PAC Activity Planning Menu

Introduction

What is in this pack?

This pack has been put together by Woodcraft Folk staff and Peer Facilitators

We aim for this to be a good guide for the PAC Peer Facilitators, Delivery Partners and Social Action Leads from PAC projects to use whilst planning training sessions for Changemakers This pack is laid out like a menu to aid choice and make the training as bespoke and engaging as possible

Delivery Partners and Social Action Leads are welcome to use the activities in this menu after Woodcraft Folk have delivered the training to further the Changemakers knowledge, skills and experience with cooperative values and how they can put these into action

Why have we made this pack?

The outcomes below are what we hope all Changemakers will get out of the sessions Outcomes include:

● Participants to consider approaches to youth-led social action that are rooted in the values of equity, equality, self-help and self-reliance

● Produce individual and group action plans, applying co-operative ways of working to their roles and projects

● Explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution, including considering their own role within a group

● Identify how to respond to challenges and difficulties that will naturally arise when working as a group

● Develop links and build connections within their target communities, including support available from the wider co-operative movement

How to use this pack/building a session plan

Using the outline below, Peer Facilitators and Delivery Partners should work together to choose suitable activities that will make up their Changemaker training

During a pre-training meeting, Delivery Partners will be supported by Peer Facilitators to choose a 'Starter' icebreaker activity, two or three 'Main Course' activities and a 'Dessert' evaluation activity, from the menu below Peer Facilitators should encourage Delivery Partners to consider which activities they think would engage their Changemaker groups best, based on the needs, knowledge and experience of their group and the nature of their social action

All Changemaker training sessions will follow the below structure and will include:

Every session will include:

- A starter - introducing peer facilitators, Woodcraft Folk and Coop and how this fits into their PAC projects. This part of the session will also include icebreaker activities for Peer Facilitators to make connections and get to know the changemaker groups and creating a group contract together to lay out how the group can work together cooperatively and respectfully

- A break

- A temperature check

- A Main - two or three activities that focuses on the following (and how to do them cooperatively) - How to work cooperatively together, How to share ideas and influence others (including stakeholders), How to make decisions cooperatively and resolve conflict as a group, How to build a movement and How to be cooperative when campaigning.

- Dessert - Evaluation activity to gain feedback from changemakers

- Take away box - Action planning activity of how changemakers will use the ideas from this session moving forward with their PAC project

Things to bear in mind when planning and putting together workshops:

● What age are the participants?

● Background and lived experience of the group?

● What is their social action campaign or project focusing on?

● What has their experience been when taking part in cooperative activities?

● Do the group already know each other?

● Does this group have anyone with mobility issues/additional needs/medical needs that should be taken into consideration when choosing activities? - sensory needs, physical contact etc.

● Have the group done anything like this before together?

● What space will the workshop take place in? E g is there space to move around, are there tables and chairs etc.

● What materials will be needed to deliver the activities?

● When is the workshop, timings and travel

Main courses

Delivery Partners and Peer Facilitators should work together to choose two or three of the below activities Think about what the group would most benefit from focusing on and what will help them get to know each other and practically experience the cooperative values in action.

(depending on time, this part of the session should ideally take 1 hour 30 minutes)

How to work cooperatively together (achieving a common goal):

Outcomes for these activities:

- Participants will explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution

- The group will get to know each other better

- Participants will complete a task, create or achieve something together

- Participants will develop their listening and sharing skills

Time Activity

30-45 mins Tangles - good for younger age group who know each other already (involves holding hands with others) - 30 mins

Egg Drop Challenge - cooperative challenge to build a shelter for an egg in a team - 45 mins

Cooperative Aeroplanes - Work in pairs to make a paper aeroplane using only one hand each - 30-45 mins

Maze Amaze - (split into groups of 10-12 and have more than one maze for a bigger group) This activity allows changemakers to create a journey and then work together to work out others’ journeys across a maze - 30-40 mins

Spaghetti and Marshmallow towers - Great for all ages. Work in small teams to build the tallest tower in a set amount of time out of spaghetti and marshmallows. - 30-45 mins

How to share ideas and influence others (including stakeholders):

Outcomes for these activities:

- Participants will develop their listening and sharing skills

- Participants to consider approaches to youth-led social action that are rooted in the values of equity, equality, self-help and self-reliance

- Explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution

- Develop links and build connections within their target communities, including support available from the wider co-operative movement

- Build confidence to present as a team and discuss ideas/not interrupt each other and chair debates/discussions through the activities below

Time Activity

30-45 mins Whatever project or campaign you are working on it is really important to understand it and know the details when sharing it with others.

Knowing Ourselves - This activity will help participants to think about what defines them as a group and get to know their values and each other better - 20 mins

Elevator Pitch - An activity to help changemakers explain their campaign to a range of different audiences Help get a concise explanation of what you are doing - 30 mins

Discussion Web - In groups of 8-10 people discuss a topic (could relate back to your campaign/coop values) and use a ball of wool to create a discussion web to visually represent how much each person contributes to discussions. - 30-40 mins

Sun Shines On - A circle game. Swap places/move around the circle in response to agreeing or disagreeing with statements about the world around us. - 20 mins

Peeling the Onion - deepen your knowledge by asking ‘why’ and peeling the layers down of your campaign or project topic or topics that are important to the group. - 30 mins

How to make decisions cooperatively and resolve conflict as a group

Outcomes for these activities:

- Participants to consider approaches to youth-led social action that are rooted in the values of equity, equality, self-help and self-reliance

- Explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution, including considering their own role within a group

- Identify how to respond to challenges and difficulties that will naturally arise when working as a group

Time Activity

30-45 mins Coming to a consensus - Activity to explore consensus decision making. Good for groups that want to move around the space and work in a small group building up to everyone together. - 40 mins

Strengths in the group - Explore the different strengths within the group. Good for those 13+. - 30 mins

Who should decide? - Good for younger groups looking at whether young people are listened to in society. - 30-40 mins

Finding Common Ground - a discussion activity starting in small groups and growing to the whole group finding common interests/likes between everyone 30 mins

Arguments and making up - An activity to explore personal experiences of arguing, conflict and making up - 30-40 mins

Take a stand - Put ‘I agree’ and ‘I disagree’ signs on two ends of the room Read out different statements and the group have to move to either side of the room, depending on whether they agree or disagree with the statement - 30 mins

How to build a movement

Outcomes for these activities:

- Participants to consider approaches to youth-led social action that are rooted in the values of equity, equality, self-help and self-reliance

- Explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution, including considering their own role within a group

- Identify how to respond to challenges and difficulties that will naturally arise when working as a group

Time Activity

30-45 mins Donkeys working together - Look at the cartoon of the 2 donkeys who want to eat. In pairs and small groups come up with solutions where the donkeys can work together to both get fed quickly. - 30 mins

Reverse brainstorm - how to make a movement no-one wants to be a part of. Flip problem solving on its head and create problems to then go on and solve. - 30-40 mins

How to be cooperative when campaigning

Outcomes for these activities:

- Participants to consider approaches to youth-led social action that are rooted in the values of equity, equality, self-help and self-reliance

- Explore the range of skills needed to make change happen and to value the importance of everyone’s contribution, including considering their own role within a group

- Identify how to respond to challenges and difficulties that will naturally arise when working as a group

Time Activity

30-45 mins Listen to me - this activity is about how to make sure that everyone can join in fairly and have their say about how their Group is organised. 20-30 mins

Forcefield - This activity is a useful tool for thinking about how you’ll reach your goal and what might help you – or get in the way of doing this. 30-40 mins

Exploring cooperative values - This activity explores all of the cooperative values, where we see them in everyday life and where changemakers would like to see them in society - 30 mins

Make a youth statement - create a statement together as a group about the topic of your PAC project or something the Changemakers care about A statement will be stronger when it has come from the whole group sharing their thoughts and ideas (This activity also relates to influencing decisions) - 45 mins

If you would like a copy of the full Activity Menu please get in touch to lauren@woodcraft org uk