The Finishing Touches

This past Saturday I put the final touches on the room by putting up the tiles from my fundraiser at the Dennis P. McHugh race. A special thanks to my dad for helping me out. 

Mystery Boxes DIY

Hey everyone,

I was inspired by the Creative Christian Mama's post to create Mystery Boxes. I think they will be a great way to stimulate the men and women using the room at Camp Venture; they will get to exercise and strengthen their sensory skills in some new and exciting ways. These will be the second and final "game" type edition to the room, and I will now share the relatively easy process with you.

Steps:
Find an old tissue or shoe box. I used a tissue box, which obviously has an opening too large to play the game properly. A piece of felt that matches colors of the tissue box's original design will do the trick to cover the holes in the top and at the front.

My suggestion is to cut the hole for the hand BEFORE you hot-glue the felt to the tissue box. Use an X-ACTO knife to make the initial hole; then, you can use a scissor to cut three or four Xs so that you can fit your hand inside.

Now that you've glued the piece of felt on, you can insert the "mystery item." Some suggestions: bubble wrap, a paint brush, a fake flower, a fake bird, a spoon, etc. It's important that you choose something that isn't small enough to be easily taken out of the box and that cannot be a choking hazard. 

You're ready to play!

Here are the three mystery boxes together.

Who's inside?

Ultimately, I am happy with how this mini-project turned out! Stay tuned for more posts, as I will soon be putting up the tiles from my fundraiser in the room as my Gold Award endeavor comes to a close.

Thanks, 

Maria

DIY Butterfly Felt Puzzle

Hello all!

Now that the painting is done, I'm moving on to some smaller additions to the room. The first is this felt butterfly puzzle that I made, inspired by Imagine Childhood. This is a great way to stimulate the developmentally disabled individuals using the room, as they will get to touch the textured felt pieces and use their minds to complete the puzzle.

The real challenge to this project was making sure that it would be durable in the room, as many of the individuals could easily break classic puzzles made out of Styrofoam or flimsy paper pieces. I think using felt and Velcro will work the best because the pieces are easily washable and storable, as well as less breakable.

Follow my process below! Obviously, this technique can be applied to any animal, shape, or design.


Instructions:

1. Draw (or trace) your shape on a large piece of poster board.
2. Place felt pieces over that large shape and trace the design's outline. Cut out this felt-version of your design.
3. Cut your felt version into as many shapes as you want. You can trace these new shapes onto the poster board, on top of/inside the original shape; however, I did not do this.
4. Add Velcro pieces where appropriate.
5. Play and enjoy!

 

It's painting and cleaning day!! July 9th and 10th, 2016

Hey everyone,

This past Saturday and Sunday some awesome volunteers and I got to work doing the bulk of the refreshing of the room! Yay! I am so grateful to everyone who came out to help and did a difficult job with a lot of energy and helped me have fun doing the project. Check out some pictures below of the new paint job and floor cleaning.

Again, thanks so much to everyone who came out to help me; not everyone is pictured in these photos. Now I just have a few finishing touches to the room before I can officially be finished, like putting up the tiles from my fundraiser, adding new blinds, and creating a stimulating game or project of sorts.

Until next time,
Maria

McHugh Race Fundraiser

Here are a few photos from the McHugh Race tile fundraiser. Everyone seemed to love the idea and I would highly recommend the project to any Girl Scout looking to make some spending money for her project. Now I just have to assemble the tiles into a mural for the wall at the Venture Center.

Fundraising Event Saturday, April 30th!

Hello readers:
This Saturday I will be having my first fundraising event. Here are the details:

Where: Dennis P. McHugh 5K/Family Fair
       25 Flywheel Park W, Piermont, NY, 10968
When:  9:30 AM-1:30 PM

In exchange for a donation fee (the flat rate is $2), you can decorate a 4 x 4 ceramic tile with ceramic markers in any design you choose. These tiles will be placed in the room that I am redoing at the Venture Center (see the About Me section of this blog for more details), and will be greatly appreciated!

I'm hoping to have a good turnout. If you are around, please consider stopping by and decorating a tile as well as enjoying the great event. The 5K is in honor of Dennis McHugh, who was killed in the line of duty during 9/11 as a firefighter. The funds from this year's race will go to SHARE Africa, a charity that aims to improve the lives of impoverished children and adults in African communities.

Thanks again,
Maria