Workshop I was done on 25th January 2016.
The aims of this workshop and results:
1. Break the ice between the volunteers and the children: Overall the children were very cooperative and most of them opened up to the volunteers eventually. Although some are still shy and quiet, a problem which the second workshop will be specially designed to tackle through activities that will hopefully be able to encourage them to express themselves.
2. Teambuilding: According to the feedbacks received during the last activity most of them were able to learn more about teamwork although some are too shy to fully participate during the ‘Yes and…’ and ‘Yes but…’ activity. There are also a few cases of overshadowing and hopefully the second workshop will be able to even out each child’s participation.
3. Learn more about each child: From activities such as ‘The 4 Windows of Self’ (some of the children’s work is attached at the bottom of the page) and ‘My Monster’ we were able to gather more information about each child such as their likes, dislikes and their ambitions.
Workshop I schedule:
9.15-9.25
Dragon through the Tunnel
A simple fun game to set the mood.
9.25-9.30
Guess the staffs’ names.
This is to help break the ice between the staffs and the children by having them guess which names belong to whom.
9.30-9.40
‘Jaew’
A chant-song
9.40-9.50
2 Truths & 1 Lie
A short ice-breaker between the staffs and the children by having the children guess which quirks belong to which staff.
9.50-10.10
Decorating the staffs’ name tags.
Each staff is assigned a team and the children have to now guess what the staff assigned to them might be like. (Their favorite colors, what they like to eat etc.) And to decorate their assigned staff’s name tag according to their guesses.
10.10-10.25
Do you love me?
A fun game that requires running around.
10.25-10.45
4 Windows of Self
Each child would be given a piece of paper with four boxes. They are asked to draw out four things in each box: something that they like, something that they are scared of, something that they are proud of, and what they want to be in the future. This is so that we can know more about each child’s likes and dislikes and their ambitions.
10.45-11.15
My Monster
After showing the short animation ‘The Colors of Evil’ (about a girl who is bullied and conjured up a monster to help her stand up against her bully), each child are asked to invent a monster of their own. The purpose of this activity is to learn more about how each child’s think, the level of their creativity, and about certain problems they might be facing. Some of these drawings may be turn into dolls if possible.
11.15-11.35
Mon-Son-Pah
A Thai traditional game.
11.35-12.05
Let’s Go to the Beach.
In this game everyone is asked to join in groups of a certain number every time the song ends, and those that are not in any groups will be eliminated. This is played until there are only three people left. This activity is finished off with a talk about friendship, and to ask them to rethink about what they might have done during the activity (for example choose one friend to be eliminated instead of themselves).
12.05-13.05
Lunch
13.15-13.25
Yes but…, Yes and…
This activity is aimed to teach the kids about expressing opinions within teams. The first round each group would be assigned with a topic (for example about where they should go for vacation) and every time someone suggest an idea the next person has to begin with ‘Yes, but’. The second round, however, they will be asked to begin with ‘Yes, and’ instead, so that they would have to build on one another’s ideas. This is to teach them that during brainstorming sessions, everyone should try to be open and to not be so quick to dismiss a team member’s idea.
13.25-14.25
Mission Impossible: A series of 5 mini-games, whichever team completes all the mini-games first, wins.
1.Einstein riddle: the whole team have to solve a riddle.
2.Robots: A teambuilding game aimed testing trust and communication. One team member is blindfolded (the robot) and will have to find three other members with the direction from the ‘Speaker’. The Speaker has to have his/her back turn toward the game, and his/her front toward the ‘Signaller’ who knows which way the Robot should go but can only use sign language to communicate.
3. Charades: In this game the team will have to figure out the four objects that they need to find to complete this game. Four members has to only use sign language to communicate to the other team members what those objects are.
4.Saving Fred: The team has to save ‘Fred’ a gummy worm into a ‘lifesaver’, a gummy ring, by only using paper clips.
14.25-15.00
Wrap-Up +Feedback
Recapping the events of the day and collecting feedback from the children. Each children will be asked to write short notes on post-its under three topics:
I like…
I wish…
I learned…
‘The 4 Windows of Self’: Because we want to know the children better we asked them to draw out four things – their fears, their likes, their dislikes, and their dreams.
[Some interesting results were fear of toilet cleaner, the dream of having a life that is calm, still, and deep like the river (that moment when an eleven year-old has deeper philosophy of life than you.)…see if you can spot them!]
