Newsletter
Brittainy Moala
Kearns, UT
Psychology
Creativity
Camp Carnival
My project is an all day camp held for children ages 3-8 years old to help promote inner creativity and spark imagination. I am a mother of two and my three year old (now four) could work our iPad better than me. This is when the idea hit me that our kids are growing up so much more different than my generation. I wanted to create a place to remind kids to be creative, curious, independent, and adventurous. At Camp Carnival they will be exposed to each one of these qualities and will hopefully take away from the experience.
The Camp was so much fun, the children were able to design their own Camp Carnival shirts, dance, throw hollowed out eggs full of paint at a blank canvas, tell stories, run, play, and most importantly have fun. I decided to capture all the great memories on video and pictures. This documentation type was perfect for what I wanted people to get out of the Camp that weren’t there first hand. It showed how much fun the kids had and I was able to tell the exact story I wanted to share. This was a project that required a lot of materials and time but, on the day of the camp I allowed for the children to lead the direction of the day and it went so smoothly it felt effortless.
My inspiration came from my three year old working our iPad better than me. I found myself confused because, I was impressed at how young she was and how technologically savvy. At the same time saddened due to the fact that’s all she ever wanted to do. Even though she was three she talked about downloading new apps every day. I knew something needed to change so I started introducing her to things I did when I was younger and began limiting her time with the iPad. At first it was a struggle and she seemed to pull away from doing anything that took a little imagination. However, soon enough she stopped asking for the iPad all together and I began to see her blossom. That’s when I knew I wanted other parents and children to experience this same kind of transformation because, it’s really so simple, you plant the initial seed and then watch your child grow.
My biggest challenge was getting people excited and committed to coming. I know everyone was really interested at first and they all thought it was a great idea but, this type of thing takes work. I wanted parents to be involved and many were but I’m asking for people to change what we’ve all become so used to. It’s convenient and satisfying to watch TV or play on your phone it takes much more out of you to engage your mind. Throughout this process I’ve learned creativity is something we are all born with and that it can’t really be lost, but it needs to be nurtured.
Another problem I faced was that my family made a big life change and moved from Cedar City to Salt Lake two months before my project was to happen. This caused a lot of stress and strain in trying to promote my Camp and market it to the community. This may also be a reason I didn’t get quite as big of a turnout that I wanted. I chose to remember that even if this camp benefitted one child, parent, or myself it was worth it. Overall the challenges faced were nowhere near comparable to the rewards gained.
I had one boy around the age of 8 who attended Camp Carnival he was one of the oldest there and I was curious to see if he would find as much joy as the younger kids. To my surprise he was the child most excited about the experience. He had such a good time that his mother sent me an email thanking myself for the whole experience, she even asked if we would be holding another camp. She let me know that her family had faced some tough times recently and that her children had to be taken out of their dance classes. At my camp we encouraged dancing and let each child take turns in individually expressing themselves. I found out that this was the first time he’s danced in a while and he loved it.
My project benefitted me not only scholastically considering I want to work with children but, it benefitted me on a personal level. I will have a career one day and I want to excel in it in every aspect possible. However, I am a mother first and I am going to be a mother forever. This camp taught me a lot about children and how a little goes a long way. I as a parent, teacher, or peer need to take the time to nurture these qualities that our children have innate in every single one of them. The importance to express genuine interest and to be involved with them is key to their developmental process. I am glad I was able to experience such joy and love for trying new things on this day and it will forever be a fond memory.
“I am a bit intimidated knowing I am responsible for planting that initial seed.”
“Anything that is centered on children is a good experience now add in imagination, sounds like a good excuse to be a child again.”
Presenting Camp Carnival
Hi I'm Brittainy moala.
B
5710 W Bale Drive Herriman, UT 84096 Cell: (801) 6892-9277
As a highly dedicated employee, I read your posting for your interest in a new behavioral therapist with interest. My experience aligns well with the qualifications you are seeking. In particular my role as a Direct Support Professional for over 7 years, and I am certain I would make a valuable addition to your organization.
With more than 7 years experience and upon earning a bachelors degree in psychology, I am adept in awareness of mechanisms of social communication and the potential sources of interpersonal conflict. Moreover, while my on-the-job experience has afforded me a well-rounded skill set, including critical evaluation and spotting recurrent patterns in human activity, I also have a solid educational foundation and a passion for understanding behavior. I am extremely enthusiastic about behavioral therapy and would welcome the opportunity to contribute to your company.
Please review my attached resume for additional details regarding my expertise and career achievements. I will follow up to request an appointment to discuss how my experience and background meets your needs.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Brittainy Stocks
Please contact me with any further questions or inquires. I would love to get your feedback and see what you have done to get your children up and moving.
CONTACT
PRESS RELEASE
Get your children on their feet and watch their imagination soar, let Camp Carnival open their mind to a world of so much more.
May 21, 2016 West Jordan, Utah
This camp is intended for children ages 3-8 years old who will be experiencing a world that will aid in discovering their creativity. At Camp Carnival children will become aware of their own imagination and will be able to search their mind for divergent thinking. The camp will be held on May 21, 2016 at 12pm at the residence of Mary Stocks. The purpose of this camp is to get the children to understand what is and then imagine what could be. Camp Carnival will open their mind to new ways of having fun.
In the words of Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist, the problem is to remain an artist once we grow up.” It has been believed that parents, educators, and society does not focuses as much attention on developing and nurturing our children’s creative side. It’s both convenient and enjoyable to give our kids all these new electronics that this generation has the pleasure of using. However, children aren’t going outside as much and exploring their own imagination. Child Guide Magazine, found that most children get their first cell phone by the age of six. This shows that the world has changed a lot in the last few decades. Camp Carnival’s goal is to try and preserve whatever creativity we can and instill it in our youth’s minds.
Brittainy Stocks is a psychology major and minoring in child development. She has two children of her own and knows just how hard it is to get kids motivated to explore their own minds. She also knows how nice it can be as a parent to give your child an iPad to entertain them for hours. She decided to challenge herself to become a more active role in aiding her children to discover their creativity and found that it benefited them so much more. Brittainy has spent a lot of time coming up with fun ideas to plant a seed in our youths mind that being creative is fun. She has also found many others who believe in this cause who helped her along this journey.
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Brittainy Stocks, 801-682-9277, brittainymoala@gmail.com, 8393 s Wild Oak Dr. West Jordan UT, http://brittainymoala.wixsite.com/mysite.
Reflection
The reason I chose Camp Carnival is because I am a mother who saw a problem that needed to be addressed. This camp didn’t seem like it would be hard because I love children, being creative, and just having a god time. However camp carnival has been one of the biggest projects I’ve taken on in my educational experience. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something with children but it took me a little while to figure out exactly what. Once I saw children losing interest in being creative and wanting to be outside I knew that I needed to do something to ignite the flame in each and every one of them.
My first step was coming up with the idea and figuring out exactly what I would need to accomplish my idea and turn it into reality. Once I knew what I was looking for I went on the hunt for sponsors and exactly who would be my target market. I had the idea of holding a fund raiser to raise money for my camp but fortunately I acquired enough sponsors I hit my target financial goal. I wanted to design a t-shirt for camp carnival but I realized by creating a uniformed shirt I may be taking away from the creativity that I was promoting. I decided to buy plain t-shirts and I wanted my carnival kids to design their own. The next step consisted of marketing, my camp and driving interest so that people would attend. I did this very well in Cedar City however, my family moved 2 months before the camp was to take place in Cedar so that left me scrambling to advertise. I definitely lucked out by moving into a church ward filled with youngsters and was able to get a lot of flyers out for my camp.
After all the initial planning was done I was left to develop my stations and buy the supplies. I loved setting u for camp carnival and I ended up doing it in my parent’s backyard. They have a very big backyard that turned out to be the best spot I could have chosen for hosting my little guests. I then set up for my camp and officially held it in May. The weather was great and we all had a wonderful time. I learned so much about myself during the process and that surprised me because I didn’t initially think I was going to do that.
My goal was to make children aware of their own imagination and to search their mind for divergent thinking. I definitely believe I accomplished that goal because the children loved it and I had parents who thanked me personally after the camp was held. I said from the beginning that if I even inspire one child to be a little more active and imaginative then I would find my camp a success. With that being said I definitely accomplished my goal. My outcome was to have children become excited about using their imagination and by watching them create, dance, and laugh I knew that I achieved what I set out to do.
The skills I used was patience, multitasking, communication, creativity, time management, managing, and teaching. I gained a few new skills from completing this project consisting of planning, organization and confidence.
I think SUU decided to put an experiential requirement in place because it has you thinking and doing things a lot differently than the average college course. It gives you real world experience and makes your resume that much more unique. I found this to be very hard to complete during my last semester especially if it’s not exactly in line with your major. The metaphor “EDGE” means sharp and leaves a sting. I appreciated this assignment however, it’s so far in advance that what I ended up choosing at the time was different than what I was graduating in. I was in the educational program so now that I will be graduating with my psychology degree it was hard for me to relate with my project on a professional level. I loved it coming from a mother’s perspective but educationally not so much.
I also think the program, gives a lot of work and that “edge” is the final cut that may kill you in the end of gaining your degree. However, if you work hard and push through you will find positives of completing the project and course.
