Stepping Stone Summer Camp

Rebecca McKinnon

KINS 4306

April 20th, 2023

 I had the privilege of completing my internship at Stepping Stone this past semester.

Stepping Stone is a Child Advocacy and Sexual Assault center with offices located in Dublin and

Eastman. Therefore, we mainly work with individuals up to the age of seventeen, sometimes

eighteen. Since we mainly see children it is important to think of ways to reach that population

and not just their caregivers. I spent the first few weeks of my internship brainstorming ways to

do this successfully. Child abuse is a major problem and concern that people don’t commonly

talk about. These cases are often hidden from the public eye within certain communities. This

allows it to continue being an ongoing issue since there is a lack of awareness.

For my main project, I focused on designing a summer camp curriculum that can be used

in the future. The Stepping Stone staff has wanted to implement this for a long time. This

program can help spread awareness and teach children about safety and boundaries. Teaching

kids about body safety from a young age is extremely important. My goal is to introduce these

topics to them in an age-appropriate manner by using the correct vocabulary, examples, and

activities.

This camp will last a total of five days. The weekly topics include community safety,

individual safety, mental health, coping mechanisms, and self-care. To start, I created a schedule

that can be used and adjusted as needed. Campers will be able to participate in icebreakers,

team-bonding activities, storytimes, discussions, and craft activities. Throughout the semester, I

have carefully thought out and created a variety of materials that can be used to create this

program. I also created a variety of stickers and advertisements that can be used. I chose to make

stickers so kids have something to take home at the end of the day. I made a sticker to go with

each theme so it will remind them of everything they learned. They all have different sayings
such as, “Be Kind to Your Mind” and “You Matter.” All of these materials can be viewed in my

presentation.

While using Canva, I used a variety of bright and pastel colors. I decided on this color

scheme because my target audience is children. Awareness of what colors and designs will attract

certain people is essential. The first piece I created was a flyer for the camp itself. I included the

daily themes, Stepping Stone’s contact information, and a QR code that leads to the website. I

left areas of this flyer blank so it can be redesigned as needed. I wanted to allow space for a

specific date and time to be added. The activities I created all have different themes. I included

some kid-friendly things: candy, music, dancing, interactive games, etc. I wanted to make sure

that I included activities that involve movement. This is why I decided to include kids’ Zumba

and yoga. Dancing, stretching, and listening to music are great mood boosters. I recommended

the use of upbeat songs, such as “shake it off” by Taylor Swift.

One of the barriers I faced was time. Working at a CAC is very time-consuming so it is

hard to find extra moments to work on other things. However, I used the time I did have to put

my full focus on coming up with ideas that would teach kids essential topics in a fun way. I had a

lot of fun doing this. There is one thing I would do differently if I complete a project similar to

this in the future. I decided to complete things by day. Instead, I wish I had completed things by

section. To explain further, I wish I had done all of the icebreakers then moved on to the crafts,

and so on. Breaking it up by day got confusing because that is not how I originally organized it

in my presentation.

Overall, I think this project went extremely well. It is difficult to tell a success rate

because my internship will end before it can be implemented. However, I am confident that the

work I have completed will help Stepping Stone in the future. I have already reached out to a
variety of community partners who would love to help. Some organizations I have talked to are

The Center for Health and Social Issues and Laurens County Library. I will miss working for this

organization and the amazing people I met along the way.