Activity Night

Every other Wednesday I meet with twelve young girls all between the ages of 8to 11 years old. My co-chair and I plan various activities to keep them entertained for a little over an hour. Some of the activities are really engaging and keep the VERY energetic girls occupied, while others seem to send them into this wild frenzy. This evening we had a guest come in to teach the girls a dance routine, (very basic) to the theme song for "Tarzan". Ellie, the dance instructor, was very patient when a few of the girls decided to display their skills performing "The Worm". The older girls did really well and seemed to be really into learning the dance while the younger ones entertained themselves by doing the splits, hitting each other and running aimlessly around the room.

Sue, my co-chair and I have been discussing the unruliness of our group and after repeatedly asking the girls to pay attention to our guest, she'd had enough. The girls were asked to come sit on the carpet where, with our prompting, they came up with a list of rules that they should follow while at activity night.
Most of the rules they came up with were pretty common, ie: Be respectful of others, raise your hand when you want to say something, and think before you speak. Some of the not so helpful suggestions: Don't do the splits, only one person can go potty at a time(don't ask) and don't lay on the floor.

After our chat the girls really seemed to be adhering to the rules. We will see how things go at our next get together. For our part, we are going to attempt to be a little more strict. Time will tell.