Carlos Perez

Lei 4724

Activity: Snowball / Marshmallow throw

Sources: Pat Snyder of North Woods Nursing Center on July 9, 1999 and
http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txactive.htm
Equipment needed: 3 bags of marshmallows and plastic mixing bowls
Activity Description: First, gather a group of 8 to 10 participants. Sit the group on chairs in a
circle. Hand each of them a mixing bowl with 10 marshmallows inside. The objective of the
game is to not have any or the fewest amount of marshmallows in your bowl after the two
minutes have elapsed.
Leisure Considerations:
1. The facilitator after the activity can debrief the activity and ask the participants what are
somethings that can help the activity become more useful for individuals with disabilities.
Questions such as: What are some ways we can adapt this activity for others? What were
the challenges that presented during the activity? Did you feel comfortable with all the
interaction and throwing of marshmallows? These are questions that can help the
facilitator improve or take away some of the things about the activity without altering the
original.
2. This is a great activity for individuals in wheelchairs or anyone that has loss of physical
function on their lower limbs. The activity helps them feel more included because it just
requires their upper extremity which is completely functional. Another way of adapting
the activity for this type of disability is by increasing the amount of time and possibly
shortening the length of the circle. The main goal of a person with a wheel chair is to try
improve any type of social, inclusion, and cooperative skill. This is a great activity for
participants with intellectual disabilities because it gets them to participate in a social
interaction activity. It can improve a lot of social and communications skills they need to
work on. Individuals with intellectual disabilities tend to isolate themselves and this
would be a great way to incorporate them back into being surrounded by people, friends,
and family.