A great game in so many ways! Have one player think of an object. The other players will need to ask yes/no questions in an effort to guess what the object is. This game is fun and also helps youth fine-tune their critical thinking and creativity skills as they try and come up with more …
n exploring conflict, commit to trying on different perspectives in the conflict. Draw out of a bowl a particular role with an attached explanation. Play that role in teams of four or five, expressing your beliefs. Debrief with the whole group, adding in different perspectives in time, gender, geography, economy, and ethnicity. Evaluate the roles …
Take youth on team treasure hunts. Ask critical questions along the way to solve a problem. With each treasure is a clue to solving the problem. You can have youth brainstorm the solutions as well as evaluate needs, resources, tools, and steps for each solution. Then they can write the clues and leave them for …
Share individual stories of people in need. Identify what everyone can contribute. Where could we find the needed materials? Together as a group, deliver the donated items to a nearby organization in wagons, if available. Work with the accepting agency to provide further information about the services and supports they provide (examples: donation to a …
An alternative assessment method that can be used with all grades and subject areas. In the tic-tac-toe 9-square grid, list a variety of activities and projects (simple, more difficult, and those that would take days to complete). Youth then select any run of three squares: vertical, horizontal or diagonal, letting them own their choices. In …
Show pictures and/or video of certain situations at school and in the surrounding neighborhood. Examples include: seeing garbage on the floor, an elderly person dropping their cane, a person not able to get through a door because their hands are full, a child crying or looking sad, or classmates arguing or fighting. Hold a classroom …
Adult writes at the top of a blank paper, “I’m so grateful that if I were a monster created by a mad scientist, my name would be Thankenstein.” Give each child a photocopy of this sheet, and have them draw their (happy) monster, then have them complete the sentence, “I appreciate you, (name), because ________________ …
Set aside times during the day when no one in the family touches technology. Turn off all cell phones, televisions, computers, etc. Youth who are always engaged in technology are more impulsive and rarely have time for self-reflection, which is at the core of mindfulness. If your family is technology dependent, intentionally create more quiet …
Show youth a variety of pictures of celebrations involving young people from around the world. Place cut-outs of known children/students into the celebration picture (make sure to rotate the pictures). Have the youth guess where the celebration is and what the kids are celebrating. What is the significance of the celebration? Do we have a …
An opportunity to explore controversial issues and divergent positions and work to reach consensus on what may have happened– highlighting the complexities of particular perspectives, opinions and events. Have youth argue one side of an argument and then have them switch sides before negotiating an agreement between the two sides. The controversial issues can be …
Titled after the Greek philosopher, Socratic dialogue transforms a student’s learning experience by allowing youth to generate and express their own ideas via the teacher asking questions as their primary method of instruction. It is collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a topic, text, or issue. When done purposefully, the outcome is improved …
A simple, effective parallel thinking technique developed by E. de Bono that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. It forces people to move outside of their habitual thinking styles and get a more rounded view of a situation. Team members learn how to separate thinking into six clear functions and roles. Each …
