Camp MMPT 2013

In the past, we have had several different summer camps, each with a different focus such as handwriting, friend building, sensory integration, etc. This year, we decided to mix it up a bit. Since most of our activities overlap several different focuses, we decided just to do one big Camp MMPT. It was a huge success!

We had 18 campers this year! Luckily, we were able to gather plenty of MMPT staff members and a couple of volunteers to give each camper the individual attention he or she deserved. We ended up separating the campers into three groups, reconvening for larger group activities several times throughout the day.

The girls were more than happy to have their own group!

Our OT team did a great job, creating a schedule chock-full of fun activities to keep the kids entertained while learning valuable skills. Shout out to Patchez and her students, Keitha and Niki!

In the pic above you can see two of the groups working together playing an old fashioned game of Telephone, the ultimate game of auditory processing skills that always leads to lots of laughs.

The older boys were always keen to show off their projects!

And the girls were a little hesitant to ever call a craft complete. There should always be more time to perfect art! We were very proud of their respectful treatment of our beloved colored Sharpie collection. (There may or may not have been an official oath recited to ensure proper capping technique….)

One of favorite activities of the week was the hallway scooter board races. Molly May came out the champ with a record score of 18 seconds. Girl power!

Madison headed up the smaller boys group. He and John James became big buddies! These little guys were tons of fun and really enjoyed playing in the sensory bin.

Here the girls are working as a group, assembling a character out of spare parts with the help of a song. This was a great activity involving auditory and visual processing, following directions, and working together. Then they all created some awesome drawings of “Mat Man.”

It’s certainly worth noting that during camp most of our therapists were still seeing other patients. Since campers had taken over the Peds Gym and the Swing Room, things got a little crazy in the OT room for Patchez and John-Wesley. We appreciate all of the patience from both our therapists and our patients!

Here Gabbi and Julia are reading aloud about the letter E with the help of Mrs. Keitha. All of our campers did a great job learning about the sounds of the letters and practicing their letter forms!

But being inside gets old pretty quickly for a bunch of energetic campers, so back outside for the obstacle course! Ellie had no trouble taking off and completing the course with ease, but Gabs needed just a little help on the balance beam.

And back inside for more crafts. I think these cheerio bird feeders ended up feeding more campers than birdies…. The kids seemed to prefer the cereal to their animal cracker snacks that day.

Not to be confused with this Sensory Bowl concoction, which although 100% edible, would not taste so good. Parker was a little grossed out, but still reached his hand in to remove his Easter Egg assignment. Each egg contained a gross motor challenge for each camper to act out.

The last day we gave out personalized trophies for each camper recognizing an accomplishment or character trait that they should be proud of. We had so much fun thinking of fun titles for each child!

We hope all of our campers had as much fun as we did during our week at Camp MMPT and we hope that they join us again next year!

Thanks to everyone who contributed their time to making this event happen. Especially camp counselors, Keitha, Niki, Madison, Emery, Mary Elise, Lauren, Amber, and Shelbi, and volunteers, Rachel, Taylor, and Chance!