Breakfast Club Blog

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Enjoy the brain food.

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!

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How Clue and The 4C’s Inspire Connection, Community and Creativity

How DO board games inspire Connection, Community, and Creativity, you ask? Last week, eight middle school girls were consumed with the details related to who murdered Mr. Boddy. This wasn’t the latest episode of a crime drama, and thankfully wasn’t something in the news, but instead was the culminating event wrapping up their Secret Agent badge-an intense game of Clue. I’m lucky enough to be the troop leader for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, an out-of-school time activity that she and mo...Read More

Engineering Challenges Promote 21st-Century Skills and Engage Youth

Asia Society and BOOST Collaborative are partnering to create a series of blogs on global learning in out-of-school time.  This blog entry was originally published on EdWeek’s Global Learning Blog. This entry was written by guest bloggers Natacha Meyer, Senior Curriculum Developer, and Tania Tauer, Senior Curriculum Developer, from the Museum of Science Boston. STEM Training Today’s unprecedented push to train students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) has been pri...Read More

Feel Like a Child: How to Take Time for Ourselves

I walk into a room and all I see is a large curtain. All I hear are muffled giggles emitting from behind the curtain. A head pops out and as I stand back, I realize this large curtain is actually a tablecloth covering a GIANT dining room table. I crawl under the curtain and immediately feel like a child. Children are lounging on soft pillows and running around laughing. On the walls are images projected of children around the world feeding themselves. It is amazing to see the kids sitting with m...Read More

Messy Art & The Power of Sensory Play

There’s nothing like MESSY ART to kick off a powerful new year. Most kids love to get messy and “let go” of their inhibition with colorful paints and clays. But let’s admit it, most kids can’t too messy at home. So it’s our job and our OPPORTUNITY to give them plenty of messy art experiences in afterschool enrichment. Where else will they experience the pleasure and power of visual art? Remember that art experiences have a proven positive impact on young peopl...Read More

Valuing Children’s Artwork

“Mommy, my art is in the trash!” said 4-year-old Noah with shock and dismay. This is how Board Supervisor, Janice Rutherford, opened her keynote speech to a large group of educators. She held up her son’s paper plate painting and told us how distressed he was when he found it in the trashcan at home. How could this have happened? Surely it must be a mistake because who would throw away original artwork? I was completely amused by her poignant message as this Education Board Mem...Read More

Just Pin it: Using Pinterest to Support Planning

Here’s a little story I’d like to tell About 3 camp ladies I know real well. It started back in Two Thousand and 12, When they were planning camp, like busy little elves. They were looking for ideas based on campers’ interests One of them said “Hey, let’s check Pinterest!” …And that is how our Project: Pinterest started. A little Bit o’ Info About Project: Pinterest For the past two summers, our camp programs have been using Pinterest to support ou...Read More

After School Attractions

I woke up early this morning in Washington DC where I am attending a conference on School Counseling programs. We are working on a new program to incorporate school counseling into our after school programs in order to provide students the emotional support they need to succeed. Despite my desire to linger in bed, I know I must get up in order to have time to stand in line for 45 minutes at Market Lunch at the Eastern Market to enjoy Blue Bucks (blueberry pancakes), eggs and biscuits….yum!...Read More

After Afterschool: Developing the Future Workforce

Most school-based efforts to introduce students into the workforce take the form of job fairs that promote traditional careers, but by all accounts, ten years from now the job market will look noticeably different than it does today. Some traditional jobs are likely to disappear. Others will survive, but the job descriptions and requirements will change. Some new fields, such as “green” technology, will evolve into major employment sectors. Entirely new professions will emerge, ones ...Read More

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