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Monday, 30 April, 2018 - 00:00
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Activities
Having a healthy self-esteem is a bit like armour – it protects your young charges against life's challenges. But chinks in the armour are common, and can create feelings of inadequacy that can snowball. School camps are an ideal opportunity to build self esteem in students through games and fun activities. And as everyone will discover, feeling good about yourself can be fun!
Self-esteem is a critical building block for young people. It allows them to cope with life, try new things without fear of failure, manage situations with confidence and reach out to others.
Patterns of self esteem start very early in life. Most young children feel pretty good about themselves and their skills. They are in a process of self discovery and may not yet have recognised their strengths and weaknesses.
As children grow into adulthood, however, they are likely to experience changes in their self esteem in line with the changes in their lives. They may become focused on their body image, or perceived body image, and will increasingly look to their peers for acceptance of whether they're 'okay'.
Developing and promoting self esteem during childhood is critical to developing a healthy self esteem in adulthood. The concept of success following effort and persistence starts early. A child tries a new task, fails, tries again, fails, tries again and succeeds – a wonderful process of learning about their capabilities.
In a nutshell, healthy self-esteem is feeling good about yourself - and feeling that you are a worthwhile person.
Self esteem through the ages
School-age
Most young children feel pretty good about their skills. They may not have discovered their strengths and weaknesses yet.
Children this age do not have a lot of experience in setting goals and working toward them. Their goals may be too high or too low for their skills. Adults and teachers can help children set goals that are challenging, yet do-able.
Pre-teens and teens
Teens often experience changes in their self-esteem because they are going through many changes in their lives.
Self esteem at this stage can be greatly affected by how friends, teachers, and parents see the teen (or how teens think they see them).
Self esteem can be affected by body image. Teens' bodies are changing and the changes are sometimes awkward.
Source
Virtual Pediatric Hospital. www.virtualpediatrichospital.org
Teachers and caregivers can play an important role in helping young people develop a healthy concept about their place in life. Camps are generally relaxed settings, so they present an ideal opportunity to introduce self-esteem building games and activities.
Getting started
Try the following self-esteem building games and fun activities at your next school camp:
Exercise
Exercise not only makes kids feel healthy and strong, it also relieves stress. Rather than focus on competitive games, try introducing games and activities that focus on fun and co-operation. Examples include night hikes, obstacle courses and team-based orienteering.
Create a tree of life
What's needed - Butcher's paper, paints, brushes, coloured leaves, textas.
Divide students into small groups and ask each group to paint a tree on a large sheet of butcher's paper. Cut out coloured paper 'leaves' and give each student six leaves. Ask them to write or draw something about themselves. It could be something about their family, their pets, their likes, their dislikes, their strengths, their hobbies. Then get the students to glue the leaves on their tree. Display the 'trees of life' for all to see.
'Me' bracelets
What's needed - Coloured beads of different shapes and sizes, coloured cord cut into lengths suitable to make bracelets.
On a wet day on your school camp get creative indoors by making 'me' bracelets - using interesting beads of varying shapes and colour. Each bead should represent something individual students like about themselves. Once students have completed their bracelets, break into small groups and ask each student to talk to their group about their bracelet and the significance of each of the beads.
Role playing
This fun activity is ideal for all age groups, but particularly valuable for teenagers. This age group often bases their self-worth on how they look, their body shape and their sporting prowess, and often their expectations are unrealistic – leading to feelings of inadequacy. Use scripted role plays that focus on what students can do when they feel bad about themselves. Students can help brainstorm these ideas. Vary the script to suit the age of students, but keep the focus on scripted role plays that encourage students to accept themselves as they are – instead of striving for perfection.
Leadership
Teachers would well know that giving students leadership roles is a good self-esteem booster. School camps are an ideal setting to continue the leadership theme. Give students responsibility and leadership tasks in the camp kitchen, during game time and in organising set-up and pack-up. Rotate the leadership roles so everyone gets a chance to shine.
Self doubt is a normal and natural part of life and growing up; and kids need to understand that they're not going to feel fabulous about themselves every waking moment. But it's important for young people to feel okay about themselves much of the time – and you can play a role in helping them to achieve that.
Sources
Early Childhood Australia:
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/emotional_foundations_for_learning/building_trust_and_self_esteem/self_esteem_and_confidence.html
Women's and Children's Health Network. Child and Youth Health
http://www.cyh.com