During each school holidays, we run small group holiday workshops for teenagers. Each group is interest based, and brings together 4-6 young people to meet each other, share their ideas, and experience/create together. Current and future planned workshops are listed below, so please get in touch if you are interested in joining us, or if you have other ideas of workshops that you would like to see run at RiverRun!
Community Access
Getting out and about into the community is a fantastic skill for young people to build their independence and confidence. For some, this needs a little bit of support before they can head out safely and confidently on their own or with friends. So, we have small groups, facilitated by Occupational Therapists, to help the young people build these skills.
The focus of these sessions is to support the young people to access public transport and a community location, within a facilitated and social environment. Some community locations may include a local shopping centre, bowling, a local sport centre (such as a gym or aquatic centre), or other local activity locations.
Some of the skills we will focus on in these sessions include:
- Reading and navigating train/bus timetables
- Getting on and off public transport
- Money management and budgeting
- Managing time
- Problem solving
- Community safety
- Communication with home and our group
- Communication with others in the community
- Managing to-do and shopping lists
- Help seeking in the community
- Meeting new young people
Locations for our community access change each school holidays, and session times and costs vary depending on the activity.
We allocate a 1:2 ratio of supports for community access, with either two occupational therapists, or an occupational therapist and an allied health assistant (depending on the trip), so every young person has the level of support they need.
Arts and Craft
Getting artsy is a great way to express ourselves and tap into our creative side. Getting our art on in a group setting is also a great way to connect with others that have a shared interest. So we are holding half day arts and craft workshops for teens, that will bring together young people with similar passions and interests into a facilitated group setting.
This workshop will be split into two halves, with the first part creating a personal project, and the second half creating a group project together.
There will also be a snack break for everyone in the middle, so that we can recharge between projects.
This workshop will explore multiple art mediums (such as drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, and photography) and will be held in our “Hangout” clinic space in Woodend. Some community access may be involved if photography projects become the art medium of choice.
This workshop will be facilitated by an Occupational Therapist and our Allied Health assistant, and will be 3.5 hours in length.
Gaming and Cafe
Gaming, either on devices or with consoles, is something that many young people enjoy. Gaming is an activity that can be done on our own, but also can be done socially. This is why we are running a 3 hour workshop for teens that brings young people together who have a shared interest, so that the fun can be shared.
This workshop will include getting to know each other first, and then playing a game together on a console (such as Mario Kart or Mario Party). We will all then head down to the local bakery where we will order our own meal and chat together while we eat, before walking back to the clinic. We will then have a second gaming session that may involve gaming on devices (such as Minecraft), or may involve board games, but this will be decided on the day.
This workshop will be run from our “Hangout” clinic space in Woodend, and will be facilitated by an Occupational Therapist and our Allied Health Assistant.
The facilitators in this group will have a focus on supporting social connection through this shared interest, as well as regulation whilst gaming and community access skills.
This will be fun!