Kids Workshops, Pilot Run

I started off being very excited to do a pilot run of the Wonderful, Powerful ME! kids workshops. The Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank sponsored ten children ages 7 to 14. This is how it went.

Week 1 of 6

Six children attended. The two 7 year olds were very active. Crawling across the table kind of active. The 4 siblings were very talkative in a disruptive way. The 14 year old was unimpressed about spending his time with younger kids.

Lesson learned: Group kids better by age. 9-13 and 14-17 would probably work better. No 7 and 8 year olds!

Week 2 of 6

The 14 year old would not be returning. One of the siblings was sick so none of them attended. Only two boys ages 7 and 8 attended and they were distracted by the toys stored at the front of the room. Four of the ten registered kids hadn't shown up yet at all.

The one boy who was so active during Week 1 actually remembered a lot of what was taught the week before. That was a pleasant surprise.

Lesson learned: When the parents aren't paying themselves, they aren't committed to bringing their kids.

Week 3 of 6

The original 4 siblings returned along with another brother. They thanked me for a fun time. They enjoyed the spiritual kind of CD I played and were singing it on their way out. The one 7 year old attended but was bored because I had switched to a room without toys.

The helium filled foil balloon I paid $5 for got punctured.

Cutting out magazine pictures for vision boards was completed in this one class. I had planned to carry that activity over 3 weeks. I told my contact at the Food Bank that we would end the pilot run after 4 weeks instead of 6.

Lesson learned: Plan more activities or reduce the length of the program.

Week 4 of 6 (4)

The 5 siblings returned, singing the same song on their way in. I had lost the electrical cable for my CD player and the batteries had died so I couldn't play the CD for them again. They said they really liked the classes and were disappointed that this would be the last one. The 7 year old was bored again.

All the kids finished their vision boards. They liked their name tags enough to want to keep them.

Lesson learned: Adorable as the little guy was, definitely no 7 year olds :) unless we develop activities more specific to the age and energy level.

Overall, it was good to run the pilot because I really learned a lot. I'm sure between my sister and I we can work out some details and run it again sometime - because we have a vision.