Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Hi
I work for a after school and vacation care program and i am looking for some new ideas and experiences to conduct with our children. I have searched high and low for types of ideas that they will enjoy and developmently benefit. There is alot out there for early childhood but i am having trouble finding anything that is interesting and different for school based children. If anyone knows of a site or have any ideas I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
suzzannah

Hey Suzzannah,
I used to work at a OSHC and found that the children quite often enjoyed free play, we would have freeplay fridays when the children could choose what they wanted to play with, but on that subject we also had a great Male 2IC who was very involved in sport and pretty much all of the boys would spend their time following him around. I think the reason why this particular OSHC worked so well was because the majority of the staffing were uni students and were relatively young.

Big rounds of connect four were hugely popular as the preps through to the highschoolers always wanted to play, would have a massive competition which would run for weeks. Music was also so popular and we always had the latest SO FRESH of Hits for kids, so the music was cool and the kids enjoyed it! If you have access to a camcorder or digital camera the kids always loved making up their own versions of High school musical or taking their own photos! We also had a big whiteboard where we worked out Jobs for each kids for the afternoon, they're were things like sports, kitchen hands, craft helpers, prefects and bin runners, most of these gave kids a good place to start off at.

We also did a treasure around the entire school which was ready for them when they finished! The kids loved it!

Hope this helps you a little!
Making Goo was also always a favourite!

Hope I helped you out a little!

kids can learn to play some musical instrument, create animated Flip books,some kitchen fun etc.

There are lots of activities available that kids can do after school, but first of all we should try to know about the kids interest and what he actually likes to do, then manage the schedule including his interest with other activities.

Heads down and thumbs up in my opinion is always fun.

What you need:
A quiet open space and not less than ten children.

This can be played in the classroom as well.
1. It is best if a group ofabout fifteen children can play this game.

2. Three children are chosen to be IT

3. Everyone else stands still or sits down with their heads down, eyes closed and thumbs up in the air

4.Those who are IT quietly move amongst the group and each one chooses a person sitting down and "touches" their thumb.

5. When everyone has finished heads are raised and eyes are opened.

6. Those who have had their thumbs touched must guess who has touched them. If they are righthey swap places and become IT for the next round. If they are not, the person who is IT stops on for the next go

A favorite of mine is "Sharky, sharky, sharky" -

"Sharky, sharky, sharky" is a game that involves running around and shouting which makes it perfect for kids. You need a field or largish area. Split the group into two teams the fish and the sharks. There should be more fish then sharks. The sharks stand in the middle and yell "Fishy, fishy, fishy come into my sea" and the fish yell back "Sharky, sharky, sharky you can't catch me" then run to the other side of the field trying not to be tagged by the sharks. If tagged, they became funky sea weed. They chant "funky sea-weed, funky sea-weed" and standing on one stop try to tag the fish as they run by.