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Workshops: Empowering Youth Workers through Hands-On Learning

Our Erasmus+ training featured a series of dynamic workshops designed to equip youth workers with practical skills and knowledge to better support young people across Europe. Each workshop was carefully crafted to address key aspects of the EU Youth Goals, fostering an environment of collaboration, creativity, and intercultural exchange

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Colours of Emotions

Target Group: Youngsters aged 13-18 years old
Duration: Approximately 1.5 to 2 hours
Objective: To help participants explore and understand their emotions through colors, creative expression, and group activities. The workshop aims to enhance emotional intelligence, particularly in recognizing, expressing, and managing emotions.

 

Part 1: Energizer Activity (10 minutes)

  • Objective: To break the ice, energize the group, and create an open, relaxed atmosphere.

  • Activity:

    • The facilitator will ask participants to walk in a circle around the room.

    • At intervals, the facilitator will call out different scenarios that require participants to change their walking style:

      • "It’s raining heavily" – Participants walk faster, pretending to cover themselves.

      • "You’re walking through thick snow" – Participants struggle to move, walking slowly and with effort.

      • "The sun is shining brightly" – Participants walk leisurely, enjoying the warmth.

    • These scenarios help participants start thinking about how different environments and emotions can influence their behavior.

 

Part 2: Introduction to Emotions and Colors (15 minutes)

  • Objective: To introduce the concept of emotions, how they are linked to colors, and to set the stage for the main activity.

  • Content:

    • Brief discussion on what emotions are and why they are important.

    • Explanation of how colors can represent different emotions (e.g., red for anger, blue for sadness, yellow for happiness).

    • Facilitator might show examples of artwork where colors represent emotions.

  • Interactive Element:

    • Ask participants to share what color they associate with different emotions and why.

    • Encourage them to think about how certain colors make them feel.

 

Part 3: Creative Expression through Colors (50 minutes)

  • Objective: To encourage participants to express their emotions through art and to explore the link between colors and emotions.

  • Activity:

    • Each participant receives a set of colors (markers, crayons, or paints) and a sheet of paper.

    • They are instructed to draw an emotion using the colors they feel best represent that emotion.

    • After drawing, participants will:

      • Name the emotion they’ve depicted.

      • Describe why they chose specific colors for that emotion.

      • Discuss how the colors and their artwork make them feel.

    • Following the drawing session, participants will be divided into groups of 5.

    • Group Activity:

      • Each group will create a short story incorporating the emotions they’ve drawn.

      • They will perform this story, with each participant representing their drawn emotion as a character.

    • This allows participants to see how different emotions interact in a narrative context.

 

Part 4: Reflection and Emotional Management (25 minutes)

  • Objective: To reflect on the activities, discuss emotional management strategies, and foster a supportive environment.

  • Activity:

    • Distribute a piece of paper to each participant and ask them to write anonymously how they usually manage their negative emotions.

    • Collect the papers and read some of the responses aloud (without naming anyone) to initiate a discussion.

    • Facilitate a group reflection where participants can share their thoughts, strategies, and tools for managing negative emotions.

    • Discuss the importance of healthy emotional management and how different techniques can be applied in their lives.

    • Encourage participants to think of new ways they can handle their emotions, inspired by the workshop activities.

 

Theoretical Background

  • Emotional Intelligence: The ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions, and to recognize, understand, and influence the emotions of others.

  • Color Psychology: The study of how colors can affect our emotions and behaviors. Different colors are often associated with different emotional states; for example, red can evoke passion or anger, while blue can evoke calmness or sadness.

  • Creative Expression: Art and creative activities can be powerful tools for expressing emotions, especially for adolescents who may find it challenging to articulate their feelings verbally.

  • Reflection and Discussion: These are key components in helping participants internalize the workshop’s lessons, encouraging them to think critically about their emotions and how they manage them.

Group: The Mentalists

Nowadays we consume in a way that our environment can’t handle. Society needs to act against climate change and the growing environmental threats. But our society cannot solve a problem that it is not willing to acknowledge. That is why everyone including young people has to start taking responsibility for their actions, and impact on the life of future generations. Becoming sustainable is not a choice, it is an obligation.

A workshop in groups about Sustainable Green Europe. Ensure everyone including young people knows the effect of their actions on the environment! To give the knowledge and skills of 5 R’s in non-formal way for the youth. To overall create awareness of sustainability for youth.

  • Refuse-refusing such things which are not necessary will not end up harming us and nature

Refuse travelled long distance produce, instead look for regional produce. Refuse single-use packaging. Refuse black plastic containers (cannot be recycled). Refuse shopping at big superstores. Instead serach for smaller, independent shops. Refuse drinks in a bottle or a can when you’re away from home or dining out.

  • Reduce- to make something smaller or use less, resulting in a smaller amount of waste

Reduce the amount of ingredients you trow away. Reduce the amount of food you discard when you’re cooking. Reduce the wastage off your plate. Reduce what you send to the council lorries- by starting a compost heap in your own garden, then using the nutrient rich fertiliser to feed your own vegetable garden.

  • Reuse-is about repurposing items and products for extended use.

Fabric shopping bags to replace plastic bags. Plastic or glass food containers to replace cling film. Beeswax wraps to replace plastic ones. Metal straws to replace sandwich bags. Reusable water bottles and coffee cups to replace takeaway items.

  • Repurpose -a favorite among creative individuals, involves repurposing waste materials into higher-quality items or products with a new purpose.

Glasss dessert pots can became flowerpots. Ice cream tubs can became storage containers. Alcohol bottles can become candle holders. Divided cake topping pots can become storage for beads/sequins for craft projects.

  • Recycle-is the process of taking waste materials and converting them back into raw materials to be used in creating new products.

The final option in the chain. When you do have to resort to use single-use items, make sure that you choose yhose made from materials which are recyclable and dispose of them in the correct recycling stream, so that they stay within thr cycle and can be turned into something useful once again.

 

Workshop

Target group: age 13+; 20-30 people in total (3 to 5 in a group)

  • Make a play in teams of 3 to 5 people

  • The group leader ask a few questions about the topic (maybe they have some experience- sharing is good stuff)

  • Explain the thing about the 5R’s

  • The group leader gives to each group one material and explains that they need to choose one of the R’s and make a play to show the others, rhe rest of the groups has to guess 2 things- which R it is and what has been created (or what they did). 

  • The groups get points for guessing right (the winner gets the new cretaions)

  • Small discussion later..

Materials: plastic bottles, paper, scissors, pencils… garbage that can be reused

Some questions: 

What are some common items that can be ‘reused’ instead of throwing away?

What does the ‘refuse’ principle encourage individuals to do, and how can it help reduce waste?

Can you provide some examples of how to refuse single-use plastics in everyday life?

Why is it important to consider the 5 R’s when making purchasing decisions?

Group: The Mentalists

Youth Goal: Mental Health & Wellbeing

Subject: Introduction into dealing with stress

Target: Young people between 13-30, 15-20 participants

Objectives: 

  • Introduce the issue of stress as a problem for mental health within young people.

  • Create a context and a frame of work so the participants can express themselves about this issue.

  • Define the concept of stress in a way that is relevant to the participants, through shared experiences. 

  • Identify the stress factors that affect their daily lives and offer information about the signs by which we can recognize the stress. 

  • Identifying solutions to reduce stress by discussion.

  • Offering simple methods of reducing stress through breathing exercises.

 

Important mentions for the workshop:

  • The trainer should be knowledgeable about the subject, he or she should be trauma informed and they should establish a good rapport with the participants. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-is-trauma-informed-teaching

  • The trainer has to create a relaxing environment and make the participants feel comfortable. They should sit in comfortable positions, on chairs that are at the same level as the participants or, if the location allows, they could sit on pillows on the ground. 

  • Throughout the workshop, there should be some small exercises that relieve the tension of the participants and that make them calm, such as the Hahaha exercise. 

 

Part 1 – Defining stress 

  • The purpose of this first part is to define and discuss about stress in a way that resonates to the participants. We will ask them about examples of stressful situations from their lives, their experiences or just their knowledge about this subject.

  • The second objective of this part is to find out what the participants consider to be factors that cause stress. 

Questions: Do you know what stress is? Have you ever felt stressful before? Is stress good or bad? Or is it both?

Short definition: Stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. The stress is a natural reaction of our bodies and it can happen to anyone and it can be triggered by a multitude of factors. 

 

Activity 1 – Figuring out the factors of stress

  • Each person will receive a piece of paper and a pen. They will write down their Top 5 stressors. They have 3 minutes.

  • Then they will be split into group of 5 people.

  • After that, they will be given 1 more paper for each group and they have to discuss among themselves and choose the Top 5 stressors that are recurring within the group. For this, they will have 5 minutes. 

  • The trainer will write down on the flipchart the stress factors discovered they will be able to see what factors are repeated 

 

 

 Exercise: Hahaha game (2 minutes)

The trainer will ask everybody to repeat after him. He will do one `Ha`. The participants will have to repeat after him with `Ha`. Then he will do `Ha-Ha`. The participants will have to repeat after him with `Ha-Ha`. The game continues until he will repeat `Ha` 6 times and until everyone starts to laugh. 

 

 

Part 2 - The reactions the body to stress

  • The purpose of this activity is to make people aware of the natural way our bodies react to stress.  

 

Activity 2 – Mime the reactions caused by stress

  • The participants will be split into groups of 5 people.

  • The teams will have to think of a reaction to stress, be it mental, of physical.  

  • They have to discuss it and one person from each group will have to mime the reactions and feelings due to stress that people may experience.

  • Other groups will try to guess the reaction and their answers will be written on the flip chart.

 

Information: The next part of the workshop is to provide information about what stress actually is, what causes the stress and how it manifests within the body.

Part 3 – Providing solutions for stress

  • The third part of the presentation focuses on giving the participants a solution or a method to deal with stress if they find themselves in this situation. 

  • Through the first activity in this last part, we will be able to see if the participants have successfully dealt with stress before and if they can offer viable solutions that can be recommended to the other participants.

 

Activity 3 – Discussion between the participants

Do you know how to handle the stress? Do they have solutions?

  • The participants will be divided in to teams of 5 people. Each team will receive one piece of paper and a pen. 

  • Through discussions, the team will have to think about and come up with methods or solutions to reduce or deal with stress. They will have 10 minutes to discuss among themselves. 

  • The answers will be written down and people can share their experience with using the methods mentioned. 

 

Exercise: The trainer will teach the participants about two methods of reducing stress and help them calm down:

  • Square Breaths – the participants will have to sit in a comfortable position. Following, the trainer, they will have to inhale for 4 seconds, hold their breath for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds and hold their breath for 4 seconds. The exercise will be repeated four times. 

  • AUM exercise – The participants will have to take a big breath. On the exhale, they will have to gradually make the sound A, U and M. The exercise will be repeated 4 times.

 

Reflection time at the end

List of materials:

Activity 1

  • Flipchart paper

  • Pieces of paper for everyone

  • Pens for everyone

  • Marker

Activity 2

  • Flip chart page

Activity 3

  • Flipchart page

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