A partnership with La Boîte à soleil – a francophone childcare organization – continues to provide Niagara College students with meaningful learning experiences while benefitting children in the community.
Last month, Recreation Therapy students visited La Boîte à soleil sites across the Niagara region to deliver wellness-focused workshops for children who were attending camp. This was the second time the program partnered with the organization over the summer, giving students real-world experience in the community.
The latest opportunity was part of the students’ RECL1320: Mental Illness, Addictions, and Recovery course, taught by Professor Debbie Fender.
“We wanted to create opportunities for students to incorporate core therapeutic recreation principles such as engagement, inclusion, and purposeful play; all of which support child mental wellness,” said Fender. “Many of our students aspire to work with youth in community-based settings, and this project allowed them to apply therapeutic recreation strategies in a real-world environment.”
Students were split into groups and visited three centre locations in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland where they interacted with children between the ages of four and eight.
Fender was particularly proud of the way students approached the assignment with only three weeks to plan out their programming that incorporated mental wellness, team building, emotional regulation and emotional expression, areas that aligned with the camp’s goals for its participants.
Second-year student Victoria Fair and her classmates visited La Boîte à soleil in St. Catharines and delivered programming that focused on emotions, including a feelings cube game, a connections tree craft and a poem. The students also penned an original song to help the children learn the basics about emotional intelligence.
“In class we learn about person-centered care and how it’s important to tailor your programming to the client with any age group and in any setting… what that looks like for children is play,” said Fair.
Rec Therapy student Matt Bosnich leads programming at La Boîte à soleil in Welland.
Matt Bosnich and his group visited the Welland location where they facilitated a parachute activity with a jungle adventure storyline featuring different animals. The activity promoted the benefits of teamwork as the children worked their way through different tasks based on their specific animal group – frogs, elephants, monkeys and parrots.
“The goal of our activity was to get the parrot group to the top of the jungle tree while fostering movement and social connection in the kids,” said Bosnich, who is also a second-year student. “We wanted to show the kids the benefits of working together to help them make the connection between play, teamwork and positive emotions.”
Fender said the community partner shared positive feedback, noting how well the students managed their groups, how prepared they were, and how effectively they tied their activities to learning outcomes.
“We love to partner with Niagara College and we were thrilled to welcome students from the Recreation Therapy program to our sites,” said Christina Clark, Executive Director at La Boîte à soleil and NC Early Childhood Education program alumna (2006).
“The workshops were thoughtfully designed, and the children had so much fun participating in the activities while learning important lessons and strategies about wellness,” added Clark, who noted that La Boîte à soleil also partners with NC’s ECE program, welcoming students for placements and sitting on the Program Advisory Committee.
NC’s community partners play an important role in ensuring that students receive opportunities to put their classroom skills into practice before they graduate.
“The workshops gave students the chance to build confidence, practice leadership, and engage meaningfully with youth which are all skills and experiences that will serve them well in their future careers,” said Fender.
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