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Listen to thisA group activity can be any activity in which children engage with other children and/or with adults. It can be basically a time for fun and for the release of excess energy. But in a child care organisation a group activity is also planned around certain skill deficits and development needs of the group. It should be a holistic experience which involves the whole child and which offers concrete gains so that, as Erickson says, “the playing child advances to new stages of mastery.”
Choosing activities, meeting needs
The energy put into planning group activities should focus on working on
the types of problems the children experience, such as: difficulties
with group participation, self-confidence, socialising, dealing with
conflict and competition, awareness of others” needs and viewpoints,
obeying rules, handling their own aggression.
We can see that some of these are physical shortcomings like unfitness, clumsiness or poor eye-hand co-ordination; others can be perceptual or cognitive such as poor eyesight or concentration or not understanding the words and aims of a particular game; other problems may be emotional, like weak self-control, inability to lose, to take responsibility or share decision-making with others.
So when we choose an activity, we try to include teaching and growth goals along with the basic pleasure of participation. The activities you choose will depend on the above, but also on the ages and ability levels of the children.
An activity should always be something which a child can actually do – or at least learn how to do quickly. We don’t want to discourage children or worsen their problems!
With school-aged children who can manage these,
common sports are often the best activities because they can be
continued after leaving the institution, and a child will go out into
the world with the shared “language” of soccer or netball or athletics.
Staff and organisational gains
Child and youth care workers should be aware of the advantages of
well-planned activities not only for the children but also for
themselves, as well as for the general physical and social environment.
Groups of adolescents who have nothing constructive to do will soon
become bored and destructive. There will be fighting, damage to property
and bullying, and these things lead to increased staff-child conflict,
general unhappiness, running away, and then staff burnout. Staff are
also often unsure as to what they can do with children, and activities
offer the opportunity to interact positively and constructively and to
build relationships with children.
Aims
I chose for this practicum a soccer tournament. The aims of this were to
plan a growth-producing activity for children which was appropriate to
their general developmental needs. This would aim at some specific
gains: in building up towards the tournament day there would be
team-building, group cohesion, co-operation, leadership, belonging, and
working relationships. The soccer itself would provide the natural play
opportunity, the fun and excitement, constructive use of leisure time,
the socialising and the enjoyment – and also the added experiences of
learning more about the rules of the game, the strategies and
techniques.
Within these general and group goals we could fit many of the individual goals of particular children. For example, we would be able to link certain children with this wider project which would become a resource to the institution as a whole.
Examples of some of the individual children we considered in this way:
Child 1 is unable to commit to tasks. In a team would be able to share in the motivation of the team as a whole and benefit from their encouragement and reward.
Child 2 is impulsive, cannot wait. Would learn to work towards a date in the future – it takes sustained work to build up a team with its skills and game plans for a tournament.
Child 3 finds it hard to keep to rules. Soccer rules are strict, agreed to by all the team and enforced by a neutral referee.
Child 4 resists co-operative work in groups; prefers to do things alone. Being a member of a team will build his dependence on others and reward his contribution to the group.
Child 5 loses temper when frustrated. A few yellow and red cards as part of the game can help him find a balance between acting out and enjoying his game.
Child 6 is clumsy, poor eye co-ordination. The tournament will include intensive skills training, for example, catching, kicking, passing.
The planning
Not everyone was going to be included in the actual soccer, but the
event demanded an immense amount of planning and work of which all could
be part. For example, we worked at finding a date (September 19 as it
happened) which didn’t interfere with exams, on which the field would be
free and which was convenient for the other institutions we invited. Our
list of duties was awesome: invitations, sponsors, tournament rules,
finances, equipment (balls, flags, whistles, stopwatches, etc.),
trophies, match officials, teas and refreshments, the complicated staff
duty roster for the actual day ... Alongside all these arrangements was
the training schedule, the coach, the early morning fitness runs, the
child care workers being on hand at training sessions to support and
encourage, and so on.
Evaluation
Our team lost the tournament!
But that really wasn’t so important. The soccer team itself worked very well together over the period and developed good relationships. This had a bleed-off effect into other areas of their lives, as well as into the institution as a whole – the tournament was a focus of interest and activity for the non-participants as well. We learned how to find and prepare the resources for whatever activities the children were involved in. A few things went wrong, The transport bringing the tea lost its way and came an hour late to feed very hungry children. But there were no incidents of misbehaviour or upset on the day, and we gained many weeks of excited involvement and anticipation.
And, whether it’s to be a soccer tournament or a concert or a camping trip, we also learned a lot as to how to do something like this again next time.
