Laboratory of games for suppporting youthwork
CHIARA CIRCOSTA’S REFLECTION DIARY
I arrived in Cyprus knowing I had a lot to learn. The first days were destabilizing and exciting at the same time.. a new place, a different language, people to know from scratch. I was surprised by the heterogeneity of the participants, there were very young students, and working-in-age workers. Who came from a country very similar to ours, like Spain, to those who came from elsewhere, like Estonia. There was an intercultural and intergenerational variety that seemed to be an obstacle. But surprising we were able to form a cohesive group, we shared ideas and experiences always with the utmost respect, learning as much as possible from each other. One particular moment in which I noticed this union only two days before the beginning of the activity was when we played the “Antigolf game”; we had already followed the natural process of a group, which was cooperate
successfully. For me, this was a first moment in our team, because it showed us just how much we were capable of off. This path has touched on many game themes, from the theoretical to the practical ones, all very interesting. For sure, now I am more in control of how to lead and manage games, adapting them to different age groups. This was fundamental for "Fit For Kids" project of which I am the coordinator. It will allow me to better manage not only the group
of volunteers, starting the lessons with an energizers, and teaching them the games I learned; but above all, I will be able to put all the games learned into practice, by making children, participating in this project have fun, move and learn. In this regard, the games that struck me most, and which I hope to be able to introduce as soon as possible in my project were the "human oxo energizer", the "Penguin and Flamingo Energizer" and the "Baywatch Energizer", useful
not only for adults, but also to start playing with children! Another game that I will take with me is definitely the "", perfect to round off the children's recreational-motor activity! Last but not least, A special thought also goes to the visit we payed to the special school, preceded by an intense day of preparation. Now we had a solid theoretical background and a wide arsenal of games that could help us reach our objectives. We felt more self-confident than we had been before the TC, we prepared many games for the children and we did a great Teambuildig, cooperating in a very good way.
At least I can say: "yes, I did it, Yes we did it!"
Oleguer Montané - Reflection Diary
I’d distinguish the learning achievements that I got from the participation on this project on two different ways. On one hand, there are the most related to the program’s topic, such as some really useful games that we’ll be soon applying on our community -such as the Rhyme Game or the musical one, created by Lucas, Georgeos and me- or theoretical learnings that helped me to understand the game as a method, plus more specific aspects such as its classification.
On the other hand, and in a more personal way, I have to say that being able to share an entire week with 27 persons from 8 different countries helped me to gain a wider vision of what Europe may be, sharing our vision and worries about it as youngsters, and leading it into a very enrichful process. We even got to talk with some of the participants about collaborating in a future in some kind of educative exchange experience. As a secondary effect, this intercultural experience also helped to keep my English skills alive. Otherwise, I think that the program was consistently planned -leaving its more practical part for the last day was a nice idea- and developed. I enjoyed its proportion between practical and theoretical parts, keeping it from being too tiring or either boring. Although, I have to say that the only negative aspect of this for me -if it can be even called like that- is the fact we didn’t dedicated that much time to some topics that spontaneously appeared in some of
the discussions -such as the gender division in some games depending on the age of the participants-. Anyway, I can understand that it was not the topic for this training so we weren’t able to spent that much time on it. In conclusion, I’m feeling really grateful for being part of this beautiful experience and I’m
looking forward to live a similar one in a forthcoming future!
askerville is a classic font with a modern twist. It's easy to read on screens of every shape and size, and perfect for long blocks of text.