Woodcraft Folk Activities for Pioneer groups by Woodcraft Folk

Activities for Woodcraft Folk

Pioneer groups

CONTENTS 3

Introduction and welcome

A brief overview of Woodcraft Folk

Safeguarding

Facilitation of Pioneer groups and sessions

What you need

Section 1: Education for Social Change

Section 2: Co-operation

Section 3: International Friendship

Section 4: Equality

Section 5: Children’s Rights

Section 6: Peace

Section 7: Nature and Environment

Planning an Activity / Game / Circle

Blank session template

Further resources

Next steps

Index

Your Notes

Produced by Woodcraft Folk with support from the TREE programme. Woodcraft Folk would like to credit staff and volunteers around the Folk, and also Pavla Cihakova, volunteer with EVS, for compiling the content of this resource. We’re also grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for supporting its development. Many thanks to Ealing Woodcraft Folk and Boveney Woodcraft Folk for the photographs used here. Design by Paul Herring at designimage.eu.

INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME Welcome to this resource for Woodcraft Folk Pioneer groups. The aim of this resource is to provide you with a wide range of activities for Pioneers, 10-12 year olds in Woodcraft Folk, on key topics linked to our shared Aims and Principles. A Pioneer programme should take forward the ideals of Woodcraft Folk, by: ••Exploring how Pioneers can influence society and find ways to cope with increasing peer pressure ••Including lots of physical activity and development through games, hiking, camping and outdoor pursuits to build self-esteem and bonds between the group ••Giving opportunities to develop social skills and friendships ••Playing ‘thinking’ games to raise awareness of issues such as equality, stereotyping and racism ••Offering activities in a non-competitive and co-operative environment This activity book focusses on activities for your term’s programme. If you’re a new Pioneer leader, or getting more involved in the organisation and development of the group, you should look at the Pioneer Leaders Handbook for more practical advice and information, as well as examples of activities on similar themes to the ones used here. The Pioneer Leaders Handbook is available from Folk Supply (woodcraft.org.uk/folksupply or 020 7703 4173). Most of the sessions in this pack were suggested by Pioneer leaders from across the UK, sharing activities that their groups have enjoyed, and a few have come from other organisations who work with young people on similar topics. The result is a sharing of tried and tested activities to help new and experienced leaders and Pioneers alike. Pioneers can be a very active age group of young people and they like changing and challenging activities. In this resource, we’ve put together a series of sessions that include some quick games, circle time and a range of different activities to get Pioneer groups thinking about big topics and exploring the themes in the Woodcraft Folk Aims and Principles. You could pick a session from this booklet and simply follow the instructions to run it at a group night. However, as no two Pioneer groups are the same, flexibility is key, so please feel free to take what you want, adapt as you see fit, and most of all - enjoy it! The most important aspect is that young people are given the opportunity to explore and try out new and more challenging activities. You’ll find some more advice and tips for supporting and facilitating Pioneer activities on page 6 of this book, and practical tools for running sessions beginning on page 86. And finally, at the back of this resource is a blank template. This is for you to copy and capture your own successful sessions as we hope that this sharing of ideas between groups will continue. We also welcome your feedback on what’s in here, how it worked with your group, suggestions for tips and variations, and any improvements that could be made. Don’t forget to visit our website woodcraft.org.uk for further resources and ideas.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WOODCRAFT FOLK Woodcraft Folk is a unique, progressive educational movement for children and young people – both girls and boys – designed to develop self-confidence and activity in society, with the aim of building a world based on equality, friendship, peace, social justice and co-operation. Our motto is ‘Span the world with friendship’. Through its activities, Woodcraft Folk tries to give its members an understanding of important issues such as the environment, world debt and global conflict, with a key focus in recent years being sustainable development. We expect all new adult members to understand and accept Woodcraft Folk’s Aims and Principles. It is important that new groups discuss these thoroughly, and remain constantly aware of their practical implications for how the group is run. You can find the Aims and Principles on the reverse of the adult membership form and on the website: woodcraft.org.uk/aims-and-principles. Unlike other traditional youth organisations, we don’t have a set uniform but children can choose to wear “Woodie hoodies” or t-shirts designed by young members. Woodcraft Folk was established as an educational movement and charity in 1925, and was run entirely by young people. We operate in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Contrary to the myths that surround our name we do not, under normal circumstances, hug trees or craft wood. The word ‘woodcraft’ was used by the influential writer and naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton at the turn of the twentieth century. Woodcraft in this context meant the skill of living in the open air, close to nature. Woodcraft Folk, like other youth movements, traces its origins back to Ernest Thompson Seton’s pioneering work with North American young people. For more information about the history of Woodcraft Folk visit: woodcraft.org.uk/history.

SAFEGUARDING Safeguarding is about promoting the welfare of children and young people and striving to keep them safe from harm. Fortunately keeping children and young people safe is largely common sense and can be achieved by simple planning. To assist group leaders, Woodcraft Folk has developed a series of policies and procedures to enable groups to plan and prepare for their sessions. These policies give advice on recommended adult-to-child ratios and provide valuable tools for completing risk assessments, prompting group leaders to consider: ••The needs of group members ••The suitability of venue ••The suitability of activities planned For most activities, Woodcraft Folk good practice suggests a ratio of one adult to eight Pioneers. Each district should have its own child protection or safeguarding plan based on the national policy. If your district does not have a plan you should take some steps to ensure that the issue is discussed with other leaders in the district with a view to formulating an agreed set of procedures as soon as possible. There are examples of various districts’ safeguarding plans on the website: woodcraft.org.uk/resources/local-safeguarding-plans. National policies are reviewed every two years. For your latest copy of Woodcraft Folk policies on Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Whistle-Blowing, Drugs and Alcohol, please contact Folk Office on 020 7703 4173 or visit woodcraft.org.uk/policies. This resource does not go into detail on the administration of a group but you should make sure you have a health form for each child filled out by their parent or guardian. This will help you decide on some of the activities such as those involving food if there are any children with food allergies, for example. You may also want to look at group dynamics and setting ground rules. The Woodcraft call can be used to gain a group’s attention. All group members should know that when someone calls “Woodcraft” loudly, everyone should stop what they’re doing and reply “Folk” together and listen. There is further information and guidelines on running groups online in the Woodcraft Folk Tool Box: woodcraft.org.uk/toolbox.

FACILITATION OF PIONEER GROUPS AND SESSIONS Pioneers are a challenging age group to work with as they are becoming impressionable and idealistic. They respond to ideas with which they can readily identify and are also beginning to understand different perspectives on an issue. They can be highly moral and strongly committed to campaigns, especially those concerned with the environment and justice. They’re starting to co-operate effectively with each other, and they enjoy group games and discussion. Pioneers are full of ideas and experiences and are ready to bring them into discussions and drama. Comics, television and advertisements are often the main sources of imagery. Their interest in visual aids is worth remembering when leaders are trying to promote discussions. It is our role to stimulate them, responding to and building on their eagerness to learn. The activities in this book are arranged by theme so they are easily related to the Aims and Principles of Woodcraft Folk, but they include a variety of types of activity too, for example games, discussion, role play and art. Any activity sheets needed to help you deliver a session are included on the pages immediately after that session plan. Our aims for Pioneers Between the ages of ten and twelve, young people are probably at the most critical period in their lives. The youngest Pioneers in your group may have quite different needs from the older ones, as many of them make the transition from primary to secondary school. At a physical level, changes begin to make them more conscious of their gender. At a social level, the peer group sometimes has more influence than home. By the age of nine and ten, young people begin to become far more aware of the world around them. It is by this age that Woodcraft Folk’s definition of ‘education for social change’ begins to have direct relevance. Activities With Pioneers, activities become more centred on their physical and social development. An important part of our work is to build up self-esteem, giving confidence and the skills to cope with the world around them. This ‘education’ takes place at group nights through the traditional Woodcraft Folk activities of games, drama, singing and dancing, craftwork, projects, discussions etc. In addition, activities outside of the weekly group night take on great importance. All our activities must reflect the Aims and Principles of Woodcraft Folk. Challenges With Pioneers, their physical and social development has to be continually stretched, progressed and challenged. Hiking, camping and outdoor pursuits, as well as community action projects become central. Challenges of a collective nature become essential. But to achieve this, activities must start from the outlook and consciousness of the Pioneers.

WHAT YOU NEED Each session plan in this book includes a list of items you will need to run that session. However, in addition you might want to keep a resource box stocked with the items below, so you have them on hand for spontaneous activities and eventualities. ••Scissors (several pairs of the safety kind for children) ••Paper and card – a variety of sorts, size and colours ••Glue ••Wool / string ••Coloured pens ••Crayons ••Pencils, sharpeners, erasers and rulers ••Scrap material and buttons ••Clothes pegs ••Old magazines and newspapers ••Poster paint ••Fabric paint or crayons ••Brushes ••Face paints ••Chalk ••Sticky tape ••Sticky tack ••Sticky labels ••Balls (soft or hard, variety of sizes) ••Parachute (you could think about applying for funding for one of these) You should know what’s in the box and monitor it. There will be some activities that require more specific items. Depending on your venue, you may also want to think about: ••First aid kit and accident book ••Something to play music on ••Cups for juice or water ••Cleaning-up materials You could invite members of the group to save junk to reuse, such as jam jars, plastic tubs, cardboard boxes etc. You may also have a local craft or reusing initiative where you can pick up more resources.

SECTION 1: EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 8

SESSION 1 Aim: To consider what Woodcraft Folk is and what it means for members of the group.

Introductory game: Everybody Up Duration: 10 minutes

How to play: The objective is to get everyone up from a sitting position to a standing position at the same time. Start with everyone in pairs. The two people in each pair must sit down facing each other while holding hands, with the soles of their feet on the ground and their knees bent. The pair must use each other to stand up at the same time. Once successful, have these pairs join up with other successful pairs and so on until you have the entire group together trying to support each other to stand up. Hands must always be grasped so that if an electrical current was to pass through the group, it would pass through everyone. Feet must be flat on the ground. All bottoms must be off the ground at relatively the same time and the entire group standing for the attempt to be considered successful.

Activity 1: Explaining Woodcraft Folk Duration: 40 minutes

What you need: Paper; flipchart paper; pens and pencils; possibly a laptop for presentation.

Option 1: Make up a drama about two parents asking Woodcraft Folk Elfin group leaders what Woodcraft Folk is all about. They have heard that children do woodwork at the group, and are worried about their six year old Tom cutting himself. Option 2: Make up a drama about Pioneers going on camp with Woodcraft Folk. Some new friends at school want to know what Woodcraft Folk is all about. They have never heard of it before. Option 3: Design a poster to advertise Woodcraft Folk to children who don’t have a clue what it’s about – to encourage them to join. Option 4: Make up a sketch or presentation about a new name for Woodcraft Folk and how to tell everyone about it. Include some people who don’t think it should be changed at all. Get everyone back together and encourage each group to share what they’ve prepared.

1: EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

What to do: Ask the Pioneers to think about Woodcraft Folk. Why do they come to the group? What do they like the most about the group? Depending on the number of children, split the group into smaller groups and give each group the option of working on one of the following tasks for 20 to 30 minutes.

Activity 2: Aims and Principles Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Copies of the Woodcraft Folk Aims and Principles (woodcraft.org.uk/aimsand-principles). What to do: Use the performances / presentations from the previous activity and ask the Pioneers to form the same groups. Give them a performance or presentation from a different group. Ask them to read the Aims and Principles and encourage them to see if there are any shown in the presentations. Get everyone back together again and discuss what they found. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What is special about Woodcraft Folk? ••Why should we keep this local group going? ••What do the Aims and Principles mean for you? ••What does being part of Woodcraft Folk mean? ••How many other groups do you think there are?

SESSION 2 Aim: To involve Pioneers in the programme planning for the group so that they feel ownership of the group and participate fully.

Introductory game: Pioneers’ Choice Duration: 15 minutes

How to play: Ask the Pioneers to suggest their favourite active games and play a couple of these.

Activity 1: Ball Toss Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: Balls of various sizes.

Activity 2: Fist-to-ﬁve Programme Planning Duration: 40 minutes

What you need: Pens and paper; flip chart paper; a copy of the “Fist-to-five” activity sheet. What to do: Explain to the Pioneers that they are going to help plan the programme for the group for the coming term. Go around the circle and ask everyone what have been their favourite activities since they joined the group. Point out to the group that different people have different interests, likes/dislikes etc (this should have been shown by the range of ‘favourite’ activities mentioned.) Discuss how successful the previous programmes have been in providing ‘something for everyone’. To get ideas from everyone you could do a brainstorm, with someone writing up all the suggested ideas on a flip chart. Alternatively (because some people may not feel happy about articulating their idea in a large group), do one of the following: Give out slips of paper. Ask everyone to write an idea on a slip of paper – people can contribute as many as they like. Collect them in and read them all out. 2. Split the Pioneers into small groups of two or three and ask them to make a list of all their ideas. They can then report their list back to the full group. 1.

1: EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

What to do: This game is helpful in learning each other’s names. Get the group into a circle, an arm’s length apart. Begin by tossing a ball to a Pioneer. Say the name of the Pioneer as you throw the ball. When they catch the ball, the second person then throws the ball to a third person and also states their name. Each Pioneer must catch and pass the ball only once, until everyone has touched the ball. The ball must be returned to the leader to complete the circle. Practise this order a few times to ensure everyone knows where he/she is throwing. Once the ball has travelled the complete circle, start it going around again, with the option of adding another ball. As the group improves, challenge them to throw the ball around the circle as quickly as possible. There are many options for this activity. It can range from trying to throw the ball once around the circle without dropping it to a goal of several balls in a certain number of seconds. After each complete round, give the group time to discuss ways to be more successful and reduce their time. Often, groups will devise the solution of changing their order so they can simply pass the balls from one person to the next.

You could go through this process, initially, to choose a ‘theme’ for the term. If you have a fairly new group of Pioneers this would be a good opportunity to remind them of Woodcraft Folk’s Aims and Principles. Take all the theme suggestions and hold a ballot to choose one. Then repeat the process to come up with activities which fit in with the chosen theme. Go through all the suggested activities and gauge their popularity – see the “Fist-to-five” activity sheet for a good way of assessing this. Make notes of this. Also ask the group to identify any potential problems with each activity – e.g. It will cost too much; we can’t get hold of the right equipment etc. Again, make a note of comments. The programme ideas can be ‘processed’ in a number of ways: ••Hand over all the ideas to the leaders and let them sort out a programme; ••Choose a couple of Pioneers who will meet with the leaders to agree the programme; ••Elect a programme committee of Pioneers and leaders to put together and run the programme; ••Discuss with your group which they would prefer and find volunteers or elect Pioneer programmers as appropriate. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What activities are you most looking forward to? ••Which do you think will be the most interesting? ••Why should we be thinking of Woodcraft Folk’s Aims and Principles when we plan our programme? ••How do you think the activities we’ve chosen fit in with Woodcraft Folk’s Aims and Principles?

Build Consensus with Fist-to-five When a group comes to consensus on a matter, it means that everyone in the group can support the decision; they don’t all have to think it’s the best decision, but they all agree they can live with it. Whenever a group is discussing a possible solution or coming to a decision on any matter, fist-to-five is a good tool to determine what each person’s opinion is at any given time. To use this technique the leader restates the proposal and asks everyone to show their level of support. Each person responds by showing a fist or a number of fingers that corresponds to their opinion.

Fist: A no vote - a way to block consensus. “I need to talk more on the proposal and require changes for it to pass.” 1 Finger: “I still need to discuss certain issues and suggest changes that should be made.”

2 Fingers: “I am more comfortable with the proposal but would like to discuss some minor issues.”

3 Fingers: “I’m not in total agreement but feel comfortable to let this decision or proposal pass without further discussion.”

4 Fingers: “I think it’s a good idea / decision and will work for it.” 5 Fingers: “It’s a great idea and I will be one of the leaders in implementing it.”

If anyone holds up fewer than three fingers, they should be given the opportunity to state their objections and the group should address their concerns. Continue the fist-to-five process until consensus is achieved (a minimum of three fingers or higher) or determine they must move on to the next issue. 14

session 3 Aim: To begin to explore the idea of citizenship: what makes a society work; why we need rules; and why it is important for everyone to get involved.

Introductory game: Desert Island Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: Chairs or benches. How to play: Players form a circle standing on chairs or benches. One point of the circle is designated as the start. Players must get off the desert island by rearranging themselves in alphabetical order of their first names in the circle on the chairs. Remember there may be sharks so no-one must touch the floor.

Activity 1: Shipwrecked Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Copies of the “Shipwrecked” role cards – one, two or more sets as necessary depending on the numbers in your group; large sheets of paper and pens; dressing up clothes if available. What to do: If you have more than 12 Pioneers, split the group into two (or three if it is a very large group). The drama scenario which follows is loosely adapted from the opening chapter of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Explain that this is a role play exercise and that the aim is to think about how we would govern ourselves if we could start completely afresh with no leaders, councils or laws. Read the scenario out to the group: “You have been travelling on a ship with a group of British school children. After a terrible storm, in which the ship struck rocks and sank, you find yourself washed up on an island in the Pacific Ocean. No adults have survived but several other children have. There is no obvious way off the island. At first the children were scattered around but – after someone made a horn from a large shell and called with it – everyone has now come together in one place.” Give everyone a role card but ask them not to show it to others. Tell them they should try to act in this role – even if it is not how they would behave themselves. Tell the group they now have to decide what will happen next on the island. If there is any hesitation about how to proceed, you might suggest they think about how they are going to survive, what they will eat, where they will sleep, how they will get along together and so on. Make the large sheets of paper and pens available in case the group wants to write things down. Allow the group to discuss their situation and move on to acting out what happens next for about 15 minutes. You may need to intervene occasionally if the group are getting well off course. When you think the role play has raised and explored enough issues, explain that a rescue plane has arrived and they will all be going home. Get everyone back into a circle to talk about what happened. If you had more than one group then ask someone from each group to explain to the others what happened in their group. 15

• Highlight the positive aspects of the way in which the group decided to ‘govern’ themselves. • If they made up rules, were these realistic and ones which people found easy to keep? • Did they decide they needed a leader? If so, how did they expect the leader to behave? • Did they manage to take everyone’s view into account in their discussions? • Did anyone feel left out or picked on? • What did they think would have happened if there had been 50 people or 500 in the group? Discussion: (10 minutes) • What similarities and differences can you spot between the shipwrecked activity and real life? • Are there any circumstances in real life where you get the chance to make the rules? • What would happen if there were no rules? • Why is it important that everyone is involved? • How can we participate in decisions about how our group / school / community /country is run?

1: EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Activity 2: Lord of the Flies / Having a Say

With the rest of the session, you could watch the start of the film Lord of the Flies or read a chapter of the book, so that the group can find out how the school children organised themselves in the original scenario. Alternatively, you could have a discussion about translating the ideas from the Shipwrecked activity to how you run your group: Having A Say Duration: 30 minutes What you need: Flipchart paper and pens. What to do: Introduce a discussion about participation. Participation in things that directly affect our lives is a right of all, including children and young people, and is included in the ‘Rights of the Child’ that the UN decided on and most countries agreed to. Ask what the Pioneers understand by the words ‘participation’ and ‘democracy’. To ‘participate’ means: ‘to take part in something’. A ‘democracy’ is where the government representatives are voted for by the people and is a system that supports the principle of equal rights for all. Can they see the link? In a democracy everyone should have the right to participate in the running of the country, by choosing their political leaders. Talk about how your Woodcraft Folk group operates. Are decisions made democratically? Does everyone have a chance to take part in activities? Does everyone get a chance to voice their opinion? Think about ways that you could make the group more participatory (so more people take part and so each person takes part more) and more democratic (so everyone has an equal chance to take part). It’s important that everyone knows that people are free to comment and be listened to if they have suggestions or comments on things that can be improved. Create a group agreement you can all observe to make sure everyone can participate. Here are some suggestions: ••Agree to make sure everyone understands the purpose of their involvement in each activity. ••Agree to consider everyone’s views, even when they might conflict with those of adults. ••Make sure that the participation offered is appropriate to the age group. ••Aim to include those who are less confident or perhaps are often excluded for a particular reason. ••Usually the more planning that takes place, the more people have a chance to participate. ••You may need extra resources - for example ‘a copy for everyone’ of some important information. ••Choose to do some simple activities that need everyone to take part – e.g. a survey where everyone’s information is important to the outcome. ••Remember that the more children and young people are involved in a process from the beginning, the more they feel it is ‘theirs’ and will want to participate. ••Keep it concrete: have a vote on decisions, and collectively decide on activities you want to do and how people can be involved.

Shipwrecked role cards You are against having someone as a leader – you think that with such a small group you can all discuss things and agree on what to do.

You think that if most of the group can agree on things then the others will just have to accept what is decided.

You are very grown up and think that the others are acting like little children.

You think everyone should try to listen to each other’s point of view.

You are against having someone as a leader – you think that with such a small group you can all discuss things and agree on what to do.

You think there should be some clear rules because otherwise people won’t behave themselves.

You can see that someone else in the group is strong and has clear ideas which you generally agree with. You think your best option is to side with this person, and support what they say in discussions. You think there should be a leader and that you should be it! You think it is great that there are no adults around â&#x20AC;&#x201C; now you can do what you want all the time.

You think the others are wasting too much time talking when they should be worrying about finding something to eat and somewhere safe to sleep.

You think that there needs to be a strong leader for the group because otherwise they will never be able to decide what to do and how to look after themselves. You are very shy and frightened and not sure what to think or who to listen to.

SECTION 2: CO-OPERATION 20

SESSION 1 Aim: To help Pioneers understand how they behave in group situations and how complex the concept of co-operation is.

Introductory game: Football Pass Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: A football. How to play: Seat the group in large circle. The task is to pass a football around each member of the circle but the rules are: The ball can’t touch the ground 2. The ball must be moved using parts of the body below the waist 3. Every group member must touch the ball 1.

Allow a range of attempts until the solution is reached. If necessary, you can stop the game and ask for alternative strategies. Ask, “Why were earlier attempts failing and why were later attempts more successful? How did solutions evolve and was it necessary for everyone to contribute?”

Activity 1: Co-operative Paper Aeroplanes Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: A4 sized paper (one sheet between two); enough space to fly paper aeroplanes. What to do: Divide the group into pairs. Each pair should make an aeroplane with each person only using one hand. When everyone is finished, run an aero-show. Ask each pair to announce who is on the plane and what its destination is, as they launch it.

Activity 2: Co-operative Puzzles Duration: 30 minutes

You will also need a piece of flipchart paper with the two rules written out (see below), more flipchart paper, and pens. Tables are helpful if available. What to do: Begin by asking the group: “What do people need to do in order to co-operate successfully in any task?” Note down important points on flipchart paper e.g. each person needs to know what the task is; what he/she can do to help; what other players can contribute; how to help other players; and how to accept help from them. After five to ten minutes explain 22

2: CO-OPERATION

What you need: A set of cardboard hexagons from the activity sheet below, in a large envelope for each group of Pioneers (six Pioneers plus at least one observer per group); enlarge the Co-operative Hexagons template on a photocopier and stick the copied sheet onto card. Cut out the pieces, and put all the pieces with the same alphabetical letter on them into a small envelope. Repeat for all letters. You should have six small envelopes when you have finished. Put these into a large envelope. Prepare other sets in the same way so each group of six will have one.

that you are going to play a game to see how co-operation works in practice. Sit or stand players in groups of six (around tables if available). Place an observer or two at each table. Give a large envelope containing a set of hexagons to each group and ask them to give each member one small envelope. They must not open the envelopes yet. Read out: “In the small envelopes, there are pieces of cardboard. Your group’s task is to exchange pieces of cardboard with each other so that you can make hexagons. The group must end up with six hexagons all of the same size. During the game, everyone must follow these rules: ••You may not ask for, or signal for any piece, held by another group member. If you want any piece, you must wait until it is freely given to you. ••You may give any piece you have to any other member of your group at any time, but you may not ask for anything in return. Please work in silence until your group has finished.” Make sure that everyone understands these rules and show where they are displayed on the flipchart paper. Then say: “Go!” While groups are working, the leader and any observers must not intervene other than making sure that the rules are being strictly observed. At the same time, the leader and observers can see how groups are progressing: noting what strategy, if any, a group is using; seeing if leadership is developing etc. Note which group completes six equal hexagons first. Allow time for all groups to finish unless they get really stuck, which can be useful in the discussion later. Ask the small groups to stay at their tables and then request each group member to tell the others in that group in turn how they felt at the outset and at the end of the activity. Then start a second round in the group, again in turn, telling each other what they were trying to do. Finally, encourage all the members of each group and their observers to discuss what actually happened. Discussion: (15 minutes) Come back together as a whole group and ask for impressions, descriptions and insights about feelings and actual behaviour, including: ••How successful was it working together? ••How did you communicate? ••How did people help or obstruct each other? ••Did people take different roles in the group? ••How did co-operating make you feel? ••How does this compare to the ideal co-operative behaviour discussed beforehand? ••What actions could you change in the future? Variation One: Remove the restriction on non-verbal communication. Variation Two: If you want to make any of the hexagon formats simpler to piece together, then use a symbol, map, logo or picture as a background to each unit.

Co-operative hexagons Co-operative hexagons template for printing and cutting up:

SESSION 2 Aim: To solve problems as a group and develop the skills needed to do so.

Introductory game: Ribbons Knot Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: A variety of coloured ribbons, each approximately 1.5m in length —1 ribbon per 2 participants. How to play: Split everyone into groups of 6 - 8 people. Stand each group in a circle with ribbons laid across like spokes of a wheel with each end by a person. People pick up the end of a ribbon and ‘weave’ a knot (within 3 - 4 minutes) without letting go. When the group is satisfied with the knot, they place it on the ground with the ends visible. Individuals from another group pick up the knot and reverse the process without letting go of the end of the ribbon. The task can be made more complex by asking the groups to work in silence!

Activity 1: The Results Driven Structure Duration: 25 minutes

What you need: Blindfolds if available; bits and pieces to make a structure (e.g. building blocks, material, clothes, plastic, cardboard, tubes etc) with enough of each for smaller groups to construct simultaneously if desired. What to do: Split the group in two. Half of the group will be sightless. You can use blindfolds or have them close their eyes on the honour system for safety purposes. The sighted half is without speech but each person can make a unique noise (e.g. one person may snap their fingers, another may clap, another may thump their cheek, another may whistle, etc). A structure is built quickly by the leader in the middle of the room which only the speechless members may study for up to one minute and then the leader should disassemble the structure and place the pieces around the room. The sightless team members may touch the building materials and may speak. The speechless team members may see and make noises, but may not touch the sightless people or the building materials. The team’s aim is to reassemble the structure as the leader originally built it. Afterwards, discuss how it felt to be without sight / speech and how the group reached a solution.

2: CO-OPERATION

Activity 2: Group Drawing Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Pre-drawn designs; paper; pens. What to do: Divide the group into three small groups: ••Drawers. The drawers attempt to recreate one of the pre-drawn designs which they cannot see. They can only draw and listen. They may not talk and should stand with their backs to the group so they cannot receive nonverbal messages. ••Talkers. The talkers attempt to describe the design to the drawers. The talkers also do not see the design. ••Viewers. The viewers are the only ones to see the design. They may not talk and must communicate nonverbally. The talkers may question the viewers who must respond nonverbally. The viewers may not draw the design in the air or use any other nonverbal communication that actually shows the design. Make teams with at least one drawer, one talker and one viewer in. Show a design to the viewers. Stick to combinations of simple geometric shapes to start with – you can make the designs more complex in further rounds of the game. Each team must then attempt to reproduce the design. The task is complete when the viewers are satisfied with what the drawers have created. NB This activity can be challenging. You could simplify it for your group by dividing them into pairs, in which one is the viewer and talker, and one is the drawer. Try a further round or two if time allows. Discussion: (10 minutes) As a whole group talk about: ••How successful were you working as a group? ••What helped or hindered finishing the tasks? ••What compromises had to be made, if any? ••What would have happened if someone didn’t co-operate? ••What are the advantages and disadvantages of working in a group?

SESSION 3 Aim: To show that co-operation makes use of everyone’s talents and to apply the co-operative idea to Pioneers’ own needs.

Introductory game: Parachute Games Duration: 15 minutes

What you need: A parachute; a football; a smaller ball. How to play: First play ‘Turn it over’. All players stand round the parachute, holding it firmly with both hands. Whatever happens, they must not let go with either hand. Players should take a good look at the parachute and note which side is facing up (there may be a label or sewn seams to help you check this) and then the group must turn the chute over, but without anyone letting go with any hands! Next play ‘Earth and moon’. Lay out the parachute on the floor. Ask the group to pick up the parachute and pull it tight at waist level. Throw on a football and introduce it as the earth within the solar system which must now orbit around the rim of the parachute by the lifting and lowering of the rim. When they have started to successfully achieve this, introduce the moon (a smaller ball) which should orbit in the opposite direction.

Activity 1: Building Bridges Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: A blindfold; 20 building blocks and a ruler for each small group (3 in a group). What to do: Divide the Pioneers into groups of three (with any remaining Pioneers acting as observers) and give each group the blindfold, building blocks and ruler. The task is to build a bridge consisting of a ruler and wooden blocks. The bridge is to cross a river that is subject to severe flooding and therefore needs to be as high as possible. In each group is a consultant, a chargehand and a worker. The consultant’s job is to design the bridge; the chargehand instructs the worker; the worker builds the bridge. The consultant speaks only with the chargehand, who speaks to the worker. The worker may not speak at all. Ask the Pioneers to decide now who will fill each role.

Allow three to five minutes for the completion of the bridge. The roles are then changed until every member of the group has acted out each role. As a group, discuss what happened. Did they successfully build a bridge each time? Could the bridge have been built without the consultant? What use are consultants? How did each feel as a worker? Did he/she simply follow instructions or take the initiative? To what extent did the chargehand and worker co-operate? 28

2: CO-OPERATION

The worker is blindfolded. The consultant designs the bridge in his/her mind, meets privately with the chargehand and verbally describes it to the chargehand. Ask the chargehand to collect the blocks and ruler and place them in front of the blindfolded worker. The chargehand now verbally instructs the worker through the construction of the bridge. The worker must use his/her non-dominant hand.

Activity 2: Plan Your Own Co-operative Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Paper and pens. What to do: Split the Pioneers into small groups of four or five. Explain that co-operatives (or co-ops) are set up by people to fulfill their needs when they aren’t being met. The co-operative idea can be applied to all sorts of situations. Ask the Pioneers to think about their own needs, and what they might find a co-operative useful for. What would the purpose be? Who would join it? How much money would each person need to invest? How would choices and decisions be made? If a group has more than one idea that they want to think about, encourage them to split the group further. Here are some suggestions: ••A sports club - you each invest some money to buy sports equipment which you can take it in turns to borrow. ••A book club - you buy books from your pool of money, then sell them when everyone has read them, to buy new books. ••A music band - members invest money to buy instruments and promote the band, and share out the profits you earn from performances. ••A film club - you pool your money to buy new films, and watch them together. When people have developed their ideas, invite them back to a whole group circle to present their co-operatives. Discuss co-operation as a good way of saving the world’s resources. For example, we do not all need to own a tennis racket, if we only use it once a week. We could share one with six other people, and each get to use it once a week. That would mean six fewer tennis rackets need to be made! Ask for examples of ways the Pioneers could cut down on their use of resources in these co-operative ideas, by sharing things with other people. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••Who has a say about the co-operative? Who owns it? ••Could we take forward any of these co-operative ideas? How? ••What needs of other people and society might a co-operative be useful for? ••What other co-operative businesses do you know about? Who owns them?

SECTION 3: INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP 30

SESSION 1 Aim: To find out about how trade affects the developing world, and how promoting fair trade is essential to help people in poor countries.

Introductory game: Kim’s Ingredients Duration: 15 minutes

What you need: A selection of ingredients from around the world, some of which are fairly traded (e.g. sugar, flour, tea, coffee, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, chocolate, cocoa, dried fruit, honey, bananas, apples, juices etc); world map or globe; small stickers or sticky notes; a tray; a cloth; paper and pens. How to play: Put the ingredients on a tray, covered with a cloth before the game begins. Get the group into pairs and then uncover the tray for 30 seconds. Participants must try and remember all the objects. After re-covering the tray give each pair some paper and pens to write down as many objects as they can remember. Check the answers as a group. Identify where the ingredients came from and talk about how they got here. Could some of the same ingredients be grown in the UK? If so, why are they being imported? Everyone should mark where each ingredient comes from on the map and see how many countries are represented. Show the Pioneers the Fairtrade logo. Ask them what it means and what they know about Fairtrade. Discuss which ingredients can be purchased using Fairtrade.

Activity 1: Is It Fair? Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Scrap paper; scissors; glue / sticky tape.

Afterwards discuss how long the envelopes took to make; how many they could make in a day; how much they thought they needed to earn; how they felt about the price you offered them; what choices they had, and whether there were any alternatives. Discuss parallels with the real world, for example: problems with availability of glue etc relate to producers having the right tools / equipment; problems with maintaining quality - buyers may reject products which don’t meet standards set; accepting a low price - producers are often desperate for money, so they will sell at a very low price; continuing to grow the same crop, for a low price, because there is no means of marketing an alternative.

Activity 2: What Is Fair Trade? Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Sets of “Fair Trade Means...” cards (activity sheet below) cut out and ready to give out; blindfolds; samples of chocolate to include at least two fairly traded varieties; flipchart paper; scrap paper; a copy of the Kuapa Kokoo farmers information sheet (below). 32

3: INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP

What to do: Ask each Pioneer to make an envelope out of scrap paper. Stress it must be a ‘quality’ product. Ask the group to suggest a price for each envelope. Respond by making them an offer that is only a fraction of their named price. Don’t negotiate – tell them you are the only buyer for miles around; if they don’t accept your offer you’ll buy your envelopes from another Pioneer group.

What to do: Divide the Pioneers into groups of three or four. Give each a set of “Fair Trade Means…” cards. Explain that all the statements on the cards are true for products which have the Fairtrade mark. Ask each group to produce a diamond ranking of the cards – placing the one issue they consider most important at the top, and the one they think is least important at the bottom. The other cards are to be arranged in a diamond pattern in between in order of importance / unimportance. Next read Lameck’s story: “Hi, I’m Lameck, I live in Ghana, my dad’s a Cocoa farmer. He grows cocoa that is used to make chocolate that is sold in Britain. Nowadays I only help on the plantation from time to time as I’m at school most days. I’m learning to read and would love to become a doctor. When we get a little more money I’m going to get a new t-shirt and new trousers. I don’t mind helping on the plantation - but of course it’s more fun to play football!’’ Lameck’s dad Francis explains, ‘It all changed when we joined the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative which sells cocoa to Fairtrade organisations. They pay us better - $250 extra for every tonne of beans above the market price. And the money we get doesn’t go below a certain level, however low the prices go on the world market. The extra is enough to buy soap or pay school fees, and we get a bonus at the end of the season. What’s more, we actually own a part of the company that sells the chocolate abroad, so we get a share in the final profits.” Now blindfold the Pioneers or get them to close their eyes while you give out small samples of each type of chocolate. Ask them to sample the different chocolate products. ••What differences can they taste? ••Which do they prefer? Why? Discuss which is their favourite and list their reasons on a flip chart sheet. Has anyone thought of the working conditions of the producers? If they knew about this, would it influence their decision? Give each Pioneer two pieces of scrap paper. Ask them to write ‘PROBLEM’ on one and ‘BENEFIT’ on the other. Read the information about the Kuapa Kokoo farmers, using a bar of Fairtrade chocolate as a visual aid! Ask the Pioneers to listen carefully, and hold up their appropriate card whenever they hear about a problem the farmers have to face, or about a benefit of fair trade. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••Where are fair trade products from? ••Why is supporting fair trade important? ••Whom do fair trade products benefit? ••How can we support fair trade? ••What actions can we take locally to promote fair trade? Tip: You may need to think about food allergies and diets.

Fair trade means... cards

Farmers can join organisations which support them e.g. co-operatives

Workers on plantations have decent wages and housing

Support is given to help provide education and health care

Farmers get a fair price for the crops they produce

Workers are allowed to join trade unions

No child labour or forced labour is allowed

Farmers can be paid in advance, so they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fall into debt

Farmers have trading contracts, so they can plan for the future

Workers are able to have more control over their own lives

Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rights are respected - men and women are treated equally

Workers on plantations have decent health and safety standards

Support is given so farmers can stop using harmful chemicals

Kuapa Kokoo farmer information sheet Kuapa Kokoo Cocoa Producers’ Co-operative, Ghana “In Ghana there are about one and a half million cocoa farmers. In the last 30 years the price they are paid for their cocoa beans has dropped right down, so they hardly make any money to live on. Sometimes they have to borrow money, but it’s difficult to pay back their debts. To make things worse, there have been bush fires, and months with no rain. About ten years ago one group of cocoa farmers joined together to form a group called Kuapa Kokoo. This means ‘The Good Cocoa Farmers Company’. They sell some of their cocoa through Fairtrade. This means they get more money for each sack of beans. The Kuapa Kokoo farmers can use the extra income from Fairtrade for training and to buy farming tools to help with their work. They learn how to look after the environment and grow their cocoa without using harmful chemicals. Kuapa Kokoo includes both women and men farmers - there are now far more women working in the organisation and making important decisions. There are new schools for the children too - the extra money from Fairtrade can help pay for school fees and school books. Kuapa Kokoo trains its farmers so they know how to weigh and bag their beans. This had been a problem because some cocoa buyers would cheat the farmers by using inaccurate scales that didn’t weigh fairly. Kuapa Kokoo farmers are able to learn about the foods that are best for them to eat, about health and childcare. They have new water pumps for clean water too. The farmers also learn about managing their money and how to make extra money in the ‘hungry season’ when the cocoa is growing - for example by making soap from the cocoa husks, which means a waste product is being recycled! More and more villages want to join Kuapa Kokoo, but at the moment they can’t sell all their cocoa beans through Fairtrade - there still isn’t enough demand for Fairtrade chocolate in UK.” Reproduced from the Fairtrade Foundation’s Fairtrade Fortnight in Your School Action Guide. http://www.fairtrade.org.uk.

SESSION 2 Aim: To raise international understanding and share some specific features of some different countries. You should tell the children about the international theme one week before. Ask them to choose a country that they have been to or know a lot about. Ask them to bring in things about that country, e.g. food, games, songs, musical instruments, photos or postcards, clothes etc.

Introductory game: 40 Ways Of Getting There Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: Chairs (optional). How to play: Sit in a large circle with one spare chair or space. One person is asked to start by moving from their chair to the empty chair, in any way they choose (walking, running, hopping, crawling, etc). As they leave an empty chair behind them, another player is asked to move to that space, but without copying the previous way of getting there. Continue to find ways of crossing the room, without repeating any used before; with a little imagination, 40 is easily passed. You can ‘branch out’ into impressions of famous people; can-cans; forward rolls; pulling funny faces – anything so long as it’s different.

Activity 1: International Museum Duration: 40 minutes

What you need: A prepared example of an exhibition about a country of your choice; paper; pens; crayons; book of flags; sticky tack; world map / globe as reference.

Activity 2: International Songs Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Woodcraft Folk songbooks or text of the songs you choose (enough copies for at least one between two), a CD / MP3 player and a recorded copy of the various songs if desired. What to do: Sing some international songs from the songbook. Some examples are: Children of Africa, Waltzing Matilda, Bandiera Rossa, and This Land Is Your Land. If anyone came with a song as part of Activity 1, they might like to teach it to everyone.

3: INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP

What to do: Explain that you’re all going to make an international museum together. Show the Pioneers your prepared exhibition. Find out if any of the Pioneers have chosen the same country and if so ask them to work together. Ask everyone to make the flag of their country and set up an exhibition place for their country to show what they’ve brought and what they know about it. When everyone is ready, divide the group in half. One half are museum staff and the others are visitors. Visitors circulate around and look at exhibitions and talk with the museum staff about their exhibitions. Then swap roles, visitors becoming museum staff and museum staff becoming visitors.

Discussion: (10 minutes) Talk about the Woodcraft Folk motto “Span the World with Friendship”. ••Has anyone been to an international camp? What was it like and who did you meet? ••Why it is important to learn about different countries and cultures? ••What can we experience from meeting with people from other countries? ••How can we meet people from other countries and cultures? ••Do you know anyone from another country who lives locally? ••Could we invite them to the group?

SESSION 3 Aim: To start to think about what the United Nations is and to understand some of the problems faced by asylum seekers and refugees.

Introductory game: 5 Things In 5 Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: You could have pictures of various things to choose between (optional). How to play: Tell the Pioneers to imagine that an emergency has happened and they have five minutes to pack and leave their home before it will be knocked down. They should decide as a group what five items they would take with them. Discuss their reasons for choosing those items. Do you think people fleeing conflict would have the same priorities as you? Do you think they would take different items? Why? Discuss how you would feel if you had to leave your home.

Activity 1: UN Bingo Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: UN bingo cards sheet (below) cut up and ready; pens; slips of paper; a container; globe or world map (optional).

Explain that there are 193 members of the United Nations. You can see the full list of members and the date when they joined the UN on www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml. The United Nations (or ‘UN’) was set up in 1945 as a way of bringing countries together after the Second World War. The UN deals with lots of important issues like health, child welfare, peace and the environment. You could follow up by asking the group if they can find their countries on a globe or world map.

Activity 2: Crossing the Border Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Copies of the ‘Crossing the border’ form (one for each Pioneer; activity sheet below); pens; a border (e.g. a desk, doorway, counter) What to do: Ask for two volunteers and brief them that they’re border control officials. They should stand / sit at the border and pretend not to understand any questions asked them by the group. They should only allow people to cross the border when they’ve filled in their form in ‘squiggle language’, but are not to explain that this is the correct way to fill in the form. Everyone else should imagine they are refugees fleeing their country, where a war is killing many thousands of people. They’ve heard that the UK is a safe place and arrived after a long journey. Give everyone a form and a pen each and explain that they must fill in the form correctly 38

3: INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP

What to do: Write each of the countries from the cards on a slip of paper, and put these into a container. If you have more than ten players, you can make up your own cards, using different combinations of countries, or people can play in pairs. Pull out one slip at a time and read out the country on it. Anyone who has that country on their card should tick it. When someone has a full set they must call out ‘United Nations’.

and give it to a border control official to be approved before they can enter the UK. Stop the activity when everyone has passed, or is really frustrated (bear in mind that children who aren’t very comfortable reading and writing may find the activity particularly frustrating). Explain that this is how it can feel for people arriving in the UK trying to find somewhere safe to stay. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••How did people feel when they weren’t understood? ••What else might be difficult if you don’t speak the language of the country you’re in? ••What does the UN do? ••Why is it important to have an organisation that is bigger than any one country? ••How does this help countries to work together?

UN bingo cards Card 1

Card 3

Card 5

Afghanistan

Argentina

Benin

Fiji Italy Lebanon Malawi Sri Lanka UK Zimbabwe

Card 2 Australia Iran Kyrgyzstan Lesotho Philippines Spain Thailand

Belgium Greece Kuwait Mongolia South Africa Tunisia Zambia

Venezuela

Card 4 Angola Bangladesh Finland India Malta Poland Sudan

Canada Ghana Haiti Luxembourg Portugal Russia Turkey

Vietnam

Card 6

Card 8

Card 10

Barbados

China Ecuador Hungary Israel Mali Norway Oman Trinidad and Tobago

Gambia

Cameroon

Card 7

France

Chile

Japan

Denmark

Mexico

Indonesia

Nigeria

Kenya

Rwanda

Morocco

Switzerland

Netherlands

Card 9

Iceland

Ethiopia

Jamaica

Germany

Madagascar

Honduras

Nepal

Ireland

Peru

Malaysia

Saudi Arabia

New Zealand

USA

Pakistan

Uganda

Senegal

Samoa

CROSSING THE BORDER FORM

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SECTION 4: EqUALITY 42

SESSION 1 Aim: To explore our similarities and our differences as well as differing circumstances.

Introductory game: The Sun Shines On… Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: A circle of chairs. How to play: Arrange a circle of chairs with one fewer than the number of participants. Everyone sits on chair except one person in the middle. The person in the middle makes a statement, “The sun shines on…” For example, “…all those who wear glasses, ...have taken a shower this morning, …who are wearing trousers, …who like curry”, or whatever according to their imagination. All those wearing glasses (or whatever) must change chairs while the person in the middle uses this opportunity to get a chair for themselves to sit on. The person now left in the middle makes a “sun shines on…” statement. Stop the game after 5 or 10 minutes or when everyone has had a turn to call and everybody has had to change places.

Activity 1: How Are We Different? How Are We The Same? Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: A suitable example of animated characters (see below); two pictures or photos of children (see below); paper; pens; a stopwatch; the “Similarities and differences” activity sheet (one copy per Pioneer). What to do: Show a DVD or picture from a comic of the Smurfs, Antz, Happy Feet or some other animated characters. Ask the Pioneers if they are like humans. Do they look like us? How are they different from us? Point out that they are also different from us because they all look very similar. Display two pictures of children - stick them on a wall where everyone can see them easily. They can be photographs or pictures cut out from a magazine. Ask the Pioneers to look at them and to think about how they are physically different (i.e. what you can see) and the same. Ask the Pioneers, in pairs, to write down as many differences and similarities between the pictures as possible in three minutes. Ask the pair with the longest list to call out their findings. Ask the others if they found anything different. Ask the Pioneers if it is possible to pick out other differences such as their likes / dislikes, ages, school they attend, their hobbies, number of children in their families and so on. Why not? Because you don’t know them. Do you know the things about you and your closest friends in the group which are the same and different? Do you know these for all the people in the group?

4: EqUALITY

Distribute the “Similarities and differences” activity sheets. Give the Pioneers ten minutes to circulate around the group and find an answer to the questions. Discuss how the activity went. What did you learn from it? What things surprised you most?

Activity 2: Take A Step Forward Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: A set of Take a Step Forward Role Cards (one for every participant); the statements listed below. What to do: Explain that for this activity everyone will imagine being someone else. Distribute the role cards. Everyone should read their card silently, without letting the others know who they are. Ask the Pioneers some questions to help them imagine their character. They should think of the answers in silence. What was it like when you were little? What is your everyday life like now? What do you do in the morning? In the afternoon? In the evening? What sort of work do your parents do? Do you have a good standard of living? What do you do in your holidays? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? Now everyone should line up beside each other, at one end of the room with plenty of space in front of them. Explain that you’re going to describe some things that might happen to a child. If the statement is true for their role, they should take a step forward. Otherwise they should stand still. Read out the situations one at a time. Wait between each statement, so everyone can think about whether they step forward. Statements: You and your family always have enough money to meet your needs. 2. You live in a decent place with a telephone and television. 3. You are not teased or excluded because of your different appearance or disability. 4. The people you live with ask your opinion about major decisions that concern you. 5. You go to a good school and belong to after-school clubs and sports. 6. You are not afraid of being stopped by the police. 7. You live with adults who love you and always have your best interest at heart. 8. You have never felt discriminated against because of your or your parents’ origins, background, religion or culture. 9. You have regular medical and dental check-ups, even when you are not sick. 10. You and your family go away on holiday once a year. 11. You can invite friends for dinner or to sleep over at your home. 12. When you are older, you can go to university or choose any job or profession you like. 13. You are not afraid of being teased or attacked in the streets, at school or where you live. 14. You usually see people on TV or in films who look and live as you do. 15. You and your family go on an outing to the cinema, the zoo, a museum, the countryside or other fun places at least once a month. 16. Your parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents were all born in this country. 17. You get new clothes and shoes whenever you need them. 18. You have plenty of time to play and friends to play with. 19. You have access to a computer and can use the Internet. 20. You feel appreciated for what you can do and encouraged to develop all your abilities. 21. You think you are going to have a happy future when you grow up. 1.

At the end, invite everyone to look around to see where the others stand. Ask everyone to read out their role card to the others. Ask everyone to become themselves again. They should close their eyes, count to three and then shout out their own name. Tip: You can adapt the cards to your area or city. Discussion: (10 minutes) • How easy or difficult was it to play your role? • What did you imagine the person you were playing was like? • Were they a person similar to you? Do you know anyone like that? • How did you feel stepping forward – or not? • If you stepped forward often, when did you begin to notice that others were not moving as fast as you were? • Did you feel that something was unfair? • Is what happened in this activity anything like the real world? How? • What gives some people in our community more or fewer opportunities than others? • Were you surprised at some things you found out about others in the group? Why? • How can you make sure you treat everyone equally?

4: EqUALITY

Similarities and differences Write down the names of 10 people in your group. Ask them some questions to find out one non-physical thing about them which is similar to and different from you.

NAME

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

10.

Take a step forward role cards You are a Roma child of twelve. You live at the edge of a small village in a small house where there is no bathroom. You have six brothers and sisters.

You are eight. You and your two brothers live in a nice house with a big garden and a swimming pool. Your father is the manager of a bank in your town. Your mother takes care of the house and family. You are ten years old. You live in a farmhouse in the country. Your father is a farmer and your mother takes care of the cows, geese and chickens. You have three brothers and one sister. You are an only child. You live alone with your parents in a flat in the city. Your mother works in a factory. You are very good at music and dancing. You are nine.

You are eleven years old. You live in a village in the country with your parents and a younger brother and a younger sister. Your parents run a bakery. You are sometimes teased because you are rather overweight. You were born with disability and have to use a wheelchair. You live in an apartment in the city with your parents and two sisters. Both your parents are teachers. You are twelve.

You have asthma and have to miss a lot of school because you are sick especially in winter. You spend a lot of time at home in bed watching TV, surfing on the Internet and playing computer games. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lonely because both your parents go out to work. You are thirteen. You are eleven. You have lived in an orphanage. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know who your parents were. 48

You are nine years old and an only child. You live in an apartment in a town with your parents. Your father is a construction worker and your mother delivers mail. You are very good at sports.

Your parents divorced when you were a baby. Now you are twelve. You live with your mother and her boyfriend. At the weekends you visit your father and his new wife and their two small children.

You are eight. You and your sister live with your grandparents in a small town out in the country. Your parents are divorced and your mother works as a secretary in the city. You rarely see your father.

You are thirteen, the oldest of six children. Your father drives a truck and is away a lot, and your mother is a waitress who often has to work at night. You have to babysit a lot.

You are nine years old and have an identical twin. You live in an apartment in the city with your mother, who works in a department store. Your father is in jail. You and your parents came to this country to find safety from the war going on in your home country in Africa. You are now eleven and have been here for three years, since you were eight. You don’t know when you can go home again.

You were born in this town, but your parents moved here from Asia. They run a nice restaurant and you live in rooms above the restaurant with your sister. You and she help in the restaurant after school. You are thirteen.

You are eleven. You have lived with different foster parents since you were a small child because your parents couldn’t take care of you. Your foster parents are nice. Four other foster children also live in the same small house as you.

You have a learning disability that makes you two classes behind in school. You are ten and taller than all the other kids, who are only eight. Both your parents work so they don’t have much time to help you with homework.

You and your older brother are very talented at mathematics, physics, and languages and, in fact, most things. Your parents are university professors. They send you on special courses and training camps all the time to prepare for competitions.

You are eight and the youngest of three children. Your family lives in a small apartment in a big city. Your father is a mechanic but he is out of work right now, so you don’t have much money. But your father has more time to play with you.

You are the child of the American ambassador in your country. You go to the international school. You wear thick glasses and stammer a little. You are eleven. 49

SESSION 2 Aim: To think about stereotypes, assumptions and their implications.

Introductory game: Banana People Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: A banana for each person; a basket for the bananas. How to play: Each person should bring along a banana, or be given one. The group leader should ask the group to ‘get to know your banana.’ Everyone should examine their banana in detail (smell them, touch them, look at them). After a few minutes, collect the bananas in a big bowl, and then ask everyone to find their own banana in the pile. Most people will probably recognise their bananas at once. Ask the group to describe how they recognised their bananas e.g. my banana was big, my banana had a mark on one side, my banana had dents and bruises. Then talk about how people, too, come in different sizes, different shapes, different shades of colour and so on. After exploring these ideas, collect the bananas again but first ask everyone to peel their bananas before placing them in the bowl. Then ask everyone to find their banana again. This time it is much more difficult and someone will probably say ‘But the bananas all look the same’. The group leader can use the reactions to start a discussion on how people may also look different on the outside, but everyone is similar on the inside. We shouldn’t judge people based on ‘surface’ differences such as the colour of their skin, their type of hair or the shape of their nose.

Activity 1: Exploring Stereotypes Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Flipchart paper; crayons; pens; pencils; other paper. What to do: Divide the Pioneers into groups of five or six. Give some of the groups task A and some of the groups task B. Task A: Write the word American on a flip chart sheet. Ask the children to work in groups and write down how they might describe an American person: What do they look like? How do they dress? What do they eat? Are they rich or poor? What games do they play? What kind of music do they listen to? Task B: Ask the children to draw a Traveller child and an African child in their homes.

Secondly, ask the groups who completed task B to show the others what they drew. Children may draw stereotypical images – e.g. of children living in huts. Ask the Pioneers if all African children live in huts. How do they know? Do all Travellers live in caravans? How do they know? What do we call this? Is it a good thing? Why do we stereotype? What is another word for it? - making judgements. 50

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When the groups are ready, record the ideas from the task A groups on a flip chart sheet. Pioneers may give stereotypical answers, such as Americans are rich, or fat, etc. Work through some of the answers, raising awareness of stereotyping by asking: Is this true about all Americans? Why do we say it? What do we call this? - stereotyping.

Through making uninformed judgements, we stereotype when we don’t know a person well. If stereotypes are often untrue, then why do we think they exist? Discuss where we get our ideas from - the newspapers, television, our parents etc. Can we rely on what other people tell us?

Activity 2: Stereotype Labels Duration: 25 minutes

What you need: Sticky labels with roles written on (see below). What to do: Write the following roles or types of people onto self adhesive labels: ••homeless person ••person who uses a wheelchair ••politician ••person with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] ••person who is blind ••professional football player ••rock singer ••movie star ••secondary school teacher ••police officer ••housewife ••accountant Prepare enough labels so that there is one for each Pioneer. Stick a label on each person’s back without them seeing it. Set the scene. The Pioneers are to mingle as if they were at a community event that is open to the public. They are to talk to each other as if they were talking to a person with that particular characteristic or identity without giving away what is said on the label. Each Pioneer gathers information on his / her identity and will eventually attempt to guess his / her own identity based on conversations that others have initiated with him / her. Once most people are ready to guess their identities, get everyone back into a circle. Ask each person to announce their identities one by one and then check their labels for accuracy. Ask them to share examples of what others said to them and how they made the connection between what was said to them and their label. Were the stereotypes accurate? Can exceptions to the stereotypes be given? How are these stereotypes perpetuated in society? Discussion: (10 minutes) ••Are stereotypes a good thing? ••Why do we make assumptions? ••What can we do to stop ourselves being influenced by stereotypes? ••How can we make sure we do not pre-judge others based on their appearance or status?

SESSION 3 Aim: To explore exclusion and bullying and how it makes people feel.

Introductory game: Odd One Out Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: Some coloured sticky paper spots - for example, for a group of 16 people you will need four blue, four red, four yellow, three green and one white spot. For different numbers in the group increase or decrease the blue, red, yellow and green spots but keep just one white one. How to play: Stick one spot on each player’s forehead. Players should not know what colour spot they have. Tell the Pioneers to get into a group with others who have the same colour spot. No one may talk; they may only use non verbal communication. Help the group explore their feelings about what they did and what they learnt: How did you feel at the moment when you first met someone with the same colour spot as yourself? How did the person with the odd spot feel? Did you try to help each other get into groups? What different groups do you belong to e.g. football team, school, church? Can anyone join these groups? In our society, who are the odd ones out?

Activity 1: Force The Circle Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Stopwatches. What to do: Divide everyone into groups of six to eight people. Ask each group to choose one person to be the ‘observer’ and a second to be the ‘outsider’. Tell the other members of the group to stand shoulder to shoulder to form as tight a circle as possible so as not to leave any space between them. Explain that the ‘outsider’ must try to get into the circle while those who form the circle must try to keep them out. Tell the observer to make notes on the strategies used by both the ‘outsider’ and those in the circle and also to act as time keeper. After two or three minutes (depending on numbers), regardless of whether they managed to enter the circle or not, the ‘outsider’ joins the circle and another member has a turn. The activity is over once all the members of the group who want to have tried to force the circle.

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Bring everyone together and discuss what happened and how it felt. How did it feel when you were part of the circle? How did it feel when you were the ‘outsider’? If you succeeded in forcing the circle, how did it make you feel? Ask the observers about the strategies the ‘outsiders’ used and those that the people in the circle used to prevent the others from getting in. Ask everyone for real life situations when they feel an ‘outsider’ or a minority and when do they appreciate feeling part of the group of the majority. In our society, who are the strongest groups? And who are the weakest?

Activity 2: Different Families Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Flipchart paper; pens and paper. What to do: In small groups (two or three) ask the Pioneers to make a list of all the things they can think of which people get teased for – give them a few examples to start them off: being overweight, wearing unfashionable clothes, having spots, liking someone etc. Get the whole group back together and compile the lists on a flip chart sheet. Discuss how teasing / bullying can make people feel. Are some of these reasons for teasing OK and others not OK? Is it ever OK to tease someone? What do you do if your friends are teasing someone? Get the group to line up in order of height. Who is the smallest in the group – who is the tallest? What difference does it make to the way these people participate in the group? Return to the circle. If the list of teases includes references to the being gay, being a lesbian, or having an unconventional family, pick up on this for further discussion. If none of these was included in the list, ask the Pioneers whether they have ever heard someone being teased because: They have a close friend of the same sex; their behaviour or interests don’t fit those of the boy or girl stereotype (you may need to remind the Pioneers what a stereotype is); they have an unconventional family. Point out that this sort of teasing relies on pointing out that someone is different from what is ‘normal’. Discuss with the group how we decide what is ‘normal’. Take the example of families: Ask the Pioneers what sorts of families they can think of and make a list on a flip chart. They list could include: families with a mum and dad, two mums, two dads; oneparent families – one mum, one dad; step families; foster families; adoptive families; families with grandparents instead of parents; single child families; families with two, three or more children; extended families. If your group are confident with each other you might invite them to say what sort of family they live in. How many different sorts of families are represented in your group? Alternatively you can ask the group ‘who knows someone’ who lives in each of the different sorts of families identified. Ask the group to say what they think makes a good family. The answer you’re looking for is one which loves, cares for and supports all its members – not one with a particular number of adults and children of certain genders. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••Are people excluded on purpose? ••Why might a group of people exclude others? ••How does being excluded make people feel? ••What can you do if you are being teased or bullied? ••How can you make sure you include people? ••What can we do, as a group, to be better at including people?

SECTION 5: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS 54

SESSION 1 Aim: To explore what we mean by ‘rights’, how they are different from things you might need or want, and consider what rights some children might lack.

Introductory game: Pioneers’ Choice Duration: 5 to 10 minutes

What to do: Tell the Pioneers they have 10 minutes to choose a game and play it. See if they can come to a group decision (which everyone is happy with) and then play whichever game they chose. The longer they take to decide, the less time they’ll have to play the game. Make sure everyone understands the rules.

Activity 1: Rights And Needs Musical Chairs Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Something to play music; as many chairs as participants (you can use pieces of newspaper on the floor), cards with the following rights and needs written on them: • education • love • CDs • money • warm clothes • shelter • play

• vote in elections • be treated equally • sweets • mp3 player • DVDs • mobile phones • freedom from violence

• health care • freedom from abuse • to express yourself • to practise a religion • the latest trainers • clean water & nutritious food

What to do: Introduce what we mean by ‘rights’, ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. Sometimes we want something but we do not need it. Sometimes we need something to survive but we don’t always get it. A right helps to protect us to ensure our needs are fulfilled.

Discuss the game when you‘ve finished. Were people surprised by some of the arguments? Were some of the things easier to make a case for than others? Sum up what you’ve concluded should be rights, and what are needs and wants. Activity shared by YCare International www.ycareinternational.org

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Give each participant a card with either a right, a need or a want on, for example: education, love, play, food, new clothes. Start to play music and ask participants to walk around the room. Remove one of the chairs while they do this. Stop the music after about 20 seconds - all participants should hurry to get a chair. As a chair has been removed, one participant will be left standing. They need to argue their case for being a ‘right’ rather than a ‘need’ or ‘want’ and therefore have the right to stay in the game. If the other players decide that they are a ‘need’ or a ‘want’, rather than a right, the player should go to sit on the sidelines of the game. From there, they can still ask questions but can’t walk around the chairs. There should be a minimum set of ‘rights’ left in the middle.

Activity 2: Rights Of The Child Duration: (40 minutes)

What you need: ‘ “Articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child” activity sheet, one per group; art materials; A3 paper. What to do: Ask if anyone already knows what the ‘Rights of the Child’ means or what they are. Spend a few minutes explaining and discussing. Divide into small groups and give each group an activity sheet. Each group should decide which three articles they think are the most important – can they explain why? In these groups, make three posters in the style of adverts showing each of your top three articles and why they are so important. Come back together as a whole group. Invite each sub group to share with the others their top three articles and their reasons for choosing them. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••Which were the most popular articles chosen overall? Why was this? ••Are any of these articles rights that should apply to everyone, or are they particularly for children? ••Do you think that all children are given these rights? Consider other parts of the world.

Articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 3 Adults should do what is best for you.

Article 15 You have the right to make friends. Article 19 No one should hurt you in any way. Article 27 You have the right to food, clothes, and a place to live.

Article 31 You have the right to play. 58

Article 6 You have the right to live.

Article 17 You have the right to collect information from radios, newspapers, television, books etc., from all around the world. Article 28 You have the right to education.

Article 30 You have the right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

Article 14 You have the right to think what you like and be whatever religion you want to be. Your parents should help you learn what is right and wrong.

Article 24 You have the right to good health.

Article 37 You should not be put in prison.

SESSION 2 Aim: To appreciate childhood and what makes it special and to show the contrast between children’s potential, and how they can be exploited.

Introductory game: Up Chuck Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: One ball or soft object that can be thrown and caught per person. What to do: The objective is for everyone to throw their ball up in the air and catch a different ball without a single one touching the ground. You may want to divide into smaller groups for this game. Every person in the group has a ball. Standing in a circle or cluster or however the group wants to arrange themselves, they must throw their ball up to a height of at least 10 feet and then attempt to catch a ball they didn’t throw. The number of balls that hit the ground is that group’s negative score. The goal is to score zero in a single round. Allow the group to work together to achieve this. It will be pretty difficult and the group might need lots of time or multiple sessions to accomplish it. A variation is to have the group start with only one ball thrown and caught. Each time they successfully catch a ball, another is added for the next round until they drop one and then the whole thing starts again.

Activity 1: Celebrating Childhood Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Large piece of paper (e.g. wallpaper); colouring pens. What to do: Explain that childhood can pass very fast. Suddenly it may be time to start school, you may find you have a younger brother or sister you now have to help look after, you may have homework you need to concentrate on, or chores around the house to help out with. Before you know it you are growing up, and leaving your childhood behind. Ask what the best things are about being young. What is the best thing about being a Pioneer?

When the drawing is finished, use it to talk about children who might not benefit from all these advantages. Ask the group questions like, ‘Would a child soldier have time to play with his friends?’, ‘Would a child labourer be able to go to school?’ The idea is not to end up feeling bad, but to appreciate what we have, and to make the most of our childhood.

Activity 2: Children Being Children Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Large piece of paper; magazines / brochures / catalogues featuring young people; materials from children’s organisations*; scissors; glue; colouring pens.

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Using a large strip of paper, draw around one of the group to make the outline of a young person. Ask the group to fill in the features and clothes on the body. Around the outside ask them to draw pictures and write words to represent all the best things about being young. They could think about their life in contrast to that of their parents and other adults. Some prompts responsibilities, obligations, stresses, money, time, family, work, and household.

What to do: Explain that while most children are fortunate, and enjoy a happy, safe childhood, some children have a difficult time. They may be exploited in different ways, such as having to do unsafe work, becoming soldiers or being sexually exploited. It is important to raise awareness about these issues, to try and prevent them from happening. Ask the group to find images to cut out of two different types. One type should be children being exploited, such as working in mines, farming or selling things. The other type should be pictures of children enjoying themselves, fulfilling their potential and being able to be children e.g. playing, making things, doing sport, learning, having fun. They can also draw extra pictures to stick on to represent other things. On a large piece of paper arrange the images and add words to convey your message. You may want to have one side for each type, but the design is up to you. Display your collage somewhere where people will be able to see it. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What makes childhood special? ••Why are some children not able to enjoy their childhood? ••What needs to change in the world to ensure children do not suffer from exploitation? ••How can we make the most of our childhood?

*Contact organisations working on child exploitation to ask for leaflets about their work, and print out pictures from their websites.

SESSION 3 Aim: To think about the balance of school, work and play and to consider different types of work young people do.

Introductory game: Switching Places Duration: 10 - 15 minutes

What you need: Long benches or very sturdy chairs. You need something relatively narrow and just high enough off the ground to make a fall obvious but not dangerous. How to play: Set the scene that everyone is out balancing on a small limb or beam above the Grand Canyon and the people on one side have to reach the other and vice versa for everyone to survive. The objective is for one group to switch places with the other group and end up with each group on the other bench in the same order they were at the start and facing each other. Divide the group in half. Line two benches up end to end, with a gap in between the benches. Half of the group should stand on one bench and the other half on the other bench so each group is standing, lined up and facing the other group. They are not allowed to come into contact with the ground or any object other than the benches and other people on the benches. If anyone does contact something, both groups must return to their original positions and start again. A variation is to have the group start all mixed up as one group on one bench and challenge them to line up according to their birth dates, height or any other sequencing idea on the other bench.

Activity 1: Finding A Balance Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Flipchart paper and pens.

Age 3

Age 7

Age 13

Age 18

Write up each age from the list. Under each heading draw a circle. The circles represent an average day. Divide each circle up according to the proportion of the day they think the person would spend playing / relaxing; at school / studying at home; and doing a paid job. You’ll find that at some ages there are only one or two relevant categories. Draw a symbol in each section to represent what it shows (e.g. toy for ‘playing’, book for ‘studying’, and money for ‘doing a job’). You could estimate the proportion of time each section represents (e.g. play 20%, school 75%, work 5%). Suggest that people’s ideas may vary depending on where they live: in some countries children start school later. In poorer countries children sometimes leave after primary school, to do paid work to support their families. Think about the situation in your own country, then try to think how it would be different in a poorer / richer country. 62

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What to do: Explain that children have the right to go to school. They also have the right to leisure time for play and relaxation. As they get older, some young people like to take parttime paid jobs to earn some money to spend. The amount of time we spend at school, play and work varies as we grow up. Invite the group to think about each of the ages in the list. Ask the Pioneers to consider how much of the time they think a person would spend playing, at school, and working at each stage. What do they think is the right balance?

Activity 2: Levels Of Work Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: The list of work examples below; paper / card and pen. What to do: Explain that children around the world help adults with jobs. Some children may help their parents to look after the household, care for younger children, and help in the garden. It’s good for older children to do tasks that help in the family, but there is a point where child work becomes unacceptable. Useful background information: ‘Light work’ is work that does not interfere with education. This is permitted for children from the age of 12. ‘Child labour’ refers to children working where their health and education is at risk. Child labourers are defined as all children below 12 years of age working in any jobs, children aged 12 to 14 years engaged in harmful work, and all children (under 18) engaged in the worst forms of child labour (e.g. hazardous work, prostitution, slavery). Use this information about child labour to help you with the activity. There are no right or wrong answers - the aim is to discuss people’s ideas and their reasons for them, and to come up with a compromise. It’s best if you have a group of 10 or more Pioneers. Each of the 10 Pioneers should represent one of the examples. The task is to arrange the 10 people in order, from the most to the least acceptable types of work for children to do. You could write each example onto a piece of paper or card for the Pioneers to hold, to make it easier to remember. If you don’t have enough people, you can just arrange the pieces of paper on the floor. List of people: ••I am 13. I help at home by washing dishes for 20 minutes every day. ••I am 15. I work for three hours every night after school in my family’s shop. ••I am 17. I spent one Saturday helping my Dad repaint the house. ••I am 14. I work every weekend as an assistant in my father’s mechanic yard. ••I am 9. I look after my younger sisters all day while my mother is at work. ••I am 16. I ran away from home and now I work as a prostitute. ••I am 12. I occasionally help on our farm, spraying crops with pesticides. ••I am 14. I work as a domestic cleaner every day, and go to night school in the evenings. ••I am 11. I work in a mine, collecting rocks underground to carry to the surface. ••I am 14. I work 3 mornings a week (before school) delivering newspapers. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What jobs do you do? ••How does your school / work / play balance compare with other children from around the world? ••How do you balance school, work and play in your life? ••What do you think it would be like having to work more, with less time to play or learn? ••Why is the right to education important? ••Why is the right to leisure time for play and relaxation important? 63

SECTION 6: PEACE 64

SESSION 1 Aim: To think about what peace means and some of the consequences of war.

Introductory game: What Does Peace Mean? Duration: 15 minutes

How to play: Sit in a big circle. Ask the group what they think the word peace means. Ask individuals to act out a mime of the words they suggest. Encourage them to think of positive words, not just about the absence of war. Here are some suggestions to help if they get stuck: Happiness, friends, family, quiet, sleep, safety, love, making up, saying sorry, living together, community, caring, calm, silence. You could recap and get everyone to join in by repeating some of the words, and get everyone to mime the actions together.

Activity 1: World Without War Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Props (optional). What to do: Ask the Pioneers to imagine how things would be different if there weren’t any wars. Each person in the group should take on the role of a different character. They should act out what they think their character would be doing if there weren’t any wars going on. They can also interact with other people they come across in the room and find out how their lives are different too. Some suggested characters: • Soldier - would have a different job, maybe as a peace-keeper or arbitrator in disputes. Could put their practical skills to use e.g. bridge building, water supplies. • Child soldier - would go to school, have safety and security. • Inventor - would invent useful things instead of weapons. • Journalist - would write about positive stories rather than wars. • Governments - would spend time and money on better things. • Farmer (in conflict zone) - would be able to carry on as normal growing things, without being exposed to danger. • Arms manufacturer - would make more useful things instead of guns. • Family (in conflict zone) - would be able to live normally, without being afraid or in danger. • Add any other characters you think of. After about 10 minutes ask everyone to step out of their characters.

Activity 2: Weapons Of War Duration: 30 minutes

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What you need: “Instructions for Arms Dealers” activity sheet (below); thick paper or newspaper to make lances; sheets of newspaper to crumple to make cannon balls; A4 paper to make paper aeroplanes; two or three cut-out card nuclear bombs; currency, e.g. marbles.

What to do: [This game works best if the arms dealers and game leader encourage teams to buy the latest weapons and to wage war; spread rumours (e.g. you are going to be attacked). Discourage any moves to make peace.] Explain that this is a game involving two teams, who raise money to buy weapons from arms dealers. The game proceeds through a cycle of peace (with the teams working hard to earn money to buy weapons) and war. Each war is staged with the ‘latest’ weapons. Decide who will be the arms dealer(s) and give them the “Instructions for Arms Dealers” activity sheet. Decide who will be the trader who will buy whatever the teams produce and give them currency. Split everyone else into two equal teams. Give each team a base, e.g. a row of chairs, facing the other team’s base with about five metres separating them. Encourage each team to stay at their own base. The teams should work hard to make money: design some simple task, e.g. cutting up paper to make circles, or if outdoors collecting pebbles or litter! The teams take whatever they make / find to the trader, who exchanges the goods for currency. Arms dealers should visit the teams at their bases to sell them the latest weapons. Most of the weapons are sold as raw materials, so the teams have to spend time making the weapons - e.g. paper aeroplanes. After about five to seven minutes of frantic activity, encourage the teams to start a war (what’s the point in having these weapons if you don’t get to use them?). Allow the teams to battle it out for a short time - after the first round (lances) discourage hand-to-hand combat and try to keep the teams behind their bases, launching missiles at the other team. Declare the war over, and remove all the weapons from circulation. As an extension for older participants or large teams, you might want to put injured workers into a team hospital, where they have to be looked after. Start again with the teams working to make money through the simple task, with the next weapon on offer from the arms dealers. When you reach the nuclear stage, try to ensure that both teams get hold of the nuclear bombs at the same time. Stop the game and tell them if they’re going to launch their bomb, everyone in the team has to agree, and then give the bomb to the game leader to deliver to the other team. This gives the other team a few seconds to decide if they are going to retaliate. Perhaps at this stage, someone will suggest peace. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What was the conclusion - peace or mutual destruction? ••Who encouraged the war? Why? ••What were the costs of the war? ••What could the money you worked hard to make have been spent on instead of weapons? ••If you hadn’t spent time fighting a war, what could you have spent the time doing? ••Do you think a ‘world without war’ is realistic to hope for? What steps need to be taken to get there? If you have time, the group can sing the song “We’ve Got Axes” from the Woodcraft Folk songbook.

Weapons of war: Instructions for arms dealers Do not reveal these instructions to the teams. The success of this game depends on you! The aim is for the teams to work really hard to buy weapons from you and then wage war on the other team. They get injured and remain poor. You get rich! Be a salesman! The teams really need the weapons you’re selling. You should extract the maximum amount of money that you can from them, so that they keep working hard. But try to keep it equal! The point of the game is not that one team is stronger than the other. So sell the same arms to both teams, and offer them at different prices if necessary to try and keep both teams equally armed. We will release different weapons in order: Lances 2. Cannon balls (crumpled balls of newspaper) 3. Rockets (paper for making paper aeroplanes) 4. Nuclear bomb 1.

Try to discourage any attempts at making peace – you won’t make money that way. You’re working with another arms dealer ... but try to appear independent; at the very end you will both be declared the “winners” (unless a peace treaty is signed, in which case you are out of a job).

session 2 Aim: To think of some examples of conflict and how to prevent minor disagreements from escalating into serious fights.

Introductory game: One, Two, Three Duration: 10 minutes

How to play: Players must pair up. In their pair, they must count to three. Person A says ‘one’, person B says ‘two’, person A says ‘three’, person B says ‘one’ and so on. The pairs can practise this for a few minutes. Then ask the pairs to split up and find a new partner. This time ‘two’ is replaced by a hand clap. After a few minutes players have to find a new partner. This time ‘one’ is replaced with a ducking motion. After a few minutes ask players to find another partner. Finally ‘three’ is replaced with a jump. In the final round, it should look like this: Person A: duck, Person B: clap, Person A: jump.

Activity 1: Conflict Resolution Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Copies of the “How to Resolve Conflict” activity sheet (below); flip chart paper and pens; puppets (optional). What to do: Give out copies of the “How to Resolve Conflict” activity sheet. Ask the Pioneers to describe a variety of conflicts that commonly occur at the group, or at home or school. List these on a flip chart sheet. Select two or three of these and discuss how the steps for resolving conflicts could be applied to each situation. Split the Pioneers into groups of two or three and ask them to choose and act out one of these conflict situations, either as themselves or with puppets. Perform each of the role plays for the whole group (or just choose a few if you are short of time) and have a group discussion to evaluate the outcome of each. Introduce the concept of using words to express feelings instead of blaming someone else or using physical force. Use a ‘why’ message to state what’s bothering you and why, for example: “It really bothers me that you aren’t willing to work this out together instead of arguing all the time.” A ‘blaming’ message says what’s wrong with the other person, for example: “You’re ruining our project. You’re an idiot. You never do anything right.” A ‘blaming’ message puts the other person on the defensive and leads to more conflict. A ‘why’ message is constructive and points to a solution. ‘Why’ messages usually work better. Ask the Pioneers to try out their role plays again, replacing any ‘blaming’ messages with ‘why’ messages. The revised role plays can be performed again for the whole group if you have time. Then come back into a circle and discuss whether the conflict got resolved in a different way. Is the outcome the same?

Activity 2: Mediation Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Copies of the “Steps for Mediation” activity sheet (below). What to do: Explain to the group that mediation is a technique which young people can use to help their friends and peers to resolve disputes and conflicts. There are a few simple rules that have to be learnt and followed if mediation is going to work. Distribute copies of “Steps for Mediation” activity sheet and ask the Pioneers to read it. To ensure they understand these steps, ask them to suggest issues to consider when planning to intervene as a mediator. Look for suggestions such as: Am I the right person? Do I know one party better than the other? Can I assist without taking sides? Will both parties let me assist? Is this the right time to intervene? Are the parties relatively calm? Do we have enough time? Is this the right place? Ask the Pioneers how they would feel if they offered to mediate and were rejected. What would they do? Ask them why privacy is important. What would be the effect of doing the intervention in a public place? Ask what they think are the reasons for these rules. What would be the result of not having these rules? What should they do if the disputants fail to observe the rules? Describe the following situation, and briefly discuss what might have happened and how the disputants might be feeling: Pat and Lou are good friends. Pat broke up with his / her girl / boyfriend and told Lou the story including all the events that led to the breakup. Later Pat found out the story had got around and blamed Lou for the gossip, telling Lou they would never be friends again. Divide the Pioneers into groups of four. Two will play the disputants, one the mediator, and the fourth an observer. Have the disputants role-play the conflict above and the mediator offer help using the “Steps for Mediation” activity sheet. After the first role-play, ask the observer to help the process by asking the group questions such as: What went well? What could have gone differently? The Pioneers can then change roles so each has a chance to play either a disputant or a mediator. Discussion: (10 minutes) • Why is there conflict? • What are some positive ways of dealing with conflict? • How did you feel when the mediator offered assistance? • Did it feel helpful? Or like an intrusion? • How did you feel when you offered mediation? • Can you imagine yourself offering to mediate a dispute in your family or among friends?

6: PEACE

Finally, go around the circle and ask the Pioneers to come up with one word to describe how they’re feeling.

How to resolve conflicts (Fairly and peacefully) STOP... before you lose control of your temper and make the conflict worse. 2. SAY... what you feel is the problem. What is causing the disagreement? What do you want? 3. LISTEN... to the other person’s ideas and feelings. 4. THINK... of solutions that will satisfy both of you. If you still can’t agree, ask someone else to help you work it out. 1.

Steps for mediation 1. Introduction

Introduce yourselves as mediators. b. Ask those in the conflict if they would like your help in solving the problem. c. Find a quiet area to hold the mediation. d. Ask for agreement to the following: ••Try to solve the problem ••No name calling ••Let the other person finish talking ••Confidentiality a.

2. Listening

Ask the first person “What happened?” Paraphrase what they say. b. Ask the first person how she / he feels. Reflect their feelings. c. Ask the second person “What happened?” Paraphrase. d. Ask the second person how she / he feels. Reflect their feelings. a.

3. Looking for solutions

Ask the first person what she / he could have done differently. Paraphrase. b. Ask the second person what she / he could have done differently. Paraphrase. c. Ask the first person what she / he can do here and now to help solve the problem. Paraphrase. d. Ask the second person what she / he can do here and now to help solve the problem. Paraphrase. e. Use creative questioning to bring the disputants closer to a solution. a.

4. Finding solutions

Help both disputants find a solution they feel good about. b. Repeat the solution and all of its parts to both disputants and ask if each agrees. c. Congratulate both people on a successful mediation. a.

SESSION 3 Aim: To think about how our personal behaviour can increase or reduce conflict and to create a group treaty.

Introductory game: Tangles Duration: 10 minutes

How to play: Choose two people to go outside the room. Everyone else stands in a circle holding hands. Tangle up by climbing over hands or going under arms. The two people outside the room should then return and try to untangle everyone.

Activity 1: Do You Agree? Duration: 20 - 30 minutes

What you need: Mark one side of the room / space as ‘agree’ and the other side as ‘disagree’. What to do: Read out the statements below one at a time. Pioneers should consider the behaviours presented and decide if they agree or disagree if it is acceptable in Woodcraft Folk. They move to whichever sign they feel best reflects their opinion on how acceptable or unacceptable each type of behaviour is. Allow time after each statement for discussion about why people picked a particular response. Statements:

6: PEACE

• It’s okay to be left out • Children can bully adults • Saying someone is stupid doesn’t hurt them as much as hitting them • Making someone feel uncomfortable or unhappy is alright as long as it doesn’t happen all the time • Everyone should challenge all types and forms of bullying in the group • Making insulting comments about someone is not okay even if they deserve it • You should give your friends a second chance if they make a mistake • It’s important to welcome new members • Shoving another young person is fine during an active game • Stealing or damaging another person’s belongings is okay if they have bullied you • Spreading rumours is okay if the person has been nasty to you • Making threats is okay if someone is picking on you • Sending nasty texts or emails is okay if you don’t like the person you’re sending them to • Taking pictures of someone on your mobile to send to others is okay • It’s okay to cheer on a bully when they’re teasing someone • It’s okay to hit someone as long as they’re the same age and height as you • Repeating what someone says in a strange voice is fine if it’s funny • Bullies come in all shapes, sizes and ages • Bullies pick on people to try to prove something

••It’s better to tell someone who is being bullied to remain silent about what’s happening ••It’s best if others in the group try to ignore what’s happening ••Anybody can be bullied ••Telling an adult about a bully’s behaviour is a bad idea Briefly discuss which questions did everyone agree on and why? On which questions was there disagreement? Why? Above activity adapted from ‘What is bullying behaviour?’ activity by Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/cpsu/cpsu_wda57648.html

Activity 2: Group Treaty Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Paper and pens. What to do: Discuss your ideas about conflict resolution, to create a group treaty. This will be a way of recording how everyone wants the group to behave to avoid conflicts, and how to deal with any conflicts that arise. Here are a few suggestions the leader can introduce if necessary: ••Never hit someone else ••Never raise your voice at someone in anger ••Never swear or use bad language at each other ••Always try to resolve a conflict by discussion ••Never let a conflict continue outside a meeting ••If you can’t reach agreement, ask someone else to act as a mediator ••Never deliberately provoke a conflict ••Remember the value of saying ‘I’m sorry’ Use simpler phrases for younger children e.g. ‘we will not shout’, ‘we will say sorry’, etc. Write suggestions up on a large piece of paper, or someone can keep notes and read them out. Once the group has drawn up a list together, check whether there are any points people don’t agree on. Is there anything extra someone wants to add? How is the group going to decide on a final version? By voting? Or do they want a complete consensus from everyone? From this task you may learn some ideas about how you want to work together in future. When you have a final version, write it out neatly and get everyone to sign it at the bottom. Display the treaty in your meeting place so that everyone can see it and remember it. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What behaviour is not acceptable at Woodcraft Folk? Why? ••How can we challenge unacceptable behaviour? ••What should we do if we’re not happy with the way we’re being treated? ••When should we look at our group treaty in the future?

SECTION 7: NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT 74

SESSION 1 Aim: To think about reuse and recycling

Introductory game: Protecting Nature Duration: 10 minutes

What you need: About 40 paper balls of rolled up old newspaper; a rope or string about five metres long. How to play: This game represents the ‘fight’ between people who pollute and people who are protecting nature. Make a circle on the floor with the rope or string. This is the lake. Put the paper balls in the lake. Divide the group into two teams. One is standing in the lake (protecting), the other is outside (polluting). When you say “Start!” the team in the middle must throw the balls from the lake as quickly as possible whilst the team on the outside have to throw the balls back. Say, “Stop!” after one minute. The team who has more balls on its side loses. Change the teams round. To make it more real you can make the team of ‘polluters’ bigger.

Activity 1: Plastic Bottle Use Duration: 20 minutes

What you need: Empty plastic bottles; scissors; paper; pens.

Activity 2: Paper Making Duration: 40 minutes

What you need: This activity requires advance preparation. Make a paper mulch by mixing torn-up scrap paper, shredded paper, or old newspaper with watered down PVA. Leave this to soak and then divide it into separate washing up bowls, or similar sized containers, and add paint or food colouring to make different colours of mulch. Use a handheld blender to make finer mulch. Make wooden frames or take the glass out of a photo frame and attach fine mesh to one side of the frame by stapling it on. Ask the Pioneers to wear old clothes. You will also need newspaper; absorbent cloths; and materials to decorate the paper such as flower petals, glitter, leaves, coloured threads, paper bits from a hole punch etc. What to do: Explain how the mulch was made (you could demonstrate blending one colour) and what it was made from. Invite each Pioneer to fill a frame with mulch. They do this by dipping the whole frame horizontally into the mulch, shaking the frame to remove excess 76

7: NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

What to do: Explain that all over the world people use and discard empty plastic bottles. The bottles either add to rubbish heaps or look unattractive when they are thrown in gutters at the side of roads. We should try to reduce the amount of plastic we use and throw away. One way to do this is by refilling a bottle with water from home, rather than buying another bottle each time you’re thirsty. We can also try to reuse bottles, to give them a new life. Ask the Pioneers to list, in small groups, as many new uses as they can for an empty plastic bottle. Here are a few suggestions to get you started: cut the bottom off for a cup; cut the top off for a funnel; use it to store other liquids (re-label the bottle clearly); slice the bottom end off to use as a saucer for plant pots. If you have time, try designing and making some of the suggested items.

liquid and pulling it up gently so that the water runs out through the mesh leaving a layer behind. Use the newspaper and cloths to squeeze out some of the liquid and then delicately turn out the newly formed paper onto newspaper. Add flower petals, glitter, leaves, coloured threads etc to the wet paper for decoration and leave to dry (possibly collecting it the following week). Repeat the activity as time and materials allow. Discussion: (10 minutes) ••What would have happened to the scrap paper if we hadn’t used it for the mulch? ••What uses are there for recycled paper? ••What other materials can we reuse / recycle ourselves? How? ••What materials can be collected and reused / recycled? ••How can we find out what’s collected near us?

SESSION 2 Aim: To get out and about and looking at our environment in more detail.

Introductory game: Changes Duration: 10 minutes

How to play: Sit in a circle. Ask players to take turns to stand in the middle of the circle and close their eyes. While the player in the centre has their eyes closed, one of the other players changes the way they are sitting. Everyone else stays still in the same position. The player in the middle then looks and tries to decide who has moved.

Activity: Penny Hike Duration: 60 minutes

What you need: A coin; a place to walk – town or countryside; a camera and notebook for each group; some paper or photocopied maps; pens; a computer to show the photos. What to do: Divide the group into smaller groups of about five Pioneers each to go on a walk. Make sure there’s at least one adult with each group. Each group should set off in different directions or at staggered intervals from your starting point, having agreed a time to all meet back there at the end. At each junction, the group decides which way to go by flipping a coin – heads or tails for left or right. What to do if there are more than two paths? If there is an even number of paths, flip for the left pair or right pair, then flip again for paths within that pair. If there’s an odd number, flip for left pair v. right, then paths within the left pair.

If you find yourselves walking further and further away, you will need to make a decision to turn back at a suitable point so that you get back to the start in time to meet the other groups. When you get back, give each group a sheet of paper and ask them to draw a map of their walk. As a slightly easier option, they could colour the route they took on a photocopied map. Share the maps and photos from each group and tell the others about the things you observed along the way. Can the other groups recognise where the photos were taken? Discussion: (10 minutes) • How observant would you say you are? • Did drawing / noting / taking photos make you look more closely? • What things did you see which you wouldn’t normally notice? • Is the area more interesting than you thought? • Why should we take the time to look at our environment? • What can we do with the information we find out (e.g. arrange a litter pick, write to the paper etc, display a photo exhibition)? 78

7: NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

Carry on until you have gone a long way from your starting point. You may be lost, or fed up of going around in circles! Or maybe you have come back around to somewhere you’ve been before. Discuss what you can see on the way – plants, wildlife etc. Is there any litter or pollution? Write down what you find in the notebook.

session 3 Aim: To introduce the concept of the ecological footprint and to explore how sustainable different personal behaviours are.

Introductory game: Trees, People and CO2 Duration: 10 minutes

How to play: This is a variation of Goblins, Wizards and Giants. There are two groups; in each round one group will try to catch members of the other group. When someone is caught, they join the other group. Each group decides on one of three roles in each round (without telling the others). Then the groups stand in two lines facing each other. On the signal, they ‘perform’ their roles by doing the action specified below. The group whose role beats the other chases the other group to their side of the room (or a defined line if you’re outside) and tries to catch any they can from the other team. If both have chosen the same role, they have to go back into their groups to decide on a role again. The three roles are people, trees and CO2: ••People beat trees (by cutting them down) ••Trees beat CO2 (by sucking it up) ••CO2 beats people (by creating climate change) Actions for each role: ••Trees - swaying arms above the head ••People - chopping down a tree with an axe ••CO2 - rising from the earth into the atmosphere (doing a ‘star jump’ jumping up with arms and legs spread widely)

Activity 1: What Do You Think? Duration: 20 - 30 minutes

What you need: Mark one side of the room / space as ‘agree’ and the other side as ‘disagree’. What to do: The Pioneers should position themselves on a line between ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ according to their opinion about various issues. Read out the statements one by one and ask the participants to stand on the ‘agree’ side of the line or the ‘disagree’ side. After each statement ask the Pioneers why they are standing where they are and initiate a short discussion on each point. Statements: ••There’s nothing we can do about climate change, it’s irreversible so we may as well continue living as we always have. ••The most important thing is to develop low energy technologies. If effort was put into developing these, we could all continue to live as we do now. ••We all need to radically change our lifestyles to reverse climate change. ••Shoppers cannot change the way goods are made. 79

• If we don’t spend our money on one thing, we’ll spend it on another. • Live simply so others may simply live. • I often follow what others do rather than be different because of something I believe in, because it’s easier that way. • It’s easy to live your life according to your beliefs. • I don’t wear Fairtrade clothes because they don’t make clothes that I like. • I need my bank to give me a good interest rate; it’s not my responsibility to check how they invest my money. • It’s okay to take money from rich people and give it to poor people. • Those who have more choices need to take responsibility for the planet by consuming less. • If I recycle more, switch off lights and don’t take long-haul flights, I’ve done my bit for climate change. Briefly discuss which questions everyone agreed on and why. On which questions was there disagreement? Why?

Activity 2: My Ecological Footprint Duration: 30 minutes

What you need: Outside space or a big room where all participants can stand in one line and walk forwards up to 70 small steps; a pen and a copy of the questionnaire activity sheet (below) for each participant.

Everyone stands in a line. One question at a time is read out and the participants step forward according to the answer they give. They also mark their answer on the questionnaire. After having read all the questions, come back together as a group. Give the Pioneers time to individually sum up all their answers. Explain what the numbers mean and let the participants compare their footprint with the global average. Discussion: (10 minutes) • How did it feel to always move on or be left behind? • Which behaviour could you change and which not? • Why is it possible to change some activities and not others? • Is it a life choice or a necessity to reduce your footprint? • What would you be ready to give up or change? • Where should we stand in the end? Complete session adapted from the Handbook for Action Against Climate Change by www.ifm-sei.org

7: NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

What to do: Explain that in the following activity the Pioneers will see how much their lifestyle impacts on our ecosystem. For each question, every participant should consider for themselves which answer to give. Remind them that this is not to make them feel guilty, but to show them in which areas improvements might be possible or might not be possible. If they are not sure which answer to give, they should estimate or else take the average answer.

Ecological Footprint questionnaire The ecological footprint estimates the area of land and ocean required to support one person’s consumption of food, goods, services, housing and energy and assimilate one person’s waste. The ecological footprint is expressed in ‘global hectares’, which are standardised units taking into account the differences in biological productivity of various ecosystems impacted by consumption activities. Nowadays the expression ‘carbon footprint’ is used more often to express the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by a person, an organisation, an event or a product. Total your score by adding up the circled values from the questions below. ••If your score is less than 150, your ecological footprint is smaller than 4 hectares. ••If 150 - 350, your ecological footprint is between 4.0 hectares and 6.0 hectares. ••If 350 - 550, your ecological footprint is between 6.0 hectares and 7.8 hectares. ••If 550 - 750, your ecological footprint is between 7.8 and 10 hectares. ••If more than 750, your ecological footprint is greater than 10 hectares. Only 2.1 hectares per person are available on earth. If everyone in the world used more, we would need more than one earth to sustain us. The average footprint in the UK and Canada is 6 hectares, in Austria 5, in Nicaragua 3, and in Sri Lanka 1. HOUSING

How many people live in your household? 1 2 3 4 5 or more

STEPS POINTS 3 30 2 25 2 20 1.5 15 1 10

HOUSING

How is your house heated? Natural gas Electricity Oil Renewable energy (solar, wind)

STEPS POINTS 3 30 4 40 5 50 1 10

HOUSING

How many individual taps (in your kitchen, bathrooms, and outside) and toilets do you have in your house? Fewer than 3 3-5 6-8 8 - 10 More than 10

STEPS 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

POINTS 5 10 15 20 25

HOUSING FOOD

How many meals per week do you eat meat or fish? 0 1-3 4-6 7 - 10 More than 10

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 2 20 3.5 35 5 50

FOOD

How many meals do you eat per week prepared from fresh ingredients (not ‘ready’ meals or frozen pizzas)? Under 10 10-14 14-18 More than 18

STEPS

FOOD

When purchasing your food items, does your family try to buy locally produced goods? Yes No Sometimes Rarely Don’t know

STEPS

TRANSPORT

If you or your family own a car, what type of car is it? Motorcycle Small compact Mid-sized Large Sports, 4 by 4 vehicle or mini van Pick-up truck or full-size van

STEPS POINTS 1.5 15 3.5 35 6 60 7.5 75 10 100 13 130

TRANSPORT

How do you get to school / work? Car Public transport School bus Walk Bicycle, rollerblade or skateboard

STEPS POINTS 5 50 2.5 25 2 20 0 0 0 0

TRANSPORT

What type of home do you live in?

Where did you go on holiday within the last year? No holiday Own country, own region Own country, different region International Intercontinental

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 3 30 4 40 7 70

Apartment / flat House

STEPS 2 4

2.5 2 1.5 1

2.5 12.5 5 10 7.5

POINTS 20 40

POINTS 25 20 15 10 POINTS 25 125 50 100 75

TRANSPORT

How many weekend trips per year do you take by car or plane? 0 1-3 4-6 7-9 More than 9

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 2 20 3 30 4 40

PURCHASES

How many large purchases (stereo, TV, computer, car…) has your household made in the last year? 1-3 4-6 More than 6

STEPS

1.5 3 4.5

POINTS 15 30 45

PURCHASES

Have you bought any energy-efficient products in the past year instead of non-energy efficient (fridges etc.)?

WASTE

Do you try to reduce the amount of waste you generate (e.g. buying food in bulk, refusing junk mail / flyers…)? Always Sometimes Rarely Never

STEPS

WASTE

Does your household compost? Always Sometimes Rarely Never

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 1.5 15 2 20

WASTE

Does your household recycle paper, cans, bottles etc? Always Sometimes Rarely Never

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 1.5 15 2 20

WASTE

How many rubbish bags of waste do you fill each week? One half-full rubbish bag 1 2 More than 2

STEPS POINTS 0 0 1 10 2 20 3 30

Yes No

0 2.5

0 1 2 3

POINTS 0 2.5 POINTS 0 10 20 30

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT 84

PLANNING AN ACTIVITY / GAME / CIRCLE Whether you’re using activities from this book or elsewhere, if you haven’t planned your own activity before you might want to consider the ideas below. It’s not difficult, but it’ll work best if you think about certain things beforehand. Think about • How to make the activity fit into Woodcraft Folk’s values • The number of children involved, their ages, their gender and their abilities • How you’re going to get them to work together • How much time you want to spend on the activity • The space you have available You might find it useful to fill in the table below or at least think about the answers: Number of children Time allocated Materials required What do you need to prepare beforehand? What do you need to get ready when you arrive?

How are you going explain the activity? How can you split the children into groups / pairs if required? How are you going to get the kids helping with the tidying up? Even the best-planned activities don’t always go according to plan. It’s worth reflecting on what worked really well and what didn’t, so you can apply it to future sessions. And don’t forget to ask other leaders for help, and look at Woodcraft Folk’s online resources for inspiration: woodcraft.org.uk/resources. 86

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

How are you going to get the children’s attention?

BLANK SESSION TEMPLATE This blank session template is for you to record your own sessions. Once you’ve tried them, please share them with other group leaders. You can also upload your activity plans to the Woodcraft Folk website to inspire other leaders (contact editor@woodcraft.org.uk if you aren’t sure how to do this). Name: Session Themes: Introductory game:

Duration:

What you need:

How to play:

Activity:

Duration:

What you need:

What to do:

Circle time discussion points:

Resources:

Tips / Variations:

FURTHER RESOURCES Many other activities for Pioneer groups have been produced around Woodcraft Folk, and still more can be adapted from activities for other age groups. Other resources you may find helpful are: • ‘Choose it, Plan it, Do it!’ – participative facilitation tools and activities for groups; available online. • ‘Annual Gathering group activities’ – activities to prepare delegates to represent the group at Woodcraft Folk’s AGM and to introduce Pioneers and Venturers to this vital part of Woodcraft Folk’s democracy. • ‘Follow the Trail activities for Elfins and Pioneers’ – activities to help groups reflect on what Woodcraft Folk means, how young people are involved and how we can take that further; available online and in print (free) from Folk Office. • globalvillage2006.org – activities produced by the Global Village 2006 project, themed around the Millenium Development Goals. • ‘Pioneer Bushcraft Way Education Pack’ – bushcraft activities for Pioneer groups; available online and in limited quantities (free) from Folk Office. • ‘Games Games Games’ book; available from Folk Supply. • ‘Games Games Games’ DVD (with different content from the book) available free from Folk Office. • ‘The Woodcraft Folk Songbook’ - available from Folk Supply. • ‘Transition support – welcoming new group members’ – activities and ideas for helping young people move from one age group to the next. All the online activities mentioned above can be downloaded from woodcraft.org.uk/resources and there are plenty of other group night activities in this section of the website, tagged by age group, by theme and by type of activity.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

You may find that you want to combine individual activities in a different way to form a group night around a particular theme. If you come up with a session plan you think is good, please share it with other groups via the website at woodcraft.org.uk/node/add/resource (you must be logged in to do this; contact editor@woodcraft.org.uk if you aren’t sure how).

NEXT STEPS If your Pioneer group has enjoyed group night activities like the ones included here, and wants to try Woodcraft activities that take them beyond their group night and connect to the wider organisation and community, you could discuss some of the ideas below with them: ••Visiting a local organisation, park or museum to find out more about a topic the group is interested in ••Inviting a guest speaker to run a workshop on a particular topic ••Linking up with other Woodcraft Folk groups for a joint activity ••Creating an Action Project with support from national Woodcraft Folk (woodcraft.org.uk/ action-projects) ••Joining a campaign on an issue the Pioneers care about – either external or one that Woodcraft Folk is already involved with (check woodcraft.org.uk/campaigns) ••Creating a page about your group on the national Woodcraft Folk website (contact editor@woodcraft.org.uk if you don’t already have a Group Web Manager) ••Sharing news, photos and events from your group by publishing them on the Woodcraft Folk website ••Planning a new camp or hostel trip, with Pioneers taking on roles and making decisions that they feel comfortable with Attending Annual Gathering is a great way to meet other Woodcraft Folk groups, as well as for representatives of each group and district to bring ideas for developing Woodcraft Folk in the future. Delegates as young as eight and nine have proposed and debated motions at Annual Gathering – all members are welcome! Information about Annual Gathering is published in woodcraft.org.uk/calendar and emailed to all members every year.

INDEx

health and safety ................................5, 34 listening ...............................................71 making decisions ................................89 making things......................................61 membership ........................................4 mime ....................................................66 music ...................................................7, 29, 48, 50, 56 planning ...............................................5, 12, 17, 70, 86, 89 policies .................................................5 preparation..........................................76 programme .........................................3, 12-13 project .................................................69, 88-89 resources .............................................3, 5, 7, 17, 29, 86-88 rights ....................................................17, 34, 54, 56-58, 60, 62 role play ...............................................6, 15 safeguarding........................................5 session template.................................87 stereotypes .........................................50-51 strategy ...............................................23 string ....................................................7, 76 trail .......................................................88 training ................................................35, 49 trip........................................................89 values ...................................................81, 86 walking .................................................36, 78 water ....................................................7, 35, 56, 66, 76-77 website ................................................3-5, 87-89 Woodcraft Folk Aims and Principles 3, 11 Woodcraft Folk motto.......................37 Woodcraft Folk songbook .................67 young people ......................................3-6, 17, 60, 62, 70, 88

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

acting ...................................................15, 18, 28 active ...................................................3, 12, 72 Annual Gathering...............................88-89 art .........................................................6, 57 balance ................................................62-63 behaviour.............................................23, 53, 72-73, 80 box .......................................................5, 7 chairs ...................................................15, 36, 44, 56, 62, 67 chalk.....................................................7 challenge .............................................12, 62, 72-73 Child Protection.................................5, 73 chocolate ............................................32-33, 35 circle time ...........................................3, 87 collage .................................................61 communication ..................................23, 27, 52 craft .....................................................4, 7 cup .......................................................76 democracy ..........................................17, 88 drugs and alcohol ...............................5 equality ................................................3-4, 42, 44, 46, 50, 52 Ernest Thompson Seton ...................4 fabric....................................................7 facilitation ...........................................6, 88 film .......................................................17, 29 flag .......................................................36 folk supply ...........................................3, 88 follow the trail .....................................88 gender .................................................6, 86 goals .....................................................88 ground rules ........................................5 group dynamics ..................................5 having a say .........................................17

Your Notes

Woodcraft Folk is an educational movement for children and young people, designed to develop self confidence and activity in society, with the aim of building a world based on equality, friendship, peace and co-operation.

Woodcraft Folk Office

Our UK headquarters are in Southwark, London, where most of our staff are based: Units 9 & 10 83 Crampton Street London SE17 3BQ 020 7703 4173 info@woodcraft.org.uk

Gwerin Y Coed

Woodcraft Folk’s Welsh office: Y Ganolfan Llanfrothen Gwynedd LL48 6LJ 0845 458 9560 gwerin@woodcraft.org.uk

Woodcraft Folk Scotland Woodcraft Folk’s Scottish office:

The Co-operative Distribution Centre 401 Edinburgh Road Newhouse Lanarkshire ML1 5GH

www.woodcraft.org.uk www.gwerin.org facebook.com/woodcraftfolk twitter.com/woodcraftfolk Woodcraft Folk is a registered charity in England & Wales (1148195) and in Scotland (SC039791). And a Limited Company, registered in England & Wales, Company No. 8133727, registered office: Unit 9, 83 Crampton Street, London SE17 3BQ

scotland@woodcraft.org.uk

Woodcraft Folk TREE programme