Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Top 12 Of ’12: No. 12 – Self Esteem Activities For Teenagers

By Leave a Comment

Top 12 Of '12: No. 12 - Self Esteem Activities For TeenagersAs we mentioned a few days ago, over the Christmas and New Year period we’re bringing you our most read blog posts from the last 12 months. We’re kicking it off today with:

No. 12 – Self Esteem Activities For Teenagers

This post was only published two months ago and it’s already become one of our most read posts. It’s actually part of our Best Of Youth Workin’ It series that collects together a bunch of different posts on the same thing – in this case, self esteem.

There are 6 great ideas in the post for activities to do with your young people to help them explore the issue of self esteem.

Click here to read the post.

 

In Case You Missed These……..

By Leave a Comment

We’ve been really busy writing blog posts over the last 12 months. Not only do we write 6 days a week for Youth Workin’ It, I’ve started publishing 3 scavenger hunt ideas a week over at Scavenger Hunt, plus we’ve written quite a few guest posts for other blogs.

This week’s Best Of Youth Workin’ It therefore brings you some of our guest posts that were published elsewhere during 2012, in case you missed them the first time around.

1. Seventy8Productions: Line Management In Youth Ministry – This was Shae’s first guest post and looks at common complaints youth pastors have, complaints pastors have about their youth pastors and what youth pastors can do to overcome these issues.

2. Youthguy07: My Best Day In Youth Ministry – Shae wasn’t able to come up with just one best day, so check out her top 5 days as a youth worker.

3. Pro Youth Worker: 5 Ways To Go From Being A Good Youth Worker To Being A Great Youth Worker – Find out the 5 areas that Shae identified that can turn you from being just a good youth worker to being a great one.

4. YouthHOPE: Partnerships In Ministry – This post explores the benefits you can get when working in partnership with other organizations as a youth worker.

5. Stuff Christians Like: 10 Types Of VBS Volunteers – I’ve had 7 guest posts published on Jon Acuff’s site over the last 12 months, but this was the only youth work-y related post. This is a tongue-in-cheek look at the different volunteers you can find helping at VBS (Vacation Bible School).

6. Ultimate Youth Worker: What Will Youth Work Look Like In 2013 – Aaron asked us to write about the future of youth work over the coming year, so check the post out for the direction that I think youth work will need to take in 2013 and beyond.

 

How To Set Goals For Your Youth Work

By Leave a Comment

Set goals youth work
How to set goals for your youth work

It’s coming up to the end of the calendar year, so you may be planning on setting goals for the coming year and beyond.

This week’s Best Of Youth Workin’ It is therefore all about goal setting to help make sure you have all the tools you need to set appropriate goals for your youth work programs.

1. Create SMART targets – You may have heard of the SMART acronym before as it details how to set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound targets. This post gives examples of what this might look like in your youth programs.

2. Create SMARTER targets – Don’t just work SMART, work SMARTER by also Evaluating and Reassessing – check out this post to learn how this can be applied to your youth work.

3. Strategic youth work planning – part 1 – This was the first of three posts all about how to create a basic strategic youth work plan. It looks at long range planning and how you can put in place steps to achieve your vision.

4. Strategic youth work planning – part 2 – This second post has 6 areas to look at when making a strategic plan and has a free plan template for you to download and use.

5. Strategic youth work planning – part 3 – The third and final post has 3 areas to focus on, as well as the second part of the free plan template to download and use.

6. What outcomes are you expecting? – One problem that many people encounter when setting goals is that they don’t monitor and evaluate them properly. Make sure you read this post if you want to avoid that problem.

Question: What tips do you have for other youth workers who need to set goals for their programs? Let us know in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

How To Prepare For A Youth Work Interview

By Leave a Comment

How to prepare for a youth work interviewForget challenging young people – youth work interviews can sometimes be the scariest thing about being a youth worker!

This week’s Best Of Youth Workin’ It therefore collates our posts that offer tips and ideas for anyone who has a youth work or youth ministry interview.

1. How to dress for a youth work interview – Before thinking about what to say in the interview, you need to decide what to wear. This post gives some thoughts as to what will be the most appropriate attire for you.

2. Youth worker interview questions: part 1 – We then wrote a five part series listing different questions you may be asked and how you might go about answering them. This first part has 20 commonly asked questions.

3. Youth worker interview questions: part 2 – The second part has questions you might be asked about yourself and ways you may want to answer them.

4. Youth worker interview questions: part 3 – The third part has questions you might be asked about how you work with others and ways you may want to answer them.

5. Youth worker interview questions: part 4 – The fourth part has questions you might be asked about how you work with youth and how you deal with challenging situations and ways you may want to answer them.

6. Youth worker interview questions: part 5 – Finally, the fifth part has questions you might be asked that are role specific and ways you may want to answer them.

Question: What advice do you have for fellow youth workers heading into a youth work interview? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

7 Christmas Youth Group Activities (And A Bonus!)

By Leave a Comment

Christmas Youth Group Activities
A lamp of Christmas beauty

It’s less than 4 weeks until Christmas, so there’s a good chance that you’re looking for Christmas youth group activities (if you don’t already have this planned out).

This week’s Best Of Youth Workin’ It therefore has 7 ideas for Christmas-themed scavenger hunts, videos, fundraisers and other activities:

1. 12 Days Of Christmas Scavenger Hunt – This was the first of these activities which eventually resulted in us publishing our second book – 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas. It’s a photo scavenger hunt based on the 12 Days Of Christmas, but has other items and tasks to be completed.

2. Christmas Stocking Youth Group Fundraiser – This is a unique idea where your youth group sells Christmas stockings, either as a fundraiser or to provide stockings for underprivileged young people.

3. Christian Christmas Scavenger Hunt – If you’re a church youth group, you may prefer to focus on the Christian aspect of Christmas. This activity has clues based on the Christmas story, along with a couple of additional items and tasks for players to complete.

4. Preparing For Christmas Session Idea – If you’re planning activities for this festive season, why not get your youth involved in choosing what you’ll do? This session idea gives some suggestions on how to encourage this type of youth participation.

5. The Bethlehemian Rhapsody – We loved this video when we saw it last year – the Christmas story done to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody.

6. Holiday Scavenger Hunt – This activity is great if you want to have your young people explore all the different holidays that are celebrated at the end of the year and not just Christmas.

7. Christmas Card Fundraiser – Finally, this can be a great fundraiser for your youth group as you’re providing a seasonal product that many people will be keen to buy in order to support your group.

And as a bonus……..

Our sister site (Scavenger Hunt) has many other Christmas scavenger hunt ideas, so check those out if you’re interested in more of that kind of activity.

Question: What Christmas youth group activities do you organize? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed