If I had been at the mall... I wouldn't have learned that it is not ok to punch your friends!!

Another of my talented friends has a cool thing happening in the city this summer.  Tiny Dragons is a karate class for preschoolers with special needs that runs out of the Iseke School of Karate during the school year.  This summer, they are offering two, full week karate camps and I had the privilege of observing these classes last week.  The classes are run by three members of the Dojo, Kym Varro and her kids, Gage and Ashley.  The class was created by Kym, who has years of experience working with children with special needs.  Not only does she have experience but she's good at it, too! (Believe me, experience does not always equal talent or skill when it comes to special education!).  What I loved most about the class is that everything is broken down in a way that the kids can learn and practice, without lowering the expectations.  Everybody learned every skill and each skill built upon the last.  So by the end of the week, the kids had learned some pretty complicated moves!  I don't really know anything at all about martial arts so I'm sure "moves" isn't really the technical term.  My favourite part of the week was on Friday when they kids learned to yell "HIYA!" while chopping foam blocks.  I was kind of a big Miss Piggy fan in the 80s so I know all about yelling "hiya!" and kicking a weeny frog across the room.  However, I learned from Kym that I am not allowed to kick or punch my friends, or my mom or my baby brother.  Also not allowed to try my moves on strangers in the street.  She didn't say anything about muppets though....

The kids and adults all looked like they were having loads of fun and it was definitely fun to watch!  Classes are only 45 minutes long so long enough for the kids to get some physical activity in but not so long that they get bored or tired.  There is one more camp this summer, from August 5-9, so definitely check out Tiny Dragons if you're looking for something fun to do with your tiny people!