Five students from the IU School of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s school psychology program spent part of their summer giving back through a community project, where they helped children build social-emotional skills in a unique camp setting alongside horses.
The camp took place at , which stands for People and Animal Learning Services. Over two days, the camp focused on teaching children ages 8-15 social emotional learning while easing them back into a school routine. School psychology students delivered curriculum that included leading campers through activities like Horse Body Language Bingo, Nature Walks, Art Projects, Horse grooming, and more. The curriculum designed by Kathleen Ford, an alumni from the school psychology program, incorporates national and state guidelines around social emotional learning focused on developing skills like collaboration, regulation, connection, and critical thinking.
Learning skills with horses become a fun way to engage the campers and a platform for introducing the skills, said Anna Merrill, Clinical Assistant Professor. But the children aren’t the only ones to benefit from the camp.
“School psychologists provide interventions for students of all ages that support social emotional learning and overall mental health. Many of the principles applied at the camp are relevant to the delivery of social emotional programming in schools and classrooms,” Merrill added. “This is a fun and creative way for our students to think critically about how social emotional learning can be structured and to see first-hand the benefits it can have for children from different backgrounds.”