Group Building Through Activities:
This session will provide group leaders with a variety of "hands-on" ice-breakers and experiential activities. Throughout the training process, activities can be used as an effective tool for establishing group cohesiveness and teaching facilitation skills. Participants will learn what factors to consider when selecting activities; facilitation strategies to use during an activity; and, processing techniques to use once an activity has been completed. Matching particular activities to different populations (i.e. elementary to high school students) and situations will also be discussed.
Activities can play an important role in the training process. Initially, ice-breakers and energizers can help relax group members and set the mood or tone for the session. In addition, activities provide an opportunity for group members to become more involved in the learning process. Finally, activities can be used to teach skills, enhance lessons and help group leaders address the various learning styles of the group members.
There are a number of factors to consider when selecting appropriate training activities. The developmental stage of the group plays an integral role in the sequencing of activities. Activities can serve as an excellent way to build group cohesion, develop trust, or improve problem solving skills. Other important considerations fall into two main categories: logistics and intention. Logistic considerations include all aspects of an activity that determine if it can be done, such as location, time, group size, etc. Intention considerations include all aspects of an activity that determine why it is being done, such as developmental stages of group members, purpose (i.e. ice-breaker, energizer, lesson enhance), etc.
Although there are a number of issues to consider before conducting an activity, more importance lies in what happens after an activity is completed. Processing, debriefing what happened in an activity, is important because it helps answer the question "How?" This includes: how the group members interacted with each other; how they responded to the different aspects of the activity; and how they felt during the activity. Another major reason for processing is that it helps group members transfer the learning's from the activity to their personal life.