Colour Monster

Kids these days are not allowed to play the classic games such as: red rover, cops and robbers, hang man or have snowball fights. Heaven for a bid children hold hands, realize there is crime in the world, see a glimpse of a stick man hanged (depending on how well you’re guessing) and eat some snow.

When I was a Parks Play Leader and facilitated programs for kids in the park, the kids always voted to play this one game called, “The Colour Monster.” Now, to us old folks, this game is very similar to “What Time is it Mr. Wolf,” but my guess is a group of parents felt the idea of a wolf eating young children was too graphic and decided to change the character to a colourful monster. 

During the game, the kids line up at one end of the field, the colour monster (which always seemed to be me) stands in the middle of the field and calls out a colour. If the child is wearing that colour, he/she has to try and run past the colour monster to the other side. Instead of “lunch time” the monster yells, “rainbow!” (it’s a gay ol’ time). 

I had an encounter with the colour monster at work, except this colour monster was a full grown adult and she wasn’t playing around. 

In Hey Boo-Boo Let’s Go Get Us a Sneak Peak, my shirt flew up. Today a resident’s arms flew up in frustration.

My “office” also known as a desk placed in a corner, is in the activity room on the fourth floor of the building. There are pros and cons to this setup:

Pros:                                                         Cons:

I constantly interact with the residents      I constantly interact with the residents

Families know where to find me               Families know where to find me

People leave goodies on my desk            People leave goodies on my desk                                                                                                                        

I have an open door policy with the activity room. What I mean by this is, my plan is to ensure recreation supplies are always readily available to the residents whenever he/she would like such as: cribbage boards, cards, puzzles, board games, colouring books and like I said, me. 

There is one resident in particular who LOVES to colour, but she has a tendency to become a little protective over the colouring books. It also would be easier if I spoke her language. 

She entered the activity room one afternoon in a huff. After a quick game of charades, we realized she was looking for “her” colouring book. The only problem was that “her” colouring book was not on the shelf where it is usually kept.

This did not go over well with the resident. Through her actions, and shaking her finger at me, I didn’t need to speak her language to know she was upset. 

A kind visitor over heard the conniption and grabbed a colouring book from her family member’s room. The resident accepted it with a smile, but the second the daughter was out of the room, the colouring book was thrown to the side and the circus continued.

Finally a staff member who speaks  her language entered the activity room. He wasn’t really able to calm her down, but at least they were able to communicate. 

I wish I could tell you that the colouring book was found, but it’s still a mystery and the resident hasn’t looked at me the same since. If only it was like the game where she could tag me and it would be my turn to be the colour monster. 

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