Work Pack: Youth Club Activities - Emotional wellbeing
Monday, November 12, 2007
Looking after your state of mind is as important as taking care of your body. Vanessa Rogers provides ideas for youth workers to get young people thinking.
Good emotional health is not about finding the key to eternal happiness, but more to do with developing the skills to cope positively with both the good and the not so good things in life.
It is easy to smile on a sunny day, surrounded by friends with everything going your way, less so to stay calm in stressful or unfamiliar situations. Maintaining good emotional health enables people to feel good about themselves which contributes to a more positive, happier life.
This resource pack contains activities for youth workers to use with young people aged between 11 and 19 that promote emotional wellbeing and increased self-esteem.
CHAIN REACTION
Aim This warm-up exercise encourages young people to share the things they are good at and appreciate the talents of other members of the group.
You will need
- Packets of paper chains
- Marker pens
How to do it Begin by asking young people, "What do you think you do well?" Emphasise to the group that this doesn't have to be an academic achievement but can be anything. After a brief discussion, conclude that everyone is talented in some way.
Now, hand out five of the unmade paper chains to each member of the group. Using markers, ask everyone to write a talent on each strip of paper.
Demonstrate how to create a paper chain with their strips linking their five talents together. As the young people begin to complete their mini chains, use extra strips of paper to link the mini chains together to create one long group chain. Invite the young people to stand and hold the ever-growing chain as you continue to link it together, until everyone is linked.
Once the entire chain is constructed, hang it up in the room as a reminder that everyone is good at something. Encourage the young people to look at the different talents and skills within their group and refer back to these during future group sessions.
BEST BEANS
Aim This activity promotes increased self-esteem and explores diversity issues.
You will need
- A packet of dried beans
How to do it Give everyone in the group five dried beans. Ask each young person to carefully examine their beans and then choose the "best". Don't offer any other explanation or instruction at this stage.
Now, ask each young person to introduce their "best bean" to the rest of the group, explaining why this particular bean is so special and superior to the others. Invite everyone to lay their "best bean" down in the middle of the group where everyone can see it.
Ask the group the following questions:
- Are all the "best beans" the same?
- Will the "best beans" taste different to those not chosen?
- Is one bean better than another?
Start a discussion encouraging the young people to look at the parallels between this exercise and differentiating between people. Is one person better than another? Is everyone the same? Should people be judged by how they look? How is someone's "worth" measured?
If you were hanging off a cliff and desperately clinging to a few blades of grass and a hand reached down to help, would you wait to see what that person looked like before you reached for help?
Conclude that all people are unique individuals and difference should be celebrated and valued.
SELF-ESTEEM MIRROR
Aim An important first step in building self-esteem, this activity enables young people to take a realistic look at their personal strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.
You will need
- Paper and pens
How to do it Hand out a pen and paper to each person and ask them to fold the paper in half lengthwise. Explain that this is now a mirror that will reflect back things about its owner.
On one side of the mirror, they should list all the things they like about themselves and on the other side of the mirror, all the things they do not like about themselves. Ask the young people to compare the two lists. Which side lists more things? Which side was the more difficult to list?
Suggest that people with high self-esteem are realistic about their strengths and weaknesses and feel optimistic about setting achievable goals. They also feel good about themselves and do not take other people's negative impressions of them too seriously.
People with low self-esteem have a harder time honestly evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. This can lead to an overall negative impression of themselves that makes it easy to take other people's opinions more seriously than they should. Feeling bad about themselves can lead to people thinking that everything they do will fail before they even try.
Ask the young people to choose a partner with whom they are happy to work with and share their mirrors. Allow time for each pair to look at their personal mirrors and encourage positive additions.
STRESS GALLERY
Aim This activity encourages young people to consider stress factors and develop some positive coping strategies.
You will need
- Five large sheets of coloured paper
- A selection of coloured markers
- Sticky tape
- Flipchart paper
How to do it Ask the group for a definition of stress. Emphasise that stress can cause powerful feelings, as well as biological changes in the body. Ask the young people for ideas about some of the feelings and biological changes that stress can cause.
Next, stick up the five large sheets of coloured paper at different points in the room. Each sheet should have one of the headings below:
- Situations that Anger Me
- Situations that Worry Me
- Situations that Make Me Happy
- Situations that Make Me Excited
- Situations that Scare Me
If you are working with a small group do this as a whole group activity, if not divide the main group into five smaller ones. Position each group next to one of the posters and hand out a selection of markers.
Each group has one to two minutes to write down their responses to the situation on the poster in front of them. When the designated time is up, ask each group to move to the poster on their right. Continue rotating the groups until each one has written their responses to the situations on all five posters.
Invite a spokesperson from each group to read the responses on the poster in front of them. Discuss similarities, insights, or perceptions related to the ideas listed. Talk about which responses are positive stressors and which are negative stressors. Conclude that stress isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can be positive in some situations.
As a group consider healthy strategies to cope with the stressful situations identified. For example, going for a walk, playing sport, using art to express feelings or talking to someone. Record these onto the flipchart paper and display or type up and distribute later.
TREASURED COMMENTS
Aim The aim of this review is for young people to experience giving and receiving positive comments by creating "treasure boxes".
You will need
- An envelope for each young person with a copy of the "treasure chest" picture stuck onto it
- Coloured paper cut into strips to fit into the envelopes
- Pens
How to do it Give each member of the group a "treasure chest" and ask them to write their name on the front. Explain that this treasure chest will contain all sorts of positive messages to them by the end of the activity.
Next, provide each young person with enough brightly coloured paper strips to write a message to each member of the group. Encourage everyone to spend time thinking of something positive to say about each other. They should then write that positive message onto one of the coloured strips.
When everyone has finished writing their comments, they should walk around and put their messages in the envelope of the person to whom they have written it for. At the end of the activity, each young person will have a "treasured comments chest" to read on their own.
FACT FILE
- About one in 10 young people will experience anxiety problems that are bad enough to affect their everyday lives
- Half of girls aged 13 say they are significantly unhappy about their appearance
- The UK finished bottom of the Unicef study into the wellbeing of children in industrialised nations
Source: Mental Health Care, Social Issues Research Centre, Unicef
- Vanessa Rogers is a youth work trainer, consultant and author. Her books are available from www.nya.org.uk.