Buddies Intensive Camper Program
For adolescents with special needs, ages 12-15
$680/week
Important Notice! In an effort to keep the integrity and effectiveness of our special programs such as Special Needs Campers (40), Buddies Intensive (8), Junior Camp Counselors (12), and Yak Apprentice (12) there will be a cap for participants each week, noted in parentheses. Once the cap is reached, a wait list will be generated. Please don’t wait to register because these programs fill up fast!
Registration Opens April 17th at Noon
Buddies Intensive Camper Program
For adolescents with special needs, ages 12-15
$680/week
Important Notice! In an effort to keep the integrity and effectiveness of our special programs such as Special Needs Campers (40), Buddies Intensive (8), Junior Camp Counselors (12), and Yak Apprentice (12) there will be a cap for participants each week, noted in parentheses. Once the cap is reached, a wait list will be generated. Please don’t wait to register because these programs fill up fast!
Registration Opens April 17th at Noon
Week 1: Summer Scientists
Hypothesis: If It Is Week 1, Then We Will Have Fun!
Hello friends! It is that amazing time of the year again. That is right, it is time for another spectacular summer at Camp Yakety Yak! For this week and this week only, Camp has turned into a Science Lab! Our young scientists will be learning and exchanging knowledge with each other during this awesome first week. We cannot wait to tap into our creative sides through art projects, and be curious about the world around us. We are beyond excited to have our bright young scientists joining us for this super scientific week!
Day 1
We had a magnificent first Monday back at Camp today! In Chit Chat, we each came up with 5 positive things about ourselves and wrote them on a star-themed art project. Meanwhile, in our new Cooking class, we used measuring cups and spoons to make a nut-free trail mix. It was super delicious! Today in Mindfulness, we had fun with a challenge throwing mini asteroids into baskets and cups. After, we completed a breathing exercise!
Over in Discovery, we explored the properties of salt through painting with acrylics! The salt made beautiful crystal-like shapes on our landscape paintings. Our young scientists had so much fun in Friendship making a space collage! They each chose their
favorite planet and added space cut-outs to their collages. Our friends in Projects created a colorful collage inspired by Todd Parr. We modeled Parr's confident language in his books using colorful paper, glue, markers, and scissors!
Our Explorers Blue had an epic first day in their new program, and got to make cloud dough and string paintings! Before going over their job postings, our Yak Apprentices got to know each other through a building exercise. We spent our day in Explorers Red establishing our group norms and our "why." After, we had fun completing an "About Me" activity! Our Buddies had such a great first day. They got to read Pete the Cat and then made wacky scientist headbands. After that, they got to play with dough. It was so exciting to meet all of our bright young scientists. What a fantastic first day back at Camp!
Day 2
We had a terrific Tuesday here at Camp today! In Chit Chat, we read the book Different is Cool and recognized that people are different in many ways. After, we did an awesome walking water science experiment! Our friends in Explorers Red worked on identifying their emotions individually or with a group. Our Explorers Blue had a blast today with some fun arts and crafts activities. They even got to make mad scientist headbands! Meanwhile, our Yak Apprentices were working hard with their job interviews for the Yak Shack. They even started building the Yak Shack today!
Our Buddies had such a fun day working on getting to know each other and playing together. They made a craft with beakers and got to use stamps to make art! In Discovery, we conducted a super cool experiment. We spun a turntable with paint and water on it to create centrifugal force designs! Our friends in Friendship discussed what qualities make a good friend. Based on their responses, they decorated bowls with a multitude of materials and labeled them! Over in Projects, we made Emotions Puppets and learned about the various ranges of emotions. We worked on figuring out how to tell if a friend is upset, and what to do in that situation! In Mindfulness, we calmed down by playing with some sensory tubs. It was so relaxing to play with the water, pebbles, and beads inside the tubs. We had such an exciting time at Camp today!
Day 3
Welcome back to Camp for a wonderful Wednesday! Today, we had some special guests from KGW come over to film. It was such a cool experience for everyone here at Camp. Be on the lookout for more updates! In Chit Chat, we focused on the life cycles of butterflies. After learning that butterflies come in various colors and shapes, we made our own beautiful butterflies! In Cooking, we had fun slicing yummy fruits and vegetables and spreading sunflower butter or cream cheese! After, we made edible fruit bugs with our sliced ingredients! Over in Mindfulness, our bright young scientists got some free time to rest their hardworking minds. They got the option to either draw with chalk or play a board game!
Our Explorers Red got to work on their emotional self-regulation today! They talked about how to keep an open mind and stay calm. In Explorers Blue, we practiced greeting our friends and teachers! It was a great bonding activity for our group. After, we had a lot of fun making art with salt! Our Yak Apprentices got their assigned jobs today and began working toward setting up the Yak Shack. Some of their work included making task lists and counting inventory! In Discovery, we explored examples of symmetry within nature by making acrylic paintings with a fold-over technique. Our friends in Friendship participated in a fun paint mixing game utilizing the Zones of Regulation! They mixed paints to create different colors and matched those colors to an emotion. In Projects, we read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and made our own unique dots with paint and markers. Wednesdays at Camp are truly the best!
Day 4
We are back at Camp for a thrilling Thursday! Today in Games, we had a blast playing musical chairs and competing in a tic-tac-toe relay with beanbags and hula hoops. Cooking was so much yummy today! We made scrumptious turkey wraps with tortillas, cheese, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, baby spinach, and ranch dressing. Over in Mindfulness, we practiced self-reflection by focusing on what we can observe using our senses. We closed our eyes and identified 5 sounds we heard!
Our Explorers Red got the opportunity to branch out from the group today. They helped out the younger scientists during classes and acted as good examples! Our Yak Apprentices were on the move today! They went around Camp and began their jobs with mock-customers for the Yak Shack. Today in Buddies was a big painting day. We did more painting with salt and even got to create art with bags
of paint! Our bright scientists in Discovery discovered that oil and water do not mix. They made wax-resistant paintings with crayons and acrylic paint! We had quite a wonderful day in Friendship studying botany and learning about the different parts of a flower. Using similes, we compared the parts to various friendship traits. Nothing beats a Thursday at Camp!
Day 5
We had a fantastic Friday at Camp today! In Games, we ended the week on a strong note with open gym time. Our bright young scientists' favorite activities included scooter racing and basketball. Over in Chit Chat, we became engineers for a day and created our own rollercoaster tracks! In Discovery, we had a lot of fun looking into the science behind black holes and drawing our own! Today in Mindfulness, we incorporated movement into our routine. We went through a version of hopscotch that combined simple yoga poses, breaths, and silly movements! Our Explorers Red did some reflection on everything they learned this week.
Our Explorers Blue had a super silly time making art with shaving cream! They also ended their week with lots of sensory activities and a dance party! Our
Yak Apprentices got to continue working with their mock-customers for the Yak Shack. They also set up their own expectations for their jobs! Our Buddies made mad scientist puppets using paper bags. It was so much fun playing around with them! In Friendship, we participated in a magnificent molecule activity. We learned that hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom form a friendly bond in order to create a water molecule! In Yak Academy, we used our bottle rockets we built yesterday for an epic blastoff! Using vinegar and baking soda, our bright young scientists' bottle rockets flew nearly all the way to space. Thank you all for joining us on this spectacular scientific journey!
