Development Activities for Youth

If you are running a youth group, you want to make sure that the activities you do with them leave a lasting positive impact. The games that you play with children should build attributes like teamwork skills, positivity, and communication abilities. The children you work with may not remember when they were introduced to these development activities, but the work you do can help them to grow up to be stronger, more fully-developed adults.

  1. Survival

    • This activity helps children to learn how to work in a team and teaches the importance of cooperation. Prepare a scenario for your group in which they have crashed in a boat or a plane into an island (or something similar) and they only have a limited amount of room to carry supplies. Give them a list of 30 items and have them decide as a group which 15 items are the most important for their survival. The goal is to agree partially or fully on the completed list. After the activity, discuss how teamwork played a major role in developing the final list.

    Board Room

    • This high energy activity teaches children to see the possibilities of a situation rather than its potential negative aspects. Tell the children that they are board members for a large corporation. One of them should come up with the idea for a product. No one in the group may say anything negative about the product and they may not disagree with anybody̵7;s ideas. The objective is to develop as many ideas about the product as possible. For example, if someone suggests the idea for a dog translator collar, nobody should say that such a thing does not exist. Instead, someone might suggest making collars that speak different languages. Have the group collect as many ideas as they can before moving to the next product.

    60 Second Speeches

    • This activity teaches children how to speak off the top of their heads without being nervous. It also lets them have practice speaking in front of a group. Develop a list of possible speaking topics and write each one on a slip of paper. Have one child at a time get up in front of the group and start speaking for 60 seconds. The rule is that the child cannot pause or hesitate the during that time. Have each child try the activity at least once. If they do a great job, increase the time beyond 60 seconds.

    Compliments

    • This game is helpful for building self-esteem, but it also teaches children how good it makes people feel when you compliment them. The activity works best if the group has worked together for a while. Have one of the kids get up in front of the group. Each other member of the group takes a turn talking about the positive qualities of the person in front of the room. Nothing negative can be said during this time. After one person has her chance, switch to another person in the group.

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