Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Games For Christian Youth

Games for Christian youth groups are wonderful tools to help kids get actively involved and interested in the lessons and teachings central to the organization. There are some great ideas in different activities for all age groups. After considering your audience you can choose games for Christian youth groups that are suitable for your group.

There are many things to consider when working with a diverse group of children. I used to work as a one-on-one therapist for a child with pervasive developmental disorder. This child loved going to weekly get-togethers for the kids in her church but she had great difficulty participating in many of the games for Christian youth groups. Her struggles became a major focus for the group.

While this was good in some ways it was really negative in others. Soon the leaders’ expectations of her were dropped. This little girl was allowed to pass through some of the different requirements in the various games for Christian youth groups. Though the tasks would be difficult for her she still needed to try.

Children in the weekly church group were also a little too accommodating. They let her cut in line and she never needed to wait for anything. It was difficult for me to explain that sometimes being nice isn’t helpful. I don’t mean that the kids and leaders should have treated her rudely but they could challenge her to participate in the various games for Christian youth groups.

We all have different obstacles to face and we work hard to overcome them. If we are not challenged then we tend to get a little lazy. Why walk when you can ride? Why participate in games for Christian youth groups if you get a prize at the end no matter what?

I had a meeting with the youth group leaders and they seemed a little confused by my concerns at first. I guess that they really thought that this little girl was physically unable to participate in games for Christian youth groups. Once they understood that she can be put to the test, things changed really quickly.

When she was expected to participate in the games for Christian youth groups she did her best. This took a little while but soon she was taking a vested interest in the program and the teachings. After all, she was there to learn how to interact with her peers and to learn the teachings of her church. She wasn’t there to win prizes just for showing up.

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