flashmob that I can directly apply to my future as a recreational therapist is adapting activities.  When planning a dance for the flashmob, we made sure that the dance moves were of a basic skill level and that everyone of all abilities in our class was able to participate.  This is what TR is all about, adapting activities for individuals of all different ability levels. I think we picked a really good song/dance because it was perfect that it already had a dance for the song ( at least for our circumstances with timing) and also had really basic moves that everyone was able to do.

   After the flashmob, I realized that I had definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone.  I was a little "iffy" about the whole flashmob at first because I am not much of a dancer, especially in public.  What put me at ease was doing the flashmob with my classmates.  We are a fun group and I knew that none of us were professional dancers or anything.  I had so much fun planning and participating in the flashmob.  I was really excited leading up to the flashmob and of course was super excited when we were actually out there performing it.  I learned that sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone to experience some of the best things in life.  I wouldn't say that the flashmob was one of the best things in my life, but I will say that it was such a neat experience and was on my bucket list. 

   I would definitely recommend the flashmob to be a part of this class in the future. I think that as a TR major it is a great assignment because many parts of it apply to TR practice and I also think that every TR major should step outside of their comfort zone ( for many this probably would do it, but not for all) because many of the people they will be working with may experience similar feelings in activities that they are encouraged to participate in.

  I felt as if I "strived for excellence" in regards to the flashmob assignment because I tried to always contribute throughout the planning process and also gave 100% in the flashmob performance. 

What an awesome experience. :)

"The best feeling is knowing that you hold the power to make every day a good day."

Week Four: Final Flashmob Planning and Rehearsal!

 Last week we met in the theater in Graff in order to have room to rehearse our flashmob.  We rehearsed the flashmob multiple times.  We worked on finalizing all details such as meeting time, meeting place, music for the flashmob, sound system, brochures/poster to promote TR, and apparel. 


The process of planning the flashmob was very interesting.  I learned a lot about different leadership styles within a group. Some people are listeners and will just simply follow what they are told to do whereas others will take the initiative and tell others what the game plan is.  I learned that communication within a group is sometimes difficult because of the widespread ideas.  I think that overall our group did a great job of planning and rehearsing the flashmob.


I think that this fun event has valuable lessons that can help in my professional development.  As I mentioned earlier, it was interesting to observe the different leadership styles within a group.  I think that when working on a professional healthcare team in my future it will be important to have group leadership and communication skills.


During this class, I tried to give as much input as I could to help our flashmob.  I am known as a planner and tend to think of all details.  I picked up quick on learning the flashmob and also gave full effort in every rehearsal. I also listened to the ideas of others and gave input when necessary.


This class was so much fun.  I mean really, what's better than dancing for a class? I learned that I am usually shy when talking in front of a group, but I pretty much already knew that about myself. I think that I am not so much shy but rather self-conscious.  It also depends on how well I know the people.  I think that this is one thing I am constantly trying to work on. 


"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."
- Dale Carnegie


:)

Week Three: Flashmob Planning

  Sadly, I could not be in class this week due to a funeral back at home. I caught up with a classmate and learned what happened in class. We met back with our groups from last week and finalized our flash mob ideas to present to the class.  After each group made their pitch about their ideas to the class, we voted on a song and location.  As expected, this created some challenges. Obviously in a room full of TR majors, there are a lot of creative minds.  Ideas were tossed back and forth for awhile among the class.  I think that it was a good lesson on event planning because most of the time this is how it ends up when a group of people try to plan one big event.

   The class agreed on a song and location. One big step down. They then began practicing the dance since it is a pre-coreographed dance. I heard it was a lot of fun and worked out great so far.

  I did some research on successful event/flash mob planning.  Specifically for flashmobs, I found some basic tips/steps for organizing one.  Some of the mian points were:

- Timing is very important! Because people are entering at different times, it is important to organize this beforehand and practice with timing!
- Rehearse/explain in advance details of the performance
- Watch youtube videos of other flash mobs to see what works best/ does not work so well
- Organize, organize, organize!
- Provide clear instructions to the group
-Arrange costumes/props beforehand
-Know limitations of location (space, safety, rules etc.)
- Organize quality videography for the event :)
- Finish as if nothing happened, mingle back into the crowd after the flash mob performance

  I think that a few important things to remember when planning an event with a group are effective communication and team work.  Both of these seem elementary and basic; however, many times these little things are what matter most. I think the group already experienced a minor shuffle when it came to deciding on a song/location.  I think that this is normal, but knowing how to effectively resolve/ decide on a final idea is an important part of event planning with a group.

  Overall, I think that our flash mob sounds like it is coming together great. I watched the youtube video of the dance and think it is a good fit because it seems hard to mess up on the actual dance part. It is a very free flowing, innovative, and creative dance. I think it is fun because everyone can put their own twist to the dance and it is still a group dance.

  Emotionally, it was a very rough past week. I learned a lot about myself from the loss of my friend. He will continue to inspire me for the rest of my life. I thought about death and TR because I think it is important to be able to cope with death when working in a health related career.

  Once again, I want to finish with a quote. :)

"The surest way to happiness is to lose yourself in a cause greater than yourself."- Unknown

Week Two: Activity Analysis

In last Thursday's class, we learned about activity analysis. I learned about the ground rules for facilitation and the role of a facilitator.  Some of the most important aspects of facilitation include: group positioning, timing, single speaking, challenge by choice, role clarity, and autonomy of the participants.  I think that these are all very important; however, autonomy of the participants sticks out most to me as being especially important.  I think this is because when working with different populations, it is always important to let the participants do as much as they can in order to maximize their independence and skill growth.

I also learned about how to lead/facilitate discussions. The key part of this topic was the
"funneling technique" which starts with broad questions that lead to more specific. We discussed the components of facilitation which include introducing the activity, demonstrating it, practicing it, and then feedback of the activity.

The final part of the lecture included introducing "activity analysis".  This is the process of determining down to every detail the behaviors and skills needed in order to complete an experience.  A "task analysis" includes the specific steps of engaging in the acitivity.

We got into our small groups and completed activity/task analyses for two activites, basketball and biking.  I really liked this part of class because it involved applying what we had just learned.  I learned how detailed the analyses are and how to complete one for an activity.  It was also good to listen to other groups present theirs because you can always learn a lot from other people.

From these activites, I learned different physical, cognitive, social, and emotional behaviors and skills involved in different activities.  I think that this will be very useful in my future because I know that when planning recreational activities it is going to be important to complete these analyses down to every detail for the different populations I will be planning the activites for.

This week in class I learned a lot from the material, but also learned a couple things about myself.  I learned that I really am interested in the benefits of recreation. I found myself very intrigued by the handouts that included the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive skills that may be applied to activities. I think that it is very important to understand and be aware of these behaviors and skills so you can better plan what kinds of activities are best for specific populations.  I also learned that I love taking notes and recording things. This seems like a strange thing to learn about yourself, but I guess I just noticed it more that class.  I realized this is a good thing to love to do because when you are in a healthcare field you have to do a lot of paper work and planning.

In class, I "strived for excellence" by working and communicating with my group.  I also was attentive and took notes with class examples. I also tried to participate as much as I could.

It was another good day/night in RTH 252!

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."- Winston Churchill

:)