Wednesday 28 September 2011

Memories of the summer with TAP

 Memories of the summer with TAP

      On a warm day in August the Therapeutic Arts Program kids had an outing at Port Credit.  It turned out to be a wonderful day.  We all met in the morning at Lakefront Promenade Park; Carolina, Hayden, Lynden and Maja with our instructors Katryne and Margaret and the boys' mom, Darlene.  It was a full day of interesting and fun activities. 
     
     We played some volleyball first.  Our volleyball net did not want to stay up but that did not stop our group from having fun.  First boys played against the girls and then we mixed teams, and Darlene (boy’s Mom) was the most wanted player.  Then we had a snack as we looked over the lake. It was so warm and quiet in the morning; a perfect summer day. 

     After the break, we walked to the Port Credit Yacht Club.  Matt, our sailing instructor, met us there and we chose our lifejackets.  We walked through the marina to our boat, a 24-footer Yacht!  Everyone jumped in.  We settled in the cockpit area and Matt drove our boat out of the harbor.  Once we were on open Lake Ontario and  it was time to shut off the motor and put up the sails.  Everyone, except for Matt and Maja; both seasoned sailors, went downstairs into the cabin to protect us from the swinging boom as they put up the sails.  Then we were able to come out of the cabin  and enjoy spectacular view of Toronto skyline including CN tower, and the shore and the park that we just left behind.  Hayden and Lynden found a window hatch to climb through at the front of the boat and enjoyed coming out and popping out at the front of the boat.  The kids drew pictures, Carolina wrote a poem, too.  Matt showed kids the way the ropes are used with sails and how to use the compass on the boat.  The boys even tried to imagine that we were on a Pirate Ship!  It was spectacular, simply amazing to be there together.  We sailed for 1.5 h.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and we were surprised how fast the time went and that it was time to return to the shore. 

     When we returned we had lunch and rested and we made windmills from construction paper and pencils as well as some drawings of the boat.  We walked over to cool off at a splash pad and play at the large playground in the park. 
 
     From there we finished our trip at Lions Club Swimming Pool.  It was great to cool off and swim in a new large pool.  We played in the water, Hayden and Lynden found some fun floaters like green frog to cling to and of course the swimming noodles, Carolina joined in the fun.  We finished our day at the playground next to the pool.  It was a wonderful day, everyone was tired and happy.  This was a great summer adventure!

By Margaret Guzowski

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New themes for the month of October

October 1 --Fall

October 8 -- Harvest/Thanksgiving

October 15 -- Mammals & Reptiles

October 22 --Insects & Birds

October 29 -- Halloween/Space

Thursday 8 September 2011

Exciting Themes for New TAP Fall Schedule this September

September 10th  -- Meeting and Keeping Friends


September 17th -- TAP's 1st BIRTHDAY!  Celebrating with a TAP family!  Friendships at TAP!


September 24th -- Handling challenges and conflicts with our peers and friends- Social Skills Superheros!