This resource comes courtesy of my wonderful @WVYouthCanada co-worker and friend, @JobinSam. Jobin is one of our awesome Student Coaches and does a rad job mentoring student leaders on social justice actions. This is a super simple but intense activity that will easily get every kid in the room talking - especially that quiet "thinker" kid.
Overview
Age: Jr. Hi/Sr. Hi/Uni-College (intensity of discussion & issues will vary based on age)
Time: Approx. 30 min.
Group Size: 12-30
Materials: The game Jenga (or another knock-off tower block game works too)
Purpose of the Activity: To move from hate to hope. Deconstructing the hurtful/negative things in our world and rebuilding the world we want with hope/positive suggestions.
How to Engage
Before participants enter the room, make a circle of chairs around a table, with the table located in the centre of the circle. Build a tower with Jenga blocks in the middle of the table. Use a few more blocks than there are participants.
Get participants to sit in the chairs around the table. Explain that we will be doing an activity that will require our imaginations and respectful silence. Encourage everyone to share at least once. However, participants who do not want to share do not have to. If going around the room, a participant can say ‘skip’ if they do not want to share. Encourage participants to take the activity seriously and share what is close to their hearts.
Tell participants that everything they know about the world is here, in the Jenga tower before them. The tower represents our earth and all that is in it- the environment, all peoples, all forms of education and health, all cultures, all systems of justice and injustice, war, violence, peace, community, pollution, every kind of hope, and every kind of hate…
By either going around the circle or in popcorn style, explain that students will first go up to the tower and remove a block. When they remove a block they must name what they HATE/what they wish was not in the world and what they want to remove from the world.
Ideas for "What I hate about our world…": war, violence, divorce, addiction, homelessness, hunger, lying, barriers to Education, etc. (Encourage students to give more then just a one word answer, you can start this by explaining your response).
Once the participant has taken the block and named what they want to remove from the world, they can sit back down. Tell participants to keep their blocks because they will need them soon. Tell students that all the blocks must be removed, with no tower existing, before we can move to the next stage.
Once the tower collapses and all the blocks are gone, debrief the experience with participants:
- How did it feel to deconstruct the world?
- Was it hard to think of things you don’t like in the world?
- Anything else anyone would like to share?
Now tell students we are now going to rebuild the tower. We're going to recreate the world we want with the blocks in our hands. Each time they add a block to the growing tower, participants will say what gives them HOPE about our world! What is the world they want?
Ideas for "What I hope for our world...": love, joy, helping one another, culture, God, clean water, healthy ecosystems, strong families, health/doctors/hospitals/vaccinations, justice, art/creativity, dreams, etc.
(Note: Facilitator should save one of their blocks until the very end when everyone has gone. Then place your block on the tower and say “Hope- because each one of you is on the planet”.)
Once the tower is rebuilt and no one has any blocks, debrief the experience with participants:
- Did you like this activity?
- What will you remember about this activity?
- How did it feel to recreate the world?
- Was it hard to think of things you want to see in the world?
- Anything else anyone would like to share?
Want someone from World Vision to come and facilitate this activity for you and learn more about Jesus Justice? Check out yourmovement.ca or reach out to one of our coaches:
Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless;plead the case of the widow."
About me: I live a pretty simple life... trying to love God and treat others as good as myself... I epically fail at this but mercifully God loves me anyway... different cultures inspire me... the outdoors is my passion... I'm pursuing my MDIV / Masters in Counselling at Tyndale... I spent 22+ years in the skate / snowboard / entertainment / marketing / retail industry at the executive level... led the charge at West 49/Billabong for 12 of them... I've worked in youth ministry leadership roles for more years then I can count.. after many moons in the corporate world I switched to the dark side and am currently the Manager of Youth & Student Campaigns at World Vision Canada... but more then anything I love giving my heart to mentoring and helping youth! #lovelife #dreambig #keepitreal #socialjustice #jesusjustice I/T @cindymielke facebook.com/cindymielke
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