June 29, 2022
JRC's Intergenerational Connections Program had their first Field Trip since the pandemic to the Canton Museum of Art.
Dianne Papes from the Museum was our tour guide for the morning.
We began our trip with our bus ride with the children and adult/seniors on the same bus and found that several of our children had never ridden a bus! How new and exciting for them!
We arrived at the Museum and were introduced to Budda Boards. They are art boards you draw on with brushes and water and they automatically erase when the water evaporates. The children sat next to their Grandmas (they call the seniors their Grandmas and Grandpas) as they both tried out their artistic talents of painting in abstract.
Then is was time to tour the Art Show in the Museum - Witness to Wartime the dairy of Takuichi Fujii Art Exhibit. The art told a story of a Japanese man during World War II (one of 100,000 with Japanese ancestry) who was forced to live in Seattle Washington in an isolated incarceration camp and then they moved them to Idaho where they lived for almost three years in a restricted village. His artwork told the story as the JRC children and seniors studied some of the paintings and discussed what they saw.
We were then escorted to the Art/Craft Room where we make Maru Sock Puppets. The art craft was so fun creating people from the village we were learning about in the exhibit.
We ended our trip with a box lunch provided by JRC with healthy food requirements for the the children and seniors.
Thank you Dianne for a wonderful Art Therapy morning at the Canton Museum of Art!
June 22, 2022
Today was our first day with our new teaching artist from the Canton Museum of Art - Amanda Crowe.
The Art Project for the program was "Going Fishing with Watercolors".
We began with our welcome train where children always greet the adult/seniors and then the pledge of allegiance.
Amanda surprised us with two wonderful warm up songs to get us in the mood - Exercising with instruments.
We then proceeded to create our fishes on fishing rods - they were really beautiful and fun. Decorating and painting the fish with watercolor paints and craft decorations.
When completed we exercised with the fishes in hand.
What a creative way to combine a wonderful art project and movement with exercise all in one!
Very creative and innovative - Amanda!
June 15, 2022
A fun day of Yoga with Rhonda and Kedric with motions and movements and fun sounds and expressions....
The session was followed by a healthy snack.
June 8, 2022
A great game of Beachball all Volleyball! Our net was broken so we used our children as a human net!
What fun as the Adult/Seniors tried to hit the beach ball over the children's heads to the other side of Seniors. The children were trying to deflect the ball.
The Adult/Senior won by one point - close game!
The Preschool Graduation Class started the program by holding the American Flag for the Pledge of Allegiance and then were also asked questions about Graduation and their future. We celebrated by clapping to their success in Graduating and of course lots of hugs!
Fun had by all!
May 25, 2022
Megan Bostic from Artful Living and Learning was onboard today for Hawaiian Dancing.
The children and adult/seniors really enjoyed all the motions and the story behind all the movements. The Hukilau and many other Hawaiian terms were used throughout the dance.
One preschooler was recorded by video when he got home and was reenacting all the movements and the story for his family.
This was Megan's last day as an instructor for Artful Living and Learning as she is moving on in her career....
Good Luck Megan - we will miss you...
May 18, 2022
The IG Program children and Grandmas and Grandpas were back in action today with Yoga.
Kedric Wolfe was the sole instruction as Rhonda Kedric was under the weather and no in attendance.
A fun-filled time of movements with sounds and lots of breathing exercises were the order of the morning.
May 11, 2022
JRC Programming today had the children and adult/seniors travelling to the JRC Adult Day Center for a Spring Flower Craft Project.
Gina Aston, Assistant Director from the adult day center instructed the children and adult/seniors in a craft of tracing each others hands and cutting out the hands and decorating them like flowers with leaves, bling, etc.
Great interaction between both the children and the adult/seniors as they helped each other create items of beauty.
May 4, 2022
Our Storyteller, Lindsay Bonilla was back with a story about 4 Dragons in China.
All the children and grandmas and grandpas chosen to be characters were really speaking their parts wonderfully!
Especially the leader of China - our senior grandpa - wearing the coat from China.
What a wonderful story about caring, compassion and love.....
April 27, 2022
This was JRC Programming Day as we did "Getting to Know You" questions and answers.
We had Grandmas and Grandpas as children and children ask Grandmas and Grandpas questions such as favorite colors, favorite foods, clothing they like to wear and commenting on what they were wearing today.
We had fun with the Hokey-Pokey and Simon Says...
April 20, 2022
Today our Yoga instructors were back in action - Rhonda Kuster and Kedric Wolfe.
What a morning it was!
This gives a who new meaning to the word Yoga as the children and seniors began as usual with the welcome train when children greet the seniors with a sautation. Next the pledge of allegiance.. Then moving into motion of exercising for the children and seniors together.
They imagined their favorite bird with a Big Bird exercise.
They created motion as imagining a chu chu train.
A Happy Sun was created as each child went to each senior and stretched a big Happy Sun!
They pretended to play a piano to each other.
Kedric continued with the children with the "Downward Dog" pose as the seniors watched and stretched along from their chairs. He was also on the floor with motions of exercise mimicking a snake and then hopping to a frog.
They were all in motion with laughter and artistic expression as they let their imaginations run wild!
The morning ended with a healthy snack of peaches in juice, wheat cheez-its and water to drink.
April 13, 2022
Today we were welcoming our Artful Living ad Learning instructor - Megyn Bostic with her Around the World with Dance with today focusing on Germany.
The children and the seniors were very excited to meet again and dance in celebration. They were either standing up or sitting down, but in movement of learning special dances from Germany. Learning the waltz was definitely a treat!
When dancing was done they children and the seniors socialized by asking each other questions such as favorite color, etc.
A great time was had by all as they visited Germany through dance!
April 6, 2022
They are finally back! Intergenerational Connections Program is back in person from the years in the pandemic! Our seniors and preschool children are getting together weekly for an hour of planned interaction and engaging fun.
They began with our "Welcome Train" where the children entered the circle of grandmas and grandpas (as they call them) and said hello my name is _ and either shook hands, high fived, fist bumped or hugged. They were all meeting these new grandmas and grandpas for the first time in person as the past children in this program had graduated out of our school. May grandmas and grandpas were also new to the program.
Then as is tradition - all stood with our hands on our heart and recited the "Pledge of Allegiance".
Next Storyteller Lindsay Bonilla took the children and seniors through the story “The Monkey and the Crocodile” from India where participants from each group became monkeys and crocodiles, learning the importance of a river through this story from India. Everyone had a part in this storytelling experience – and everyone certainly had fun!
The children then ended their time together with the "Goodbye Train" of saying goodbye to their newly acquainted grandmas and grandpas.
It was observed that the children and even some grandpas and grandmas who began the hour in a shy mode became very engaging with hugging and sitting on laps and talking and asking questions of each other. It was a first great day back of interacting which brought so many of both groups out of their shell to enjoy each other!
