If you’re thinking about talking about the summer riots with your youth group when you gather back, why not check out this pdf and powerpoint study guide from America about a girl who was turned in by her parents when they saw her in TV footage of a group attacking a police car. It explores right and wrong and relationships between parents and teens so could be an interesting session.
Showing posts with label Session Resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Session Resources. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Pentecost resources
If you're looking to explore Pentecost with young people, why not try the session in Youth Emmaus or some of the following:
Dave Walker's Cartoon Church Pentecost worksheet
from Insight
from Scripture Union
from Going for Growth
from Barnabas (many seasons available scroll down to Pentecost)
from Textweek
from Cafod
or how about searching for a video on youtube such as this one.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Friday, 23 January 2009
Blobs on the Blog
I was chatting with some teachers recently about this great resource from Pip Wilson. There was the original Blob tree and from there, he has now developed all kinds of Blobs including the latest Blob Spirituality. These are great for using with people, young and old, to help them think about their place in a community, how they feel about themselves and their relationships with others and helps groups learn about how other members of the group feel.
Monday, 12 January 2009
I-cans
I am putting together a set of resources called I-cans which will be self-contained resource pots with everything you need to run a particular bible study, discussion, activity or worship session. If you have any particular session you would like featured in these resources, please do get in touch.
Resources for Lent
I’ve been sent some samples of the Love Life Live Lent resources, targeted this year at children, young people and families. The site provides an hour’s session for your youth group each week plus you could give each member of your group their own booklet to work through during the week for each day of Lent. There’s also a book for families and a book specifically aimed at children.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Treasrure Trails
Has your youth group done every outdoor activity there is?
Stuck for some new ideas?
I picked up information about a fabulous organisation called Treasure Trails.
Not only does the pack offer you a walking guide to help you get them out in the open air but it also gives you a puzzle to solve - either a treasure hunt, murder mysery or James Bond style spy trail. There are trails in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
There are also trails for Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Enjoy!
Stuck for some new ideas?
I picked up information about a fabulous organisation called Treasure Trails.
Not only does the pack offer you a walking guide to help you get them out in the open air but it also gives you a puzzle to solve - either a treasure hunt, murder mysery or James Bond style spy trail. There are trails in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
There are also trails for Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Enjoy!
Friday, 19 September 2008
Young People's Sunday
Watch out for forthcoming details of this national initiative on the Frontier Youth trust site. There will be a set of talks, dramas, prayers, stories, bible studies and other creative ideas free to download.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
What do Muslims think?
Interesting video here from Muslims in America when asked "What would you want to say to America?"
This could be a useful discussion starter for groups looking at difference, prejudice or people of faith.
This could be a useful discussion starter for groups looking at difference, prejudice or people of faith.
- What is there about the video that is what you'd expect?
- What surprises you most about the video?
- How did the video make you feel about the people in it?
- How did the video make you feel about people in your own community
- Has the video changed the way you think? If so, how?
Monday, 18 August 2008
Nooma
What is Nooma?
Nooma is a revolutionary product that is changing the way people experience spirituality – a series of short films on DVD with a 32 page discussion guide.
It's not a book or a cassette tape. And it's not a CD or a two-hour movie. It's a new format called NOOMA® — short films, between 10 and 14 minutes long, about God and our lives. Since its limited online release in November 2002, NOOMA has impacted millions of people. Because of this initial success and great potential, Zondervan has partnered with NOOMA to bring these films to the world.
How can I use Nooma?
Noomas are appropriate for personal and small group settings, congregational meetings, and much more. Like parables, they use the experiences of our lives to teach about the fullness of life through Jesus, tackling issues like forgiveness, discipleship, and unconditional love. The study materials accompanying each NOOMA encourage meaningful discussion with relevant questions and biblical references.
Who’s behind Nooma?
Rob Bell, a leading pastor and breakthrough communicator in the Christian community, is featured in the first series of Noomas. He is the author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God.
How do I access Nooma?
You can contact the Department of Children Youth and Education on 01905 732825 or by email and request a particular dvd from the following selection. We will then send the DVD out to you or hold it for you to collect. There is no charge for hire. We only request that you return the DVD by post or hand in good condition. We will charge for replacement or damage to ensure the resource remains available to other parishes.
Nooma is a revolutionary product that is changing the way people experience spirituality – a series of short films on DVD with a 32 page discussion guide.
It's not a book or a cassette tape. And it's not a CD or a two-hour movie. It's a new format called NOOMA® — short films, between 10 and 14 minutes long, about God and our lives. Since its limited online release in November 2002, NOOMA has impacted millions of people. Because of this initial success and great potential, Zondervan has partnered with NOOMA to bring these films to the world.
How can I use Nooma?
Noomas are appropriate for personal and small group settings, congregational meetings, and much more. Like parables, they use the experiences of our lives to teach about the fullness of life through Jesus, tackling issues like forgiveness, discipleship, and unconditional love. The study materials accompanying each NOOMA encourage meaningful discussion with relevant questions and biblical references.
Who’s behind Nooma?
Rob Bell, a leading pastor and breakthrough communicator in the Christian community, is featured in the first series of Noomas. He is the author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God.
How do I access Nooma?
You can contact the Department of Children Youth and Education on 01905 732825 or by email and request a particular dvd from the following selection. We will then send the DVD out to you or hold it for you to collect. There is no charge for hire. We only request that you return the DVD by post or hand in good condition. We will charge for replacement or damage to ensure the resource remains available to other parishes.
Friday, 1 August 2008
WaRes
WaRes is the new newsheet about resources available for work with children and young people from the Worcester Diocese.
DVDs/CDs/CDRoms
free to borrow if returned safely
Nooma
We have a complete set of Nooma DVDs for parishes to borrow free of charge. We only ask that you return the DVD to us undamaged either in person or via the post. See the separate Nooma leaflet for details.
Play PAWS
This DVD of Ice-breaking games does rather defy description. If you like pandas, especially pandas from Newcastle-upon-Tyne or if you’re into slightly querky games and humour then this really is for you. There are 2 dvds each with 6 sets of icebreaker games from spot the chocolate bar from its cross section to anagrams in alphabet soup. The graphics are rather clunky but that’s just part of the appeal.
Mission and Young People at Risk
This CDrom tool from the Frontier Youth Trust is a great way to assess the needs of young people in your community as you look to start any new work with young people. It contains 700 screens looking at four subjects: Community, Communication', 'Mission' and 'Group work'.
If you have any suggestions for DVD resources which you think the diocese should invest in for use by parishes, do get in touch.
Sports/Games Equipment
Unihoc set £5 deposit £1/day £2 weekend
Large Connect Four (not giant but big!) £2 deposit free loan
Basketball £1 deposit free loan
Football pump £1 deposit free loan
Pack of 50 sports field markers £2 deposit free loan
Juggling balls £2 deposit free loan
Bopit £1 deposit free loan
Twister Scram £1 deposit free loan
Special equipment
Breathe
See Breathe Booklet for details of this spirituality resource
KUBB
£10 deposit Cost £1/day £2/weekend
Kubb is a Swedish stick-throwing game that involves skill and team work. It can be played with between 2 and 12 players and you will need a large garden or small field where you can set out the playing area with some room to spare around it. The game went down well with the young people at the Diocesan Assembly and is suitable for all ages over 7.
Crossword Connect
£2 deposit free loan
A set of 13x13cm interconnecting squares with letters on which can be used for all sorts of games and group activities.
Parachute
£10 deposit Cost £1/day £2 weekend £5 week
Parachutes can be used with all ages for some great games and story-telling activities.
Tug of War Rope
£10 deposit Cost 50p/day £1/weekend £3/week
Craft Equipment
Badge Machine
Cost £10 plus 15p per badge
Nooma
We have a complete set of Nooma DVDs for parishes to borrow free of charge. We only ask that you return the DVD to us undamaged either in person or via the post. See the separate Nooma leaflet for details.
Play PAWS
This DVD of Ice-breaking games does rather defy description. If you like pandas, especially pandas from Newcastle-upon-Tyne or if you’re into slightly querky games and humour then this really is for you. There are 2 dvds each with 6 sets of icebreaker games from spot the chocolate bar from its cross section to anagrams in alphabet soup. The graphics are rather clunky but that’s just part of the appeal.
Mission and Young People at Risk
This CDrom tool from the Frontier Youth Trust is a great way to assess the needs of young people in your community as you look to start any new work with young people. It contains 700 screens looking at four subjects: Community, Communication', 'Mission' and 'Group work'.
If you have any suggestions for DVD resources which you think the diocese should invest in for use by parishes, do get in touch.
Sports/Games Equipment
Unihoc set £5 deposit £1/day £2 weekend
Large Connect Four (not giant but big!) £2 deposit free loan
Basketball £1 deposit free loan
Football pump £1 deposit free loan
Pack of 50 sports field markers £2 deposit free loan
Juggling balls £2 deposit free loan
Bopit £1 deposit free loan
Twister Scram £1 deposit free loan
Special equipment
Breathe
See Breathe Booklet for details of this spirituality resource
KUBB
£10 deposit Cost £1/day £2/weekend
Kubb is a Swedish stick-throwing game that involves skill and team work. It can be played with between 2 and 12 players and you will need a large garden or small field where you can set out the playing area with some room to spare around it. The game went down well with the young people at the Diocesan Assembly and is suitable for all ages over 7.
Crossword Connect
£2 deposit free loan
A set of 13x13cm interconnecting squares with letters on which can be used for all sorts of games and group activities.
Parachute
£10 deposit Cost £1/day £2 weekend £5 week
Parachutes can be used with all ages for some great games and story-telling activities.
Tug of War Rope
£10 deposit Cost 50p/day £1/weekend £3/week
Craft Equipment
Badge Machine
Cost £10 plus 15p per badge
Thursday, 31 July 2008
You Fish Shoes
Jenny Baker, ed., You Fish Shoes: connecting 30 key issues with Christian faith for 14-18 year olds (Christian Education Publications, 2005)
The title of this book has divided opinion amongst those I’ve shared it with. You Fish Shoes is either a really clever title or really cheesy. Yet however the title is viewed it is one of the things that make this book one which is not easily forgotten. In this compilation of the work of seven experienced youth workers, Jenny Baker has edited together thirty sessions for older teenagers. In my experience it is often difficult to find good resources for work with this age group but this volume offers an excellent resource for school groups and youth groups. The book is clearly not intended as a course to be followed through but as a resource to be used as appropriate. It covers topics such as prejudice, drugs, commercialism, the occult, bereavement and self harming. I think it would be a particularly useful volume to turn to in the event of one of these issues arising for the group either through personal experience or after events in the local community.
The book is versatile in that it can be used almost as an off the shelf, last minute session but that is not the original intention of the book. Indeed, more than that, it offers group leaders suggestions and opportunities for going deeper with issues. Like any good session resource, You Fish Shoes offers more than you could fit in any one session providing a panoply of activities, discussions, film clips and Bible studies. This means that, unlike some other resources of this kind, you can tailor a session for your group without necessarily having to use a source book merely as a starting point. This book offers such a good choice of alternatives that youth leaders and teachers will not need to add material of their own, though they might well be inspired to do so. As well as providing thirty sessions for use with young people, this book also revitalised my own planning of sessions on other topics as it offers such a good model of a balanced session made up of a variety of styles and activities.
Each session is punctuated with thoughts on the topic by modern thinkers, Christian writers, contemporary novels or celebrities which helps make the pages more approachable and readable. The chapter begins with an explanation of the issue in question. Following this brief introduction, there is a list of web resources for the youth leader to explore for themselves in preparing the topic or point the group towards for follow up. Next comes a few thought-provoking questions for use in preparing the session or to begin a discussion within the session itself. The Extras section which follows gives a handful of other things you could use in the session. There is then a list of books to read about the topic and some Bible references (with explanations) which link to the topic. These elements alone would be a good start to planning a session but You Fish Shoes goes on to offer the group leader even more.
The main part of each session offers various elements; Ways In, Bible Study, Response, Worship and Prayer. Each of these starts by explaining what type of activity it is, what the aim of this particular part is and what you will need for it. The Ways In offer a variety of types of beginning to the group session including film clips with follow up discussion, icebreakers, games, craft, brain storming and team activities. The Bible Studies are thoughtful (deeper in places than some other books might offer) and encourage reflection from the group.
I think it is in the Response, Worship and Prayer elements, that this book really places itself at the top of my list for resources of this kind. Unlike some other youth discussion books, You Fish Shoes really engages young people not only in Bible study and discussion but also in responding personally to issues through art, action and meeting with God in prayer and worship.
It is no surprise that Jenny Baker, who brought us Tune in Chill out, Transforming Prayer and Transforming Prayers: 40 Unique Experiences for Youth Ministry has given us another resource of innovative and engaging ways into communicating with God through a vast array of experiences including melting sugar cubes, listening to Dido or breaking paper chains. No-one should underestimate the power of this kind of multisensory worship for young people and Jenny Baker is certainly gifted in not only leading such worship but in giving guidance to others about doing so through books such as this.
If I had to make one criticism of this book it would be that there is too much good stuff in it and therefore it is difficult to decide which elements to use! So many of the activities are good that the problem is not “What shall we do with the group?” but rather “what should we miss out?”
It is a book suitable for the full time practitioner or the volunteer and is a good book to recommend to a group that is just starting either at a school or a church or to someone who feels their group has lost a bit of edge in its sessions.
Reviewed by Sarah Brush
The title of this book has divided opinion amongst those I’ve shared it with. You Fish Shoes is either a really clever title or really cheesy. Yet however the title is viewed it is one of the things that make this book one which is not easily forgotten. In this compilation of the work of seven experienced youth workers, Jenny Baker has edited together thirty sessions for older teenagers. In my experience it is often difficult to find good resources for work with this age group but this volume offers an excellent resource for school groups and youth groups. The book is clearly not intended as a course to be followed through but as a resource to be used as appropriate. It covers topics such as prejudice, drugs, commercialism, the occult, bereavement and self harming. I think it would be a particularly useful volume to turn to in the event of one of these issues arising for the group either through personal experience or after events in the local community.
The book is versatile in that it can be used almost as an off the shelf, last minute session but that is not the original intention of the book. Indeed, more than that, it offers group leaders suggestions and opportunities for going deeper with issues. Like any good session resource, You Fish Shoes offers more than you could fit in any one session providing a panoply of activities, discussions, film clips and Bible studies. This means that, unlike some other resources of this kind, you can tailor a session for your group without necessarily having to use a source book merely as a starting point. This book offers such a good choice of alternatives that youth leaders and teachers will not need to add material of their own, though they might well be inspired to do so. As well as providing thirty sessions for use with young people, this book also revitalised my own planning of sessions on other topics as it offers such a good model of a balanced session made up of a variety of styles and activities.
Each session is punctuated with thoughts on the topic by modern thinkers, Christian writers, contemporary novels or celebrities which helps make the pages more approachable and readable. The chapter begins with an explanation of the issue in question. Following this brief introduction, there is a list of web resources for the youth leader to explore for themselves in preparing the topic or point the group towards for follow up. Next comes a few thought-provoking questions for use in preparing the session or to begin a discussion within the session itself. The Extras section which follows gives a handful of other things you could use in the session. There is then a list of books to read about the topic and some Bible references (with explanations) which link to the topic. These elements alone would be a good start to planning a session but You Fish Shoes goes on to offer the group leader even more.
The main part of each session offers various elements; Ways In, Bible Study, Response, Worship and Prayer. Each of these starts by explaining what type of activity it is, what the aim of this particular part is and what you will need for it. The Ways In offer a variety of types of beginning to the group session including film clips with follow up discussion, icebreakers, games, craft, brain storming and team activities. The Bible Studies are thoughtful (deeper in places than some other books might offer) and encourage reflection from the group.
I think it is in the Response, Worship and Prayer elements, that this book really places itself at the top of my list for resources of this kind. Unlike some other youth discussion books, You Fish Shoes really engages young people not only in Bible study and discussion but also in responding personally to issues through art, action and meeting with God in prayer and worship.
It is no surprise that Jenny Baker, who brought us Tune in Chill out, Transforming Prayer and Transforming Prayers: 40 Unique Experiences for Youth Ministry has given us another resource of innovative and engaging ways into communicating with God through a vast array of experiences including melting sugar cubes, listening to Dido or breaking paper chains. No-one should underestimate the power of this kind of multisensory worship for young people and Jenny Baker is certainly gifted in not only leading such worship but in giving guidance to others about doing so through books such as this.
If I had to make one criticism of this book it would be that there is too much good stuff in it and therefore it is difficult to decide which elements to use! So many of the activities are good that the problem is not “What shall we do with the group?” but rather “what should we miss out?”
It is a book suitable for the full time practitioner or the volunteer and is a good book to recommend to a group that is just starting either at a school or a church or to someone who feels their group has lost a bit of edge in its sessions.
Reviewed by Sarah Brush
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