Camp Lemonade
I have actually done two internships over the course of my entire high school career both of which were art centered day camps in the area, but for the sake of this requirement I decided to focus on my most recent internship, that happened over this passed summer in June.
I worked at an art centered day camp here in Alameda. I reported for my internship at 8:45am everyday and left at 3:45 pm. My internship lasted one week and required that I be timely, funny, entertaining, quick and creative. The campers were between the ages of 5 and 9 and most were residents of Alameda. The camp took place in a the home of a local artist. She had a rough outline of what the kids were going to accomplish everyday, however it was an incredibly relaxed environment.
It was my roll to assist her, with activities, games and duties. The camp was near Lincoln Park and and we would venture over to the park for lunch everyday. We would line the kids up and I would take the front and she would take the back. During artistic activities I would often assist the kids or entertain those who did not want to participate. I would arrive fifteen minutes before the kids trickled in, to help set up and left fifteen minutes after they left, to help clean up. Because their were two of us, we were able to lead activities simultaneously which provided more variety for the campers, we could also monitor the campers that were doing activities in different parts of the house. On friday we decorated a lemonade stand, decorated signs, picked lemons, made lemonade, baked cookies and hauled all the kids over to the park to sell lemonade. Very little profit was made, however the kids had fun. It I worked a total of 30 hours at Camp Lemonade.
Internship Daily Journals
Lexie Morgan
Internship Journals
6-7-10 – 6-11-10
Day 1
Hours: 6
6-7-10
I arrived at 8:45am on the dot dressed in casual clothing that I could get dirty if need be. I greeted my supervisor and she gave me a very brief tour around her house, showing me where supplies were etc. Some kids were already there, and I greeted them kindly. Getting on there level and giving high fives. She had me help the kids make chocolate chip cookies for snack later in the morning. Slowly kids would trickle in and they would help us with the cookies. Once they were in the oven we moved to the living room where there was dress up stuff layed out in bags and boxes. We decided to have a fashion show. At this point there were about 15 kids. Mostly girls with a sprinkling of boys, they ranged from 4-9 years of age. I bonded with them quickly. As the kids were cleaning up the dress up stuff I got the cookies out of the oven and we went and had snack in the back yard.
We went to Lincoln park for the afternoon, doing henna in the shade and sketching trees, I helped the kids on the play structure and organized a game of sand man tag. I realized this was just like one giant play date it was and amazing relaxed environment. This is going to be a good week.
Day 2
Hours: 5
6-8-10
Today I arrived at about 9:15 as I had just finished up at an orthodontist appointment. Most the kids were already there and they were just about to start making sugar cookies. Ginny had me go to the kitchen to help them so she could get stuff out for the mornings art project. After we got the cookies in the oven we got all the kids in the dining room to make masks and puppets. We then had the kids sketch story ideas and after snack we put on a play. It was lots of fun. In the afternoon we went to the park and had bubble gum blowing contests and relay races. Again things were pretty relaxed. Kids were picked up around 3pm and I stayed for a little bit to help Ginny clean up the house.
Day 3
Hours: 6 and 45 min
6-9-10
I arrived at 8:45am and instead of helping with the muffin making going on in the kitchen, Ginny had me set up large pieces of canvas against one wall of her house. The kids were going to be splatter painting after snack. Before splatter painting though, we made friendship bracelets out of hemp and made coasters and ornaments out of fuse beads. The kids loved splatter painting. I mostly monitored and made sure everyone was sticking to there own canvas. We made one canvas for everyone to sign and contribute too.
We went to the park after lunch and used chalk to create designs on the sidewalk. We then collected things from nature for collages back at the house. I ended the day with a good game of dress up fashion show and left at 3:30 after helping clean up and prep for the next day.
Day 4
Hours: 6
6-11-10
We had a pretty mellow day today, mostly beading and painting. The boys had a lot of fun mucking around in the back yard and making “paint” out of mud and dirt etc.
We made chocolate dipped strawberries for snack, which were very popular.
We got out the Polaroid camera and had fun taking pictures with friends. We made a cool collage with all the photos and spent a good amount of time decorating it.
After lunch we had a ballon toss and egg roll. The kids got a kick out this. They then proceeded to come up with some very complex form of tag/capture the flag/dungeons and dragons. I got cast as the roll of Cinderella. We ended the day with good old fashion game of house whilst waiting for everyone to get picked up.
Day 5
Hours: 6 and 15 min
6-11-10
Today we had Fashion Focus Friday, we watched two episodes of project runway, sketched dresses, had a fashion show, made dresses out of toilet paper, looked at fashion magazines and played dress up. I brought some make up with me, and did fun playful make up for the little girls who wanted it. It was lots of fun!
After lunch we decorated signs and made lemonade. We walked up to the corner of Liberty and Fernside and set up a little lemonade stand. The kids had a blast walking around with the signs. Many of them were still dressed up from our fashion fun before lunch. After a half hour or so of selling lemonade, we walked triumphantly back to the house and got ready for pick up. The kids gathered up their things and we all had good long hugs and a few moms had me give them my number for future babysitting jobs. Over all it was a very successful week!
Hours Total: 30
Internship Journals
6-7-10 – 6-11-10
Day 1
Hours: 6
6-7-10
I arrived at 8:45am on the dot dressed in casual clothing that I could get dirty if need be. I greeted my supervisor and she gave me a very brief tour around her house, showing me where supplies were etc. Some kids were already there, and I greeted them kindly. Getting on there level and giving high fives. She had me help the kids make chocolate chip cookies for snack later in the morning. Slowly kids would trickle in and they would help us with the cookies. Once they were in the oven we moved to the living room where there was dress up stuff layed out in bags and boxes. We decided to have a fashion show. At this point there were about 15 kids. Mostly girls with a sprinkling of boys, they ranged from 4-9 years of age. I bonded with them quickly. As the kids were cleaning up the dress up stuff I got the cookies out of the oven and we went and had snack in the back yard.
We went to Lincoln park for the afternoon, doing henna in the shade and sketching trees, I helped the kids on the play structure and organized a game of sand man tag. I realized this was just like one giant play date it was and amazing relaxed environment. This is going to be a good week.
Day 2
Hours: 5
6-8-10
Today I arrived at about 9:15 as I had just finished up at an orthodontist appointment. Most the kids were already there and they were just about to start making sugar cookies. Ginny had me go to the kitchen to help them so she could get stuff out for the mornings art project. After we got the cookies in the oven we got all the kids in the dining room to make masks and puppets. We then had the kids sketch story ideas and after snack we put on a play. It was lots of fun. In the afternoon we went to the park and had bubble gum blowing contests and relay races. Again things were pretty relaxed. Kids were picked up around 3pm and I stayed for a little bit to help Ginny clean up the house.
Day 3
Hours: 6 and 45 min
6-9-10
I arrived at 8:45am and instead of helping with the muffin making going on in the kitchen, Ginny had me set up large pieces of canvas against one wall of her house. The kids were going to be splatter painting after snack. Before splatter painting though, we made friendship bracelets out of hemp and made coasters and ornaments out of fuse beads. The kids loved splatter painting. I mostly monitored and made sure everyone was sticking to there own canvas. We made one canvas for everyone to sign and contribute too.
We went to the park after lunch and used chalk to create designs on the sidewalk. We then collected things from nature for collages back at the house. I ended the day with a good game of dress up fashion show and left at 3:30 after helping clean up and prep for the next day.
Day 4
Hours: 6
6-11-10
We had a pretty mellow day today, mostly beading and painting. The boys had a lot of fun mucking around in the back yard and making “paint” out of mud and dirt etc.
We made chocolate dipped strawberries for snack, which were very popular.
We got out the Polaroid camera and had fun taking pictures with friends. We made a cool collage with all the photos and spent a good amount of time decorating it.
After lunch we had a ballon toss and egg roll. The kids got a kick out this. They then proceeded to come up with some very complex form of tag/capture the flag/dungeons and dragons. I got cast as the roll of Cinderella. We ended the day with good old fashion game of house whilst waiting for everyone to get picked up.
Day 5
Hours: 6 and 15 min
6-11-10
Today we had Fashion Focus Friday, we watched two episodes of project runway, sketched dresses, had a fashion show, made dresses out of toilet paper, looked at fashion magazines and played dress up. I brought some make up with me, and did fun playful make up for the little girls who wanted it. It was lots of fun!
After lunch we decorated signs and made lemonade. We walked up to the corner of Liberty and Fernside and set up a little lemonade stand. The kids had a blast walking around with the signs. Many of them were still dressed up from our fashion fun before lunch. After a half hour or so of selling lemonade, we walked triumphantly back to the house and got ready for pick up. The kids gathered up their things and we all had good long hugs and a few moms had me give them my number for future babysitting jobs. Over all it was a very successful week!
Hours Total: 30
Closing Statement
Through my experiences as an assistant at Camp Lemonade I became a better child care provider and worker. I had to learn how to deal with all types and ages of children. My supervisor was very kind and understanding, and by the end of the week I was able to just do things she needed with out being asked. We understood what needed to be done and how the two of us were going to manage projects and activities. I had quite a bit of trust and responsibility thrust upon me and I like to think that I was able to handle myself in a professional manner. This experience will help me a great deal as I leave to work at a sleep away summer camp in Alberta, Canada in a few short days.
