Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Archives for April 2013

3 Tips To Help Youth Start Journaling

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Youth journalingQ: Do you have any tips on what advice to give young people when starting up a prayer or life journal?

A: Getting youth to journal can be tricky, although many youth already do it without realizing – on their twitter feeds, profile pages, through text messages and through traditional journaling methods. Many are also journaling through music, art or poetry.

It can be really beneficial to develop the habit of journaling. Not just for the outcome of journaling, but also through the process of habit forming.

With that in mind, here are three tips on how to help youth get started with journaling.

1. Find the way that works best for them

Not everyone learns in the same way; similarly, not everyone expresses themselves or processes information the same way either.

For example, I’m an external processor. I think and reflect best when I can do it out loud. I don’t even have to have anyone to bounce the thoughts off of, although it does help in a crowd so you don’t look ca-razy. Usually, I start down a path of telling someone (usually Stephen) what I’m mulling over and before he even has a chance to say anything, I’ve solved the problem just by talking it out.

Have your students consider these different ways of journaling to capture their thoughts and feelings:

  • Write in a journal
  • Blog it
  • Film it
  • Photograph it
  • Scrapbook it
  • Vine it

2. Keep it simple

Often in our enthusiasm to start something new, we set our expectations WAY too high (oh, just me then?) and end up biting off way more than we can chew and ultimately feel like a failure when we can’t deliver (just me still?)

We decide to journal every single day for the rest of our lives and, for some, that may be just what they need and can do, but for many youth it’s unattainable. Then the great experience of journaling becomes a chore at best or a reason for guilt and shame at worst.

Instead, try suggesting a few of these timelines for starting to journal:

  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
  • 3 evenings a week
  • 5 days a week
  • Once during the weekend
  • Write at least 3 sentences each day

Help your youth set SMART targets for their journalling habits, including a timeline and then help them review the outcomes.

3. Don’t just write – reflect

I can remember my early attempts at journaling. It became a narrative for my day, much like a very boring Facebook feed (I ate this, I did that, I wore this, I went here… etc.), for youth workers under the age of 30.

Young people need to be taught critical thinking skills early on. One way to help them develop these skills is through the process of informed decision making. Encourage your youth to write about their day-to-day lives, thoughts, prayers, poems, etc, but also to think about what happened each day and what they could have done differently.

Here are a few possible ways to get more out of journaling:

  • Use SODAS
  • Set goals in the journal and review them (this also works well for faith-based groups by writing down prayer requests and praises)
  • Use acryonyms for journalling like ‘SOAP’
    • For faith-based journals – Scripture – bible verse, Observation – what can I learn from this passage, Application – how can I apply it to my life? Prayer – how can God help me with it?
    • Non-faith-based groups – change the acronym: Situation – what happened (or you could go with ‘Sentence’ which could include a famous quote or important passage to them from literature or music lyrics), Observation – what could I have done/not done?, Application – what will I try next time?, Positivity – I can do this, I can change – or I’m great just how I am!

Bonus Tip

It’s OK not to journal.

Many people feel journaling is a really important tool in their life for reflection and documentation, but not everyone is going to want to journal and not everyone will get the same benefit from it.

In keeping with tip 1, encourage your youth to try journaling (because how do they know it’s not their thing if they don’t at least try) and encourage them to try journaling in different ways that suit their learning style and interests.

But remember to tell them that it’s OK not to journal. They’re not second class citizens in the group if they don’t journal and their level of faith or maturity in spiritual matters or groups should definitely not be measured by their ability or willingness to journal.

Questions: Do you think journaling is important for youth? What creative suggestions or tips do you have for youth starting out journaling? We’d love for you to share your ideas in the comments below.

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Marshmallow Toss – Youth Group Games

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Marshmallow Toss
Image courtesy of Enchanteurs, Flickr

This week’s addition to our series of youth group games is the Marshmallow Toss. It’s a fun and flexible relay game that can be used with just a handful of youth or with a larger group.

Here’s how to play the Marshmallow Toss:

Resources

  • Marshmallows
  • Buckets
  • Masking tape

Preparation

Stick a line of masking tape on the floor. About 15 feet away, place the buckets on the floor in a line that’s parallel to the tape, with about 2-3 feet of space between the buckets.

Teams

Split the youth into similar sized teams, with the same number of teams that you have buckets. If you only have a small youth group, have them play individually instead.

For extremely large groups, having all the young people participating may not be feasible. Instead, play this game up front – with either just a few youth playing against each other or with two teams of five players playing it as a relay.

Marshmallow Toss Rules

Get the teams to line up behind the tape with a bucket in front of them and give the first person on each team a pack of marshmallows.

Their task is to toss the marshmallows in to the bucket. They should to this by taking it in turns by playing it as a relay game, thereby ensuring everyone gets a go.

Winner

The winning team is the one that successfully tosses the most marshmallows into their bucket.

Alternatives

If your group would find the above version too easy, here are a couple of more difficult ways of playing the Marshmallow Toss:

  • Use mini marshmallows and small plastic cups instead of regular sized marshmallows and buckets. Place a small stone in the bottom of each cup to weigh them down so that they don’t get knocked over
  • Place the buckets farther away if you have enough space in your group’s room

If you liked this idea, check out all our other games for youth groups, including a number of marshmallow games.

Question: What other alternative ways of playing the Marshmallow Toss can you think of? Let us know in the comments below.

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The End of Molasses Classes – Book Review

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The End Of Molasses ClassesRon Clark – The End Of Molasses Classes

4.75 / 5

OK, actually if I could give it a 6 / 5 I would! I LOVED this book. Despite the fact that it was written mainly for teachers and parents, it has so many of the principles that I think are key when working with young people in any setting that I couldn’t put it down.

Stephen commented on how vocal I was while reading it, I was laughing, crying, mmmhmmm’ing and much more. The End of Molasses Classes by Ron Clark was a fantastic book, an easy read and practical, with tips throughout on what to try to make classes – or in a youth worker’s case, sessions or programs – more engaging for young people.

What I Liked

The Layout – It’s broken down into 101 tips that are short and easily digestible. Not only does Ron do a great job of sharing his experience and personal stories, he engages anyone with a heart for youth with stories of his own students and teachers.

The Pictures – There are pictures throughout the book of the teaching team, the students and THE SLIDE! The Slide is an RCA (Ron Clark Academy) focal point where visitors become ‘slide certified’ and it encourages students, teachers, parents and visitors to live life differently; don’t take the stairs – try the slide! The great pictures draw you in as the reader and really help you connect with some of the stories.

The Letters – Sprinkled throughout are letters from parents of RCA students who share their experiences about RCA and Ron’s teaching methods. They’re honest and give more depth to Ron’s lessons rather than just ‘taking his word for it’ – you have countless letters from parents to confirm his points.

What I Didn’t Like

I’ll be honest – there really wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about this book. As I said, for me, it was unputdownable. However, there is always room for improvement or tweaking so um… the stars that are next to every chapter title, yes, I might change those.

…

What am I saying?!  They were great too – they were small and fun without being distracting! OK, I think I may need to rethink my score at the top.

5 / 5

Conclusion

This book really resonated with me because all of the student, parent and community related tips were EXACTLY how I feel about interacting with and educating youth, whether it’s informally or formally.

It’s also a mission and vision that I can completely get on board with – they challenge youth academically, have creative educators and also provide scholarships to a private school to all children that attend. The majority of the youth that are students at RCA are from lower-income families and without those scholarships, they wouldn’t be able to afford the kind of high quality education they’re receiving.

The fundraising tips at the end were also really helpful, entitled “If you want money, ask for advice – If you want advice, ask for money”. This is a great chapter about building relationships with donors.

Overall, other youth workers might give it a 4.75 / 5 because it’s written to teachers in a formal education setting instead of youth workers but as I said, it’s enjoyable to read, well written and practical, even if you’re not a teacher or parent.

I plan to write posts in the coming months about some of the things from this book that particularly stuck out to me and I highly recommend it to any youth worker, teacher, parent or community partner.

Buy Ron Clark – The End Of Molasses Classes

Amazon – Paperback

Amazon – Kindle

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3 Mother’s Day Crafts For Teenagers

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Mother's Day crafts for teenagersAt the time of writing this Mother’s Day is still 5 weeks away, but many countries celebrate it throughout the year and so, while you may not need this session plan right now, you may need it in June if you live in Kenya or August if you live in Thailand.

We thought we’d give you a chance to get crafty with your teens so they can make something homemade for their mothers, step-mothers, godmothers or any other ‘mother figures’ in their lives. And overall, these will probably go over much better than that clay ashtray from when they were 4.

So here are 3 Mother’s Day crafts for teenagers:

1. Paper Flowers

You can have the teenagers make one or more small paper flowers or you can decorate your youth center or church with giant paper flowers. Having done them before, they do take some patience and fluffing, but once you get good at it, they’re beautiful. Quick tip: don’t make the center string or tie too tight.

The other great thing about this craft is that it requires very few resources – some tissue paper, scissors and a pipe cleaner or string are the minimum for a regular paper flower, although the large ones also need a tray, some paper clips and some hot glue.

Here’s a video guide on how to make these flower crafts:

Here’s another video guide, but this time to make giant flowers. I’d never seen the giant ones before, but these are seriously beautiful!

2. Stained Glass Tissue Paper Votive Holder

These Mother’s Day crafts are inexpensive items that are creative, personal and easy to make. You only need glass votive holders, tissue paper, glue and paintbrushes.

The easiest thing to do is tear the tissue paper into various shapes and layer them on the votive holder. While holding them in place, use the paint brush to paint the glue onto the glass holder and over the top of the tissue paper as you go. Don’t put the paper or the glue on the inside. Let the whole thing dry. Viola! Done.

If you’re feeling craftier, you may want to try this votive holder.

Or explore making these.

3. Origami Light Boxes

This final craft is very pretty when done correctly. You can either use white paper with white lights, white paper with colored lights or colored paper with white lights. All you need is paper, maybe a little bit of tape and strings of Christmas lights.

First, you need to make origami water balloons. These, like the paper flowers, will take some time to master but are well worth the effort.

Here’s a video detailing how to make them:

Then, using the opening that you blew into, place them over the lights.

You can end up with some really pretty strands of lights, and they work well with dangly icicle lights too!

Question: Do you know of any other great Mother’s Day crafts for teenagers? How could you use these crafts to make the mothers of your youth feel special? Let us know in the comments below.

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What Type Of Youth Work Do YOU Do?

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If you’re a regular reader of Youth Workin’ It, you’ll know that we’re currently running a series on different types of youth work around the world.

This is where we interview a new youth worker each week about their youth work niche. So far, we’ve interviewed a couple of youth pastors, a university professor, a youth speaker, a Girl Scout troop leader and many more. They’ve been from the US, UK, Kenya and Australia, so it’s given the series a true global flavor.

We want to interview even more youth workers, no matter what type of youth work they do, no matter where they live and no matter whether they’re professionals who are paid for what they do or volunteers who do it in their spare time.

Which is where you come in. We want to interview YOU as part of this series – if you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance you’re a youth worker, so you’re pre-qualified!

The interview’s nice and simple – there are 12 questions we’re asking everyone that helps provide us and all our readers a better idea of the different types of youth work that people do and what’s unique about them.

To take part in the series, just complete the three fields listed below and hit “Send” – we’ll then get in contact soon after to send you the questions.

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    What type of youth work you do (required)

    n.b. We won’t spam you or add you to any kind of mailing list – we’ll only be using your email address to contact you for the interview.