This week at the Spectrum in Asheville we had two exciting groups! In the Bubbles and Goo group the kids got to make some icky, sticky, colorful goop! It is always a fun, and messy, favorite! Then they got to go outside and blow some bubbles! There were huge bubbles and small bubbles, so much fun!

The second group was very cool because our friends from the UNCA drama department came and did some activities with the kids! They played thanksgiving themed bingo, and hangman! It was really nifty!

We are all very excited for what is in store for this coming Tuesday!!

This past Tuesday at the Spectrum in Asheville we had a lots of different activities to choose from! There were Airplane Games, Sensory Games, and a Mad Scientist group! In the airplane games group  the kids got to make their own paper airplanes and decorate them anyway they wanted to. Then they went on an scavenger hunt adventure to find pilots for their planes before going on the roof to put their planes in the air!

In the sensory games group they got to explore the way different things feel! They made shaving cream paintings, and find and search bags that they filled with different things that they had to find with their eyes closed! Then they played hangman! This group was very entertaining!

In the mad scientist group the kids got to make Flarp, a fun substance that is made with corn starch and water that appears to be liquid until you touch it and is actually solid. It has very fun stuff! They also made shaving cream artwork! 

Hello everyone! This past week at the spectrum in Asheville we had a myriad of fun activities to choose from! We had one group that did Space Adventures and Foot Volleyball, another that did Animals and Autumn fun, and our third group made puppets and performed a puppet show in collaboration with some of the creative drama students here at UNCA. 

The space and volleyball group got to do a lot of awesome things! They drew their own constellations and used stickers for the stars. Then they had to reconstruct the solar system by finding the planets hidden around the room and putting them in the proper order. Next they used string to make a net for foot volleyball, it is played much like regular volleyball but with your feet, and a balloon, it was super fun!

The second group was full of animal and autumn fun! First the kids made masks that look like their favorite animals, I saw a bear and dog! Then they got to play pin the hat on the scare crow, I think he could scare all the crows away! Then they played animal charades. 

The last group was very exciting because we got to collaborate with some of the creative drama students here at UNCA to make some really cool puppets and then put on a really awesome puppet show for everyone! There were some slithery snakes, a crazy quick cheetah, a lovable elephant, a pint-size penguin, and a plump leopard seal! This was a really fun spectrum! We cannot wait til next week!

Last Thursday was another great day at The Spectrum in Boone! After a few days of blistery winter weather, it was nice to find creative ways to play with "snow" in the warmth of the indoors. Everyone enjoyed making snowballs out of construction paper and using them to play a variety of games. The kids started out by seeing how many of the snowballs they could throw into a bin at the center of the room. They stood far away from the bin and showed off their amazing accuracy as they made nearly every shot! We also had fun after breaking up into two teams and seeing how many unreturned snowballs we could throw onto the other team's side. Both the campers and the interns were laughing and smiling throughout the entire game! After the snow games were over, the kids were given the opportunity to make snowflakes out of construction paper or their very own bird feeder out of pine cones and peanut butter! We finished the day by playing a game that was called "Don't Wake the Bear". The person who was the "Bear" sat blindfolded in the middle of the room, surrounded by various items. Everyone else had to try to pick up the items without the bear hearing them. If the bear heard any rustling or jingling, they got to take off their blindfold and tag the person closest to them. The interns were not very good at being quiet, so the kid who got to play the bear was always able to catch someone. It was a fun way to end the day! Return soon to find out what new and exciting activities we do next time!

Yesterday was the start of the late fall session of the Spectrum here at UNCA and it was a blast! There were three activities to choose from all incorporating different Halloween crafts and games! The first group was Random Halloween Fun! This group started out by making creepy crawly spiders! I got chills just looking at them! Then they played pin the bow tie on the skeleton! After that they played a Halloween themed version of hangman, but they used a bat instead of a man! 

The second group was simply titled Halloween. In this group the kids got to do a skeleton scavenger hunt where they had to search for the pieces of the skeletons all around the room and assemble them! Then they did a mummy race where they had to pair up and wrap up one person as a mummy and then see who could be the first to the finish line! The last thing this group did a straw relay race to make witches brew!

The last group was called Crafty Monsters in this group they made bats and spiders! They were super spooky! Then they ended up having a monster mash dance party! It was super fun!

This was a fantastic beginning to our late fall session! We cannot wait until the next one!

We had a great first day at the Spectrum in Boone! We started out by making creepy spiders out of paper plates and pipe cleaners. The kids were also given the opportunity to make other crafts. One of our creative campers even made her very own 3D dragon out of paper and tape! After we were done making crafts, we played some fun Halloween-themed games. Everyone's favorite game seemed to be "Wizard Says", which was a special Halloween version of "Simon Says". The kids did a great job at following the directions and coming up with funny things for everyone to act out. We also played "Musical Chairs" while listening to scary Halloween music. Some of the interns joined in for this game, but weren't quick enough to keep up with the kids and lost every time! We had a great day overall and can't wait to have even more fun during our next meeting!

This week was full of wands, brooms, potions, and so much more witches and wizards fun! This week the kids played a variation of games all having to do with witches and wizards. They also crafted wizard hats. At the end of our program we played a scavenger hunt. There were tons of different things hidden throughout the room and the children had to find all of them and add them to the cauldron to make a potion! We had a ton of fun this week! We are very excited for our Halloween Special next week. Keep reading for more posts from West Chester!

This past Tuesday was the last meeting for the Early Fall Session of the Spectrum in Asheville, but oh my was it fun! We had two great groups to choose from Pirates and Halloween Fun. AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGG!! In the Pirates group the kids got to make their own pirate garb! There were hats, eye patches, and hooks me matey! They had to look their very best for the treasure hunting excursion that was next! We found jewels, and toys a plenty! The next thing to be done was sharing some very entertaining pirate jokes! Whats a pirates favorite soda? AAAARRRRRR-C Cola! This group was an amazing time! 

In the Halloween fun group there was a lot of goopy gooey and storytelling fun! The first part of the activity was making icky sticky monster guts! They were actually kind of nifty! A lot like flubber! The rest of the time was spent sharing scary stories! There were some very creative ideas shared!

Our Late Fall Session will be starting Tuesday October 30! It is going to be tons of fun! We hope to see you there!

Here is a link to the registration page:

http://www.ultracamp.com/info/sessionDetail.aspx?idSession=45391

Hey West Chester! We had a great program this week. It was full of fun but must have been very tiring! This week was an exercise based activity led by our interns Mary and Charles. First the kids ran "laps" and did some warm up exercises. Then they got into a circle and did some stretching activities to loosen up. After that the kids did some relay races that involved crab crawls. After that the kids got occupied with the parachute games for a while. Finally we all got together in a circle and played categories with the ball. We had a great time this week and we are looking forward to the next few weeks to come! 

This week at the Spectrum we had a lot of fun and creative things to do! The choices of activities were between Bugging Out and Moving Games, or Ninjas! In the bugging out and moving games the kids got to draw their own crazy bug creations, lots of imagination went into these drawings! Then they got to make bug puppets, or paint their own Lego people. After that they played a few rounds of red light green light, and had a hokey pokey dance party! This group was the perfect combination of artistic and active!

In the ninja group the kids got to show of all of their super ninja skills [without harming others]! They got to play a fun variation on Simon says, called Ninja Master Says. Then they got to write secret lemon juice messages that were revealed by applying heat! The last thing they got to do was make their own paper nunchucks! This group showed us just how ninja they could be with all of these activities!