Margy Grosswendt is beginning her fourth week at the Boys and Girls Club as a volunteer and reports that it's going well. She says,
"The Octaband continues to amaze me: the kids like it, the director likes it, and I know when I go to it, we will have a good 15 minutes of an activity that brings movement, connection, creativity and fun."
Here are more specifics.
"Movement: We start sitting or standing, bouncing in unison to the song playing. I quickly go to each child making up a movement which we repeat. As I have a wide variety of ages and abilities together, the movements mirror that age/ability difference, but it doesn't matter!! Movement is movement. Each kid is contributing something of themselves and the look in their eyes when they come up with something that we all learn is just precious. (Kind of like: "Gee...I can do this? Really?")
The movements so far involve hands crossing, up and downs, moving in the center and out, turning within one's personal space, skipping in a circle and reverse, and even a kickboxing move alternating hands with opposition in the feet.
Connection: Last Wednesday, I had 3 kids + me on the smaller one. I had a 6th grade girl, maybe a bit slow, a bright eyed 7-year old boy, and a 10-year old boy. I said to them at the beginning: Now look across. That person is your partner! You help each other by moving together. I noticed that when they established that eye contact when I said "Now look across" they smiled at each other. Just that smile, at the beginning, felt like a home run. There has been an occasional time when kids sit on the sideline and say they just want to watch, and having the larger Octaband available is good to include these children on the sidelines. (same experience in Bosnia)
Creativity: As I'm moving up into the early teen years with this age group, I think there is an embarrassment factor that comes with going to a movement or a dance class. I like the equalizing that the Octaband offers: everyone is on an equal playing field from the get go.
Fun: Tossing that stuffed animal up in the air never fails to bring shrieks of laughter."
Photo is of Margy's group in Sarajevo
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