Final Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, I was completely hesitant going into this project. I just wanted it to be over and done with and to get a good grade for it. Little did I know that, this week I would be looking back at it and missing all the fun times we had with the kids. Service learning has changed me in a healthier sense. I feel as though I'm a happier person. Each week I looked forward to doing child-like activities on friday's. I'm glad that we chose to work with the kids over at the museum and Tonya our coordinator couldn't have been more helpful and kind. Although none of our projects were ever too difficult, it was the simplicity involved that kept it interesting. We tried not to get too stuck with specifics for our projects and we usually just went out on a limb once we got there.

I would have to say my favorite project was being able to help out with Autism Night. Going into it we weren't sure what to expect. I had never met a child with autism and I wasn't sure if we would be doing activities. That night I learned a severe lesson in life: the ability to listen. We sat and listened to parents pour their hearts out about their unique children. I have forever been changed by their words of wisdom and hopefully by talking about it in our blogs, someone has read them and taken something away from it. In my opinion, the service learning portion of this class was a vital part of the curriculum. There is only so much that lectures and labs can teach us. I thought it was cool that we were all able to come up with our own project. It was important that we were never really given alot of specific examples of previously done projects because it forced us to think and be unique. By working in groups I was able to learn the value of cooperation and teamwork, and I also made new friends. Through our service learning project I realized how we can't always assume that kids know even the most basic things in life, they usually learn from casual conversations. They were generally intimidated by us when we came to visit because we were the "big kids", but I hope we proved them wrong by creatively teaching them new leasons about animals without them even knowing it. My hope is that we managed to educate these kids while still having a good time. I hope that they look back on their experiences with us and are just as happy as they have made us.

Autism Night

This evening my group took a trip over to the children's museum and spent a few hours there for autism night. It was a great learning experience, even though only two autistic children came in. The first boy's name was Austen and he was four years old. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old. He was very hyper, and very rarely stayed in one place for more than 15-20 seconds. He is always on the move, and he loves to dance around and climb on anything possible. While we were watching him play, his mother was anxious to talk about him and his condition and she was willing to answer any questions we had. She mentioned that Austen has a very high pain tolerance and never cries. When he hits his head hard she said that he just lets out a death scream. A little later Logan came in with his parents and little brother. Logan was also four years old and knows Austen from school. Logan was different than Austen in that he was much more calm and was not running around and climbing on things all the time. He could speak much better than Austen and had a much longer attention span. Logan's mother and father were also very much willing to talk about his condition and were happy to answer the questions we had. Neither of these two boys were completely potty trained, which makes it very hard for their teachers when they go to school. Later we went and painted and drew on the chalkboard with the children. I know it has got to be hard for their parents and could not imagine what a handful it must be. I really enjoyed playing with these boys even though they were a handful. It was great talking to the boys' parents and I could tell they enjoyed telling us anything we wanted to know.

fun at the childrens museum

Today my group which includes tyler nigon and amy simmons went down to the childrens museum and worked with the kids and talked to them about birds. we had a fun project for them which was making bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter, and bird seed. most of the kids came and went which we didnt expect so much. we planned on talking to a group and then letting them build the feeders but this didnt happen. instead we each talked to the kids about birds as they built there own feeders. it was really interesting to hear what they knew about birds wether it was true or not. we talked to them about where they lived and wuth kinds of birds they knew. we also talked about some of the more common types of birds like ducks and geese and morning doves. i was aslo suprised as to how much they wanted to learn by asking questions. it was a lot of fun to do, even the parents thought it was fun. they thought it was a great project for the kids especially since we talked to them about birds. it was a big mess playing with the peanut butter and seed. peanut butter got all over, my hands were coverd with it and seed and looked like a bird feeder themselves. it was also pretty funny cause a couple of the younger kids one boy in particular keep trying to eat the peanut butter off of the pine cones while they were putting it on.

Children's Museum

Today at the children's museum, my group and I went in to talk to the children about birds. We did not have an organized presentation like we expected, but instead the children came in at their leisure. When the kids came in we talked about migration habits of different species of birds like robins and Canadian geese. The kids had a fun time talking about the birds and their different habits while we worked on the project. For the project we had pine cones that the children covered with peanut butter and bird seed that they made and could take home to hang on a tree. We told them to watch their feeders and see how many different species of birds they could get to come eat off of it. They were very excited to make their feeders, but the peanut butter was a huge mess! We all had a great time, and I had more fun teaching the kids about birds and helping them make bird feeders than I originally thought I would. Amy took some pictures of us and the kids while we were working with them that she has posted under her blog.

Children's Museum

Today we went to the Children's Museum and our subject was birds. We were hoping that the kids would come all at one time and we could do a short presentation and then we could do our project, but the kids came and went so instead we did the project and while we were working on it we talked to them about birds. They were eager to tell us about the birds that they have in their backyards and the many colors and sizes that they have seen.

We didn't get many action shots with the kids because it was a flat out mess. We took pine cones and had them cover them in peanut butter and then they poured bird seed on the peanut butter. We also had attached strings to the pine cones so that they can hang them from trees in their yards to feed the birds. We literally had peanut butter up to our elbows while trying to help them. It was messy, but definitely fun.

I was surpised that alot of parents had never seen this type of bird feeder before. They were really excited that they finally had a purpose for all of the pine cones in their yards and they thought it was a great idea to get their kids interested in birds.

We also had books about birds that we rented out from the library for the kids to look at before or after they did their projects. I had alot more fun than I originally thought I would. Next week we're going to an Autism Night that is held by the Children's Museum.

Central Wisconsin Children's Museum

The Central Wisconsin Children's Museum, is located within the Stevens Point "Mall". Together with Tyler Nigon and Adam Schultz we will be going each week to inform young children of different types of animals. Basically what we will be doing is having a short (30 mins. at most) presentation of something relating to animals. We will then follow up the presentation with an activity of some sort. Our first week we were thinking of discussing the migration of birds or something relating to birds. Then for our activity will be making pine cone bird feeder for them to hang outside in spring. Our main objective is to let the kids have fun, while still learning interesting facts. I am especially excited to work with children because I am hoping to be in the dentistry field working with kids someday.

Teaching at the Children’s Museum

For my service-learning project, I will be volunteering at the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum with Amy Simmons and Adam Schultz. We will be using our time to teach the children about basic animal concepts such as the things different animals eat and where they like to live. Since they are younger children, we are also planning several short activities we could do with them such as different arts and crafts projects. Personally, I think I will get a lot out of this volunteer work because when I help others in the community, I usually get a great feeling of gratification. I believe this experience will especially help me after I graduate, because it will give me a different perspective on how I talk to younger children to maybe get them interested in the profession I am pursuing. I am definitely looking forward to working with these children, and I think it will be a great experience for everyone in our group, and most of all I think that the children will really like it.

Fun at the childrens museum

For my service learning project i will be going to the childrens museum in downtown Stevens Point with amy simmons and tyler nigon. we will be going there to teach the children about animals in a fun ways. i think that this will be a fun project getting to work with kids and all. this will really help out in my career choice as well. i want to become a teacher after college so working with kids in this project will look really good on an application. we plan on teaching the kids about various animals from birds to cows and we will have projects for them to keep them excited and interested.