All Editorial articles – Page 103
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IssuesSuicidal thoughts: Break the silence
As youth workers, we’re getting much better at talking about mental health issues – we’re familiar with self-harm, eating disorders and depression. But statistics suggest that suicidal thoughts are more common than all of these… and no-one is talking about them. ThinkTwice’s Rachael Newham calls on us to break the silence surrounding this stigma
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IssuesPoverty, family breakdown and mental health
In December, Health minister Norman Lamb MP, Sarah Brennan, CEO of Young Minds UK, and other leading experts and policy makers
attended a conference, hosted by urban youth charity XLP and think tank CSJ. -
Blog
Ready-to-use Games: Ice Breakers - Food Games
As Jane Austen (might) have said: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a youth worker in possession of a plate of food must be in want of a youth group’. Food is, and has always been, a real crowd pleaser (see the feeding of 5000 and manna and quail in the desert for proof) and the combination of food and games is, quite simply, a one-way-ticket to success-ville.
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BlogReady-To-Use Games + Ice Breakers: Water Games
On our wonderful British Isles we are not often short of water in the summer months. Here are some ways to utilise the blessing of water with youth games! You will need water balloons, gym balls, dog bowls, bed sheets… the list goes on. What could possibly go wrong?
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Blog
Ready-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Christmas Games
Hark! Christmas approaches: the wonderfully quiet and easy-going period of the calendar, with plenty of space and time to organise elaborate and complicated events. Possibly. Either way, there’s very little chance that your group will be ignoring it – so why not jump on the Christmas bandwagon with this collection of Christmas games.
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BlogReady-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Pool Games
Ah the pool table, a youth club tradition older than the tuck shop, messy games and having to break up fights. While young people can obviously be left to their own devices, sometimes a communal game around the table can offer a bit of variety. Here are some of our favourites:
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BlogReady-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Dodgeball Games
Everyone knows the five Ds of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and… dodge. What you may not know is that there are also five distinct ways to play dodgeball, and here they are...
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Ready-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Group Work Games
Working together is obviously the kind of thing we want to encourage as good, holistic, community-building, life-affirming, kingdom-growing, adjective-embracing youth workers. Admittedly most games have some sort of collective vibe to them, but these ones have a particular emphasis. They are essentially the antithesis of solitaire.
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BlogReady-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: “I’m a teenager, get me out of here!”
You may presume that ‘I’m a teenager, get me out of here’ is similar to a famous TV programme. You would be absolutely right. These games can be used as a whole hour of entertainment or you could use one game a week to build up the tension. Collecting stars is the aim of each game and at any point of any game those taking part can shout: “I’m a teenager, get me out of here” to stop the game. It would be a good idea to pre-warn the young people that they should bring some clothes that they do not mind getting messy, and a plastic bag to put them in, ready to be washed by indulgent (or mildly annoyed) parents.
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BlogReady-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Christmas Fun
Yes, it’s happened. Somehow we are already in the run-up to Christmas. While we try to get our heads around that, here are some games to include on Sundays, Christmas parties, or even around the Christmas table.
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Ready-to-use Games - Ice breakers: Who, what, where, why Games
At the heart of the human experience we find a host of questions: Who? What? Where? Why? As good, holistic youth workers we don’t want to ignore these primal urges of our young people. We don’t want to trivialise them with pat and trite answers - so here are some games. No, wait, that doesn’t sound right...
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BlogReady-To-Use Games + Ice Breakers: Kids Games
Sometimes, we forget that young people are just glorified, slightly grown-up, children. In an attempt to make our groups cool and culturally relevant, there’s a danger we only play the most sensible, modern games (as unlikely as this sounds). This month’s games are the kind you’d play with kids: a bit simpler, a bit sillier, but just as fun…
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IssuesReady-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Outside Games
Let’s take a step of faith. It’s July. The sun WILL be out. Let’s repeat that: the sun WILL be out. As such, we’ll take our youth groups outside and have all kinds of outdoor fun. For all of these games you’ll need a heap of space, like a field, or multiple fields, ideally with trees and scrubland. Basically, you need the set from The animals of Farthing Wood. So, here are some ideas:
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IssuesReady-to-use games + Ice breakers: Uno games
STANDARD UNO Play UNO according to the rules in the box. You have read the rules in the box, right? We’re not going to bother to explain this one.MULTI-CARD UNO The author of this piece once got into an argument at a Christian youth work conference when he insisted that ...
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Issues
Ready-to-use games + ice breakers: NERF Games
After wrestling back control of the games column, the Premier Youthwork team continues its journey into the weird and wonderful. This month, we examine games using one of the most vital tools in the youth work toolbox: the NERF gun.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games + Ice Breakers: Newspaper Games
As wise and astute readers will no doubt be aware, the digital world is increasingly ‘where it’s at’. The era of the printed press is under attack; more and more books are published as ebooks, anything that’s not on an iPad is old hat, and newspapers are increasingly all about digital subscriptions. But fear not printing press owners, your wares are not completely obsolete - as long as there are fish and chip shops, and (crucially for this month’s column) youth workers, your printed material will continue to find a use. This month’s games all involve newspaper.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games - Ice Breakers: 'Things to Hand' Games
No matter how carefully you prepare in advance, no matter what resources you gather, no matter what best-laid plans you construct, there will always be the odd occasion when you need some games and you haven’t got anything ready and available. So these are some ideas based around what might be immediately to hand.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games + Ice breakers : Technology games
In the 21st Century we have the ability to play games with technology that even ten years ago we couldn’t have dreamt of. While these games are all well and good, they can be a divisive issue: ‘I don’t have that model’, ‘My mum couldn’t afford to get me one of them…’, ‘Mine is broken and I’m not allowed a new one until I tidy my room / finish my exams / memorise the complete works of Shakespeare / invent a new clean and renewable source of energy’. So in order to both scratch that techno-itch and avoid any problems of haves and have-nots, here are a collection of technology-based games that don’t require any actual technology at all.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games: Ice Breakers - Christmas Games
You may be experiencing a nagging feeling that something is coming up soon. Some sort of event that may just dominate everything and cause the coming few weeks to be lived at an increasingly frenetic pace, packed with ever-increasing levels of activity, and at ever decreasing amounts of energy. You may of course choose to ignore Christmas, but just in case your group might enjoy some Christmas-themed games - here’s a selection.
