Journal 3

This assignment is to find 15 symbols or icons that have a theme or a commonality between them all. All my pictures I took while at my work at the summer youth program at Luke Air Force base, basically just a summer camp for ages 5-13. So, I based the theme off of the kids and the program.

1) This peace sign was on one of my girls' t-shirts. Her shirt was full of different symbols of peace, including a dove (which is the religious sign). This was the first sign that I came across that day and started the rest of the search from there.

2) The image of the butterfly makes me think of childish freedom where one can just float through life with wonderful ignorance which is what childhood is all about. A symbol of happiness and sunshine, this butterfly was also found on a child's shirt.

3) In our building everything needs to be labeled with symbols and images for the younger children to understand what's going on. This image is of a home which stands for homeroom and the two colors on the side of the image (yellow and blue) means that that room is the homeroom for those two color groups. (the kids are separated by age and put into groups with colors for names.)

4) Again with the labeling of everything, this image is post on one door which is the computer room. We are trying to make the images and symbols more visual for the younger kids who can't exactly read just yet. So when a child looks at this image they will understand that the room is the computer room for there is a child sitting in front of a computer.

5) This image is more meaningful to the staff than the children. This is the badge or logo for the sevices group on Luke Air Force Base. To be honest, I don't exactly know what the images in the logo stand for but it says around the main circle "Services To The Best. 56th Force Support Squadron."

6) In the instant a child in my program can look at the penguin in this picture and immediately know that it is from the board game Pictureka. The penguin was t

he main character in the commercial which the children remember. The way the images on the board are drawn and created also helped the children pinpoint what the picture was taken of.

7) SAP stands for School-Age Program which is the main name for the summer camp. When one of the children sees this symbol on a t-shirt they know that the person wearing the shirt works with the camp.

8) Ah, the carpet city. Used by kids throughout the program to play with the cars or building blocks. The carpet again stands for imagination, where the kids can create their own world and stories. Something that should be encouraged with all children.

9) When I think of fire alarms I think of fire drills that we would have to practice every year and the curiosity of "What if I pulled it?". Of course I never did. So I believed that the image of the fire alarm belonged with my theme of children and the School-Age Program.

10) Dinosaurs, farm animals, people... Plastic objects of creatures for the children to continue make-believe.

11) This heart was drawn on a child's image of two girls who were best friends. Hearts are an icon of love and is a popular theme within the children's art work. They draw hearts, cut them out, and "tattoo" themselves with crayola washable markers even when they're not supposed to.

12) Why I chose this image is because the camouflage is a symbol or color combination and pattern for the military and since the youth program I work for is a service to our military. Also, Camelbak makes backpacks which makes me think of kids and school.

13) One thing we have to always be aware of at my job is being sure we're constantly washing our hands. Going to the bathroom, when we sneeze or cough, anytime germs may be involved, we need to wash our hands. We are also making sure our kids wash their hands every time they go to the restroom and before they eat. By every sink is a paper with these symbols printed on. Reminders for us to wash our hands.

14) I saw one of my boys wearing this sheriff's badge. Normally a symbol for the law and of protection, I view it as a symbol of youth and imagination. All I can think about is older days when my dad was young and western shows and movies were very popular. I can see kids running around playing cowboys and Indians or even just good guy-bad guy western version. Youth and imagination.

15) Cards are a good symbol for games and one thing the kids at my camp love doing is playing card games. As simple as it sounds they can play card games for hours. From go fish to speed to garbage, cards games are great for passing time and that's what I think of when I see cards.