Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

Alright, these titles are making less and less sense.

Tonight was a good night at the kids’ club. I arrived and helped set up. Given it was raining outside, we were not going to play manhunt this evening (The subject of some grumbling from some of the kids). Rather we played another version of the blindfold/pillow game we had played in weeks past. This time, there were four beanbags the kids had to get around instead of two. This made it a little more difficult to get by the blindfolded person swinging the pillow (If this is not making sense, read my earlier blogs. If its still not making sense, sorry!)  Additionally, the kids could now score points not only when they were in the middle swinging the pillow, but also when the got the person swinging the pillow. Most importantly, there was a prize offered to the kid with the most points at the end of the evening. That prize? A huge Cadbury chocolate bar.

Image obtained from: http://www.cadbury.co.uk/ourproducts/today/Pages/JS_bars.aspx?category=bars#dairymilk

So the kids arrived. They were unusually calm this week, and we were able to get the game started pretty fast. (This is without yet telling them about the prize, so I have no clue why this was the case). Before we began though, a bunch of them were playing with their cell phones. In keeping with the I-pod touch thing with last week, this baffles me. Why any kid should need a cell phone I don’t know. Also, these cell phones seemed pretty nice. I digress…

The game was a success, and we were able to play it the entire hour without any complaints from the kids (a first!). The one kid received the chocolate bar as his prize, and shared it with one of his friends.

As we cleaned up and set the room up for the following day, I heard about the early days of the kids club, back about a decade ago. Back then there were only three genuine helpers, compared to about 12 or so now. It was interesting to hear a quick run through of how the group has involved and grown. Claire, one of the leaders, pointed out that she had known some of these kids since they were infants and toddlers, and how weird it has been to watch them grow up. I had not thought about how long this club has been around, and how some of these kids have been coming there week after week their entire lives. Its amazing to think what an impact the club has had.

Volunteered on 10/02/2011

From 18:00-20:00

2 Hours: Total of 10 Hours

New Hope Christian Centre

Supervisor: Duane Elkins