Students make regular trips to local stores to help develop socialization skills and increase their awareness of the community around them. They also learn life skills as they are exposed to processes that many of us take for granted - making choices, paying for items, receiving change. For the children at Cedarcrest, the community is an extension of their classrooms. Some of the younger children visited Santa's Land in Putney, Vermont. They arrived back at Cedarcrest in time for dinner, exhausted, but happy.
Winter narrows outdoor opportunities for the children.
Anyone who has tried to maneuver a grocery cart though a slush-clogged parking lot can appreciate the difficulty of trying to push a child in a wheelchair through the same mess. However, the children get out whenever conditions permit. The older children attend dances at the Keene Recreation Center and at The Moving Company dance studio. Cedarcrest recognizes the value of integrating its residents into the community, but also takes care to insure that all integration activities are age-appropriate and safe for the children.