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 2: Mysteries, Myths, & Legends
The Epic Tale of Week 2
Hello friends! We are back for a whimsical second week here at Camp! This week, we are learning about fantasy folk tales and stories from centuries past. Our young storytellers will be exploring fables both real and fictional. We are so excited to explore our artistic side, as well as uncover the history behind age-old myths and legends! There is no doubt that we will be having another incredible week at Camp. Thank you to all of our young storytellers for joining us, and we cannot wait to solve these mysteries together!
Day 1
It is time for our second week of Camp! Our young storytellers started off this week with a magical Monday. In Chit Chat, we all worked together to make a dancing Chinese dragon. We traced our hands and cut our traces to use as the dragon's scales! It was super cool to see the dragon get longer throughout the day. Today in Cooking, we mixed wet and dry ingredients to make a delicious banana chocolate chip pancake! We cut up some strawberries and blueberries as toppings and added a dollop of cream. In Mindfulness, we played a hands-on "human board game!" We rolled dice and completed challenges to move along the "board."
Our Explorers Red got the awesome opportunity to act as examples for the younger storytellers in their classes! They were great role models for everyone to follow. Today, our Explorers Blue got to paint mermaids, each with their own unique designs! Then, we had fun writing with shaving cream. Our Yak Apprentices had a lesson about the impact of their words and managing their thought and speech bubbles. The Yak Shack had its grand opening today and we are getting used to our daily schedule and jobs! Today, our Buddies had so much fun
making wizard faces and playing with Play-Doh! In Discovery, our young storytellers discovered the land of magical creatures by using torn colored paper to make landscapes! In Projects, we each made our own unique elephants with printouts of elephant outlines and tissue paper. What a great Monday to start our second week at Camp!
Day 2
We are back for a tremendous Tuesday at Camp! In Chit Chat, we
dove deep into fairy tales. We focused on Puss in Boots and our emotions during this fun and fantastical day! Today in Mindfulness was all about tactile sensations. During one activity, our young storytellers had to draw shapes without using their eyesight. In another, we did a "noticing" exercise and named all of the sensations we felt over the course of a minute. On this warm Tuesday, our Explorers Red learned about the power of perspectives, and how they impact how we see ourselves and others.
Our Explorers Blue each crafted their very own paper plate monsters! They worked on
their communication skills while designing them, and then explored
texture and color with Ziploc bag painting! Our Yak Apprentices explored the science of our character. Our characteristics make us who we are and help us contribute to our work. Celebrating what makes us unique and understanding ourselves better equips us to navigate the world around us! Our Buddies made
mermaids with painted handprints. They also got to play with stamps! In Discovery, we added a mythical beast to our land of magical creatures collages from yesterday. So many mermaids, dragons, and fairies! In Projects, we learned about the tale of Bigfoot and made Bigfoot puppets out of paper bags. We love Tuesdays at Camp!
Day 3
We had such a whimsical Wednesday at Camp today! In Cooking, we had the opportunity to make a highly requested recipe. We used blenders and measuring spoons to put together a delicious salsa to eat with chips! In Mindfulness, we focused on "belly breathing" by placing a little monster stuffed toy on our bellies while laying down. Today, our Explorers Red learned about the importance of cooperating and compromising. Using what they learned, they pushed out and helped the younger campers in their classes! Explorers Blue made individual calming bottles to help with regulation, and used their handprints to create bearded gnomes! Our Yak Apprentices learned how important self-regulation and flexible thinking is in work environments. They also had a super workday at the Yak Shack!
Our Buddies had so much fun making wizard faces and playing with paint in a bag! In Discovery, we did a lot of clay play. We sculpted one-of-a-kind new-fangled creatures using mixed media and air-dry clay! In Projects, after reading Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, we became the kings and queens of our own imaginations by making fabulous crowns. What a fun Wednesday at Camp!
Day 4
We had such an incredible Thursday at Camp today! In Games, we had so much fun playing Hula Hoop Frisbee and competing in a shoe toss. The young storyteller who kicked their shoe the farthest won bragging rights! In Friendship, we made creatures that represented the Zones of Regulation! We used colored markers to create our coffee filter Zone Creatures, and then sprayed water on them. All of the different colors created very pretty swirls on our creatures! In Cooking, we made personal pizzas with olives, mushrooms and pepperoni. We used the air-fryer to melt the cheese. This snack was such a hit!
Over in Mindfulness, we did a body scan using beanbags. We used them to pay attention to parts of our body. For example, whether we felt hot or cold, comfortable or uncomfortable, and more!
Then, we played "Dice Baseball," where campers had to roll higher than the "pitcher" to move bases! Our Explorers Blue explored textures and colors with bubble wrap painting, and they will be bringing home dragon eyes that they designed themselves! As the Yak Apprentices prepare for their midterm reviews on Monday, they have been spending time focusing on how to receive feedback and self-advocate when they do not understand or agree with the feedback. They also tried chair aerobics during PE! Our Buddies made super cool monsters using popsicle sticks. They also had fun painting on a giant paper! We rocked on in Discovery by painting on rocks with paint pens! In Projects, we read Ivan the Terrier by Peter Catalanotto. Then, we drew and wrote our very own "once upon a time" storybooks. We absolutely loved this Thursday's Camp activities!
Day 5
We had the most fantastical Friday ever at Camp today! After a fun-filled week of large group activities and board games, our young storytellers earned Open Gym time in Games! They were given the choices of basketball, hula hoops, or flip cup tic-tac-toe. In Mindfulness today, we used a pipe cleaner “monster” and placed it on our bellies to practice our deep breathing! Our goal was to move the monster up and down. Then, we played a pirate game! It was similar to Battleship, but with a big paper boat instead!
Today was the day our Explorers Red brought all of their lessons together and recapped what they had worked on all week! Then, they each got to choose their own "Fun Friday" activities. Our Explorers Blue got to do an awesome rainbow fizzy science experiment today! Then, they crafted unicorns with an outline of their hand, paper, glitter, and more! Today, our Yak Apprentices wrapped up their week of learning and operating the Yak Shack with some fun social games. Our Buddies had an amazing last day of their second week by playing with shaving cream and making dragons! In Discovery, we made our own stories while honing our drawing and creative story-telling skills! In Chit Chat, we learned more about the Zones of Regulation. We watched a short clip from the movie Inside Out about identifying our emotions. Then, we made bracelets! What a wonderful way to round out this magical week of Camp!