AAADD Summer Camp

Friday, we started off the day by following a tutorial on how to draw a cartoon dog! The campers had a great time learning all the steps to drawing a cartoon dog-it is much more involved when taking it step by step the way we did, and our results were really amazing! After that, we decorated our camp photos of the week with craft paper, stickers, and markers. We then headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a special boxing activity led by a personal trainer!

Thursday was a great day, we spent the morning going to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a fun activity led by fitness influencers! We got to do laps around the track, a relay race, and a game of “tug a war”. After that we watched a movie with our lunches and then went on a scavenger hunt around the campus.

Wednesday, we got a visit from Being Studio, a diverse community of artists with developmental disabilities. At BEING, artists have access to the space, the tools, and the representation to create and commercialize their visual art and creative writing. The artist Micheal led an activity on decorating hats. The campers had lots of fun using their creativity to decorate them. Each hat is unique from the other. We then headed to the
Ishkodewan courtyard before lunch to get some fresh air. We headed to the A building gym in the afternoon to engage in group games, sports, and jogging.

Tuesday, we got to bake mini blueberry crumbles and mini pumpkin pies. The campers worked in small groups to create the filling and crust from both recipes. As they engaged in the baking process, they halved the recipe, which required using our problem-solving and mathematical skills! Once done baking, we did a group bingo game and headed to the Ishkodewan courtyard. We then used our creativity as we painted our bird feeders. We then made our bird suet for our feeders. Try hanging up your bird feeder somewhere outside, place the bird suet in it, and see which birds visit.

We started the day on Friday by heading to Algonquin's School of Media and Design! The campers were excited to either take on a speaker or camera role as they created a news video for the week. We also spent time decorating the camp photo of the week with markers, stickers, and various types of craft paper. After that, campers painted their clay turtle from the other day and decorated lanterns with tissue paper and mod podge. We then headed to the horticultural gardens to check out the beautiful flowers, fruits, and vegetables planted. In the afternoon, we headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) for an interactive yoga activity!

Thursday, we started our day by decorating water bottles with some cool waterproof stickers and markers. Campers enjoyed picking from stickers, including animals, superheroes, foods, and positive affirmations. After that, we walked over to Ryan Farm Park to enjoy some time outside! The campers got to play basketball, the scoop game, run, make bracelets . In the afternoon, we headed to Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), where we did some basketball and volleyball drill

Wednesday, we started the day off with a special visit from Terry White, a personal trainer and sports coach. We did a fun "alphabet workout" where the campers got to each pick a letter of the alphabet and then complete the exercise associated with that letter. They had a great time trying all the exercises as a team. After that, we peeled off the tape from the abstract mosaic painting activity to reveal a cool design!In the afternoon, we had another special visitor, Jo Maisonneuve, an MMA fighter. She taught us some moves used in fighting, and we practiced them in partners and in groups. We had so much fun learning these moves!

Tuesday, was another great day! We cooked rainbow cupcakes in the kitchen and decorated them with fondant. We made vanilla cake batter in small groups, then used food colouring to make them each colour of the rainbow. We then layered the colours in the order they'd appear in the rainbow. We created a delicious vanilla buttercream icing. We then learned how to create decorations with fondant. We rolled it out, coloured it, and cut little shapes such as flowers and stars to decorate with. We also made turtles out of clay which we will paint later in the week, and abstract tape art.

Monday, we started with cooking Greek food! We worked in small groups to make delicious Greek chicken gyros. We cooked the chicken, made a tzatziki sauce and homemade chicken, and topped the gyros off with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. The campers enjoyed tasting them during lunchtime. We also got some fresh air before lunch at the Ishkodewan courtyard while playing sports and group games. We used our creativity while we made keychains, sun catchers, and decorating aprons.

Friday, we started the morning by going to Algonquin's School of Media and Design! The campers were excited to either take on a speaker or camera role as they created a news video for the week. We also spent time decorating the camp photo of the week with markers, stickers, and various types of craft paper. After that, the campers had a choice of making bracelets with colourful and lettered beads or doing a melt bead craft. Many campers choose to make one for a friend or family member. In the morning, we headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) for an interactive circuit training activity!

Thursday was a great day! In the morning, we headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) for an interactive drumming activity! The campers used yoga balls as drums and wooden sticks to tap them in various ways to make music. In the afternoon, we headed to Berwick Park to get some fresh air. The campers got to socialize, go in the wading pool, play on the structures, and engage in group games and sports.

We started Wednesday off with a special visit from Sergeant McFadden, who discussed his career in policing and answered questions from the campers. We had another special visitor Donna who brought a K9 West dog used for victim support. The campers got to meet the dog and take some pictures! They headed to the A building gym in the afternoon to play sports and games!

Tuesday was another great day filled with baking and a fun craft! The campers got to bake healthy mini muffins, such as blueberry cornmeal and cinnamon. The campers had a great time collaborating throughout each step in the recipes. They also enjoyed having these yummy treats with their lunch! They also did a wax melting activity where they melted shavings of crayons on wax paper with a hair dryer. They then placed some real flowers on them and framed their paper with popsicle sticks they had painted. These creations look best when presented against a window to highlight the unique colours of the melted wax and the natural flowers.

Monday was a blast! The campers got to try new fun ways to cook pizza; pizza twists and potato pizzas! They used their teamwork skills to make these recipes in small groups with a counsellor! For the pizza twists, they got to make the dough from scratch, let the dough rise, rolled it out, cut it into strips, and then added the toppings and twisted them. For the potato pizzas, they used sliced potatoes as the base and placed toppings such as pizza sauce, mozzarella, veggies, and turkey pepperoni on top. The potato pizza recipe showed the campers how to make a delicious gluten-free pizza. These recipes were a great challenge!

The campers then did a shaving cream marbling art activity. They got to squeeze out shaving foam into a tray, add food colouring or paint, then use a stick to create their own marbling art. After, their marbling art was made into bookmarks and costers. The new campers got to decorate an apron with fabric markers, paint, and fun stencils.

Friday, we started the day by going to Algonquin's School of Media and Design to use their media room to record a news video. The campers got to take turns behind the camera and speaking! They decorated their weekly camp photo with craft paper, fun stickers, and drawings. After that, they played a fun game where they had to guess the animal they were assigned by asking questions and for hints! . In the afternoon, we headed over to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a yoga class! The campers got to try out many fun poses while engaging their mind and body.

Thursday was another great day! In the morning, we headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a fun circuit training activity led by personal trainers! The campers got to test various stations, such as weights and battle ropes. In the afternoon, we headed over to Berwick Park to enjoy the nice sunny weather, play sports, swim in the pool.

Wednesday, we started the day off by drumming with pool noodles on the desks to some fun songs! After, we had guest speakers from the Ottawa Humane Society who talked to the campers about dog safety. The speakers brought Chase the German Shepard, and each camper got to pet and take a photo with him. The campers learned about different dog behaviours and their meanings. They also learned how to approach a dog safely. After that, we learned how we can help the animals at the Ottawa Humane Society by donating and volunteering.

In the afternoon, we headed to the A building gym to play some organized games and basketball. After that, the students did an art activity where they had to glue a photo of themself on craft paper and then use their creativity to draw around it! Some had a picture of half their face, and they got to draw the other half, and the other ones had a picture of them doing something funny.

On Tuesday, the campers learned about Chinese culture by cooking sticky rice balls, vegetable spring rolls, and fortune cookies! Before cooking, they listened to a presentation on Chinese culture and the significance of these foods. As they waited for their creations to cook, they engaged in a bingo game or went outside to the Ishkoden courtyard. They also did a fun decoupage sign with their name on it.

We started off the week with some baking! The campers got creative, creating new colours by mixing food colouring for the monster cookies. The campers also did summertime cookies which were sugar cookies decorated with bears swimming. They then headed to the Ishkodewan courtyard for some fresh air before lunch. The campers had a great time making their magnets, and the new campers got to decorate their aprons.

Friday was media day; the campers visited Algonquin's School of Media and Design to use their media room to record a video. The campers got to take turns behind the camera and speaking! They decorated their weekly camp photo with craft paper, fun stickers, and drawings. They then painted various real shells with acrylic and cloud paint.
In the afternoon, they headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a fun workout activity!

Today was another amazing day! We started by doing an animal mosaic craft. The campers picked out an animal and then glued strips of craft paper onto it. They then cut around the shape of the animal and glued it onto some craft paper. Before lunch, they went on a scavenger hunt around the campus in small groups! They looked for various important places and things around campus and then took a picture when they found them! In the afternoon, they went to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre for a drumming activity led by personal trainers. They used yoga balls and drummed on them with wooden sticks. They got to listen to lots of great songs while they drummed!

Today, the campers got to be a firefighter for the day! They visited the Algonquin College firefighter department. They started by getting coloured bracelets and a cool pin from the firefighters. After that, they got to do some warmup exercises to try on the firefighter equipment, use the firefighter's rescue techniques to save rubber ducks, see an ambulance and car, and use the hose to spray out a "fire," a relay race, and a graduation from being a firefighter for the day.

On Tuesday, the campers baked soft pretzels with tasty cheese and marinara sauce! They worked in small groups as they baked each recipe. They first made the dough, and then while they waited for it to rise, they played bingo. After the dough had risen, they got to roll it out and shape it into a pretzel. During lunch, they got to try the pretzels with dipping sauce. Many campers came back for seconds as they found it delicious!

They then did some rock camping art and tealight art. For the tealight art, they created mini candles. They melted wax, pick the candle's colour by adding drops of food colouring, and add drops of essential oils. For the rock camping art, they then painted rocks attached to a wooden base.

Monday was an awesome day! The campers enjoyed cooking Indian food such as butter chickpeas, rice, and naan bread. They got to try some of their delicious food together at lunch.

The new campers got to decorate their aprons with fabric paint. They used their creativity as they created various cool designs on them!
They also learned about gratitude as they participated in a button tree craft. The counsellors discussed the importance of being thankful and how they could write things they are thankful for on the buttons in their trees. They then watched an animated video about gratitude. The campers reflected on things they are grateful for in their lives as they wrote on their buttons. Many included family members, friends, pets, hobbies, etc... They ended the day off with some time playing Kahoot!

The campers had a great day on Friday! They spent the morning decorating their group camp photo with various cool materials such as craft paper, stickers, markers, and foam letters. After that, they did an egg drop challenge, where they worked in pairs to create a design which would prevent an egg from cracking when dropped from up high. We had many amazing designs! They went to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre in the afternoon for a disco dance party! They enjoyed dancing with other campers, playing freeze dance, and showing off their moves in the dance circle.

We beat the heat on Thursday and headed out to the Ishkodewan courtyard in the morning to play football, soccer,and other activities . We then discussed the exciting plans for media day on Friday, and then the campers engaged in arts and crafts and bingo. In the afternoon, we headed to the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre gym for fun games led by personal trainers

Wednesday was a fun-filled day! We started with a visit from a musician who played the guitar and sang. The campers enjoyed joining in with musical instruments and singing and dancing. We then went outside to the Ishkodewan courtyard to play sports together! In the afternoon, we went to the A building gym, where the campers played a basketball game and other fun group games. We ended the day playing some Kahoots, where the campers guessed fun facts about the counsellors and learned facts about Algonquin College.