Child and Parent Visiting Day Activities at Shakopee Women’s Prison
Incarcerated mothers and their children are a hidden population with many needs. Mothers at Shakopee Prison earn visiting day privileges with good behavior.
MELSA worked with the Department of Corrections to enhance visiting day activities between mothers and their children by providing engaging, hands-on arts and literary activities.
Minnetonka Center for the Arts was contracted to provide hands-on arts activities that included planning and creating a mural banner with teens and their moms. Author and illustrators Chris Monroe (Monkey with a Tool Belt) and Lee Ann Landstrom and Karen Shragg (Nature’s Yucky) presented readings and hands-on activities designed for children of all ages. One of the things mothers learned was how to choose age-appropriate activities for their children.
Total Number of Programs Held: 4
Total Attendance: 52 mothers, 52 children
Organizational Partnerships:
Minnesota Department of Corrections
Minnetonka Center for the Arts
Children ages pre-school to teens and their mothers participated in a variety of arts and literary activities. Mothers learned how to select age-appropriate arts literary activities for their children. Children learned how to plan and paint a mural, meet real-live authors of children's books and enjoyed new activities with their incarcerated mothers on four visiting day events.
Measurable Outcomes may be collected by survey, anecdotal responses, pre-test/post-test, observations; End user change in Behavior, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Condition and/or Status