Life Skills

Activity Book

2007
P E A C E C O R P S G E O R G I A
 Contents:
Ice Breakers...................................................................7

Communication ............................................................ 15

Character Building and Responsible Behavior........................ 29

Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem........................................ 43

Teamwork and Leadership................................................ 57

Emotional Health........................................................... 67

Decision Making ............................................................ 77

Peer Pressure............................................................... 87

Saying No..................................................................... 95

Peer Mediation and Conflict Management .......................... 101

General Health, First Aid and Safety................................. 109

General Hygiene.......................................................... 119

Dental Health.............................................................. 127

Nutrition and Consumer Health....................................... 135

Fitness...................................................................... 157

Gender Issues............................................................. 163

Smoking and Substance Abuse......................................... 169

Sexual Education ........................................................ 183

HIV/AIDS.................................................................... 189


 Peace Corps Georgia
March, 2007

Layout and design by Tengiz Gogotishvili


About the Activity Book
This activity book was designed for Peace Corp Volunteers and their counterparts in Georgia. Most of these
activities were taken from other sources and tailored to fit a Georgian classroom/camp setting. The book was
created in order to encourage Georgia-appropriate Lifeskills clubs and/or lessons. These are not lesson plans or
a curriculum for clubs/lessons. Some of these activities may need to be further changed to fit your club/lesson.
Information is provided in order to insure the activities are culturally sensitive and age-appropriate, but not all
activities may be appropriate for your group. Make sure you talk to your counterpart and other members of the
community before using these activities. You also may need to look up additional information to supplement your
activity. If you have any questions, please contact your program managers or the Lifeskills staff.

Thanks to the Editors

Edited by: Emily Dumovich

The following volunteers/staff contributed to the editing process of this book:

Eka Zhvania Michael Cecire Shane Humphrey

Chris Jones Carole Kindling Rebecca Madden-Sturges
Travis Mecum Elise Pizzi Cathrine Scott
Aaron Yarbrough Erica Zaiser

Special Thanks
A very special thanks to other Peace Corps countries who contributed their lesson plans!

Peace Corps Moldova Peace Corps Ukraine Peace Corps Armenia

A Note from Life Skills Staff

Life Skills/HIV/AIDS Awareness is one of the priorities in terms of initiatives introduced by Peace Corps posts.
Even though the importance of the Life Skills/HIV/AIDS education was fully acknowledged Peace Corps Georgia,
the initial progress due to its implementation was very slow. The first effort to promote the idea of Life Skills
Education at the Secondary School level was made in year 2005 at the meeting with the Ministry of Education
representatives. That was the crucial time for the Ministry itself, since it undertook the first step to try out the
supplementary textbook on Healthy Life Style/Sexual Education on secondary school level. As a result, the initia-
tive encountered significance resistance from parents associations and the church. Therefore, the Ministry rec-
ommended PC staff just to wait for the development of the National Curriculum on Life Skills, being underway.
The second meeting with the Ministry was conducted a year later to follow-up on progress achieved in terms of
Curriculum development and find the niche for volunteers to address the initiative on regional levels. The scope
and focus of Life Skills/HIV/AIDS Education were broadly discussed at the meeting. The Ministry suggested volun-
teers to start Life Skills Education as extra-curricular activities and expressed their interest to share information
about successful practices/materials applied or any update about its progress on regional level.
In February, 2006 the first one-day Life-Skills Training Workshop was implemented by Program and Training Unit
Staff for all interested volunteers. It was the first step Peace Corps formally undertook in terms of Life Skills/
HIV/AIDS education considering the sensitive nature of this subject in Georgia. The Healthy Lifestyle Committee
was established by the end of the training. It was a lengthy discussion about cultural implications, comprehen-
siveness and feasibility of the mission statement and goals framework. It was agreed that mission statement did
not have to focus on just HIV/AIDS though there is possibility it could directly be addressed in the statement
in future. The mission statement states: “The Healthy Life Style Committee will promote education initiatives
to assist Peace Corps volunteers and Georgians alike in healthy living. The committee shall provide support and
resources for volunteers, staff, organizations, and Georgians involved in healthy lifestyle education.” The main
goal for the first year was to develop the Committee vision and materials for the volunteers’ application in their
corresponding sites.
The activity Book developed by Georgia 5 Volunteer Emily Dumovich (Georgia 5) with the assistance of Healthy
Life Style Committee members is for volunteers and their counterparts to work with different age groups of audi-
ence. The activities are screened in terms of cultural and traditional sensitivity to be appropriately perceived
by the local communities.
The Special Thanks to all the volunteers who have been involved
in creation of the first Life Skills Activity Book for Peace Corps Georgia.



 Ice
Breakers



Birthday Line-up
Topic: Ice Breaker, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Learning alternative forms of
communicating, team work, and leadership.
Number of Students: 10-17
Age Range of Students: 8-30
Time Required: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Patience and creativity!
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell the students that they are not allowed to
speak during the entire activity.
2) Tell students they must line themselves up in or-
der of their birthday and month.
3) This is NOT by age, just by month.
4) They can mime, use actions and gestures to fig-
ure it out, but they can not talk or write.
5) You may have to give some assistance but make
sure you are letting them do most of the work.
6) The first person in the line should be the closest
to January 1st and the last one closest to Decem-
ber 31st.
7) When everyone is finished have the students call
out their birthdays.
8) Ask the students if they were all in the right
place.
9) If they were not, have them fix the mistake.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What it was like not to be able to communicate
with words?
 What were the challenges? Successes? Strate-
gies?
 What methods of communication did you use to
overcome your challenges?
 How did you use teamwork to complete the task?
Invisible Ink
Topic: Ice Breaker, Fun
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To bring fun to the class and get students
comfortable and knowing each other.
Number of Students: 8-17
Age Range of Students: 5-30
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Paper, Toothpick, Small glass, Milk or Lem-
on Juice, Iron
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Pour milk or lemon juice into several small glasses.
2) Have students dip the toothpick into the milk/lem-
on juice and write personal information on a piece
of paper (clean white paper works the best).
3) Personal information should include: name, age,
grade, favorite pet/food etc.
4) Give the students at least 10 minutes to finish this.
5) Wait for it to dry.
6) Tell students to find someone they don’t know
and exchange papers (do not let them share
names until later).
7) Have students come to you. Run the iron over the
paper (it is not suggested that you let children
use the iron) to show the secret message!
8) Now the students know who their partner is!
9) You can use many different variations of this… be
creative!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have partners introduce each other to the rest
of the class
Pulse
Topic: Icebreaker, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make students comfortable in
a class and to build teamwork.
Number of Students: 5 and more
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have the group stand in a circle holding hands.
2) Tell the group to shut their eyes.
3) Start a “pulse” by squeezing a person’s hand.
That person then squeezes the next person’s hand
and so on. See how long it can travel around the
circle before it is lost.
4) To make this activity more challenging, have the
students squeeze twice to change direction of
the pulse.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did you feel during this activity?
 What were the challenges?
 What did you like/dislike?
 How many people would it take to stop the pulse
from getting around the circle?
 What does this teach us about teamwork?
Group Music
Topic: Icebreaker, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make students more comfort-
able and build teamwork.
Number of Students: 5- 20
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have the group stand in a circle.
2) Ask for a volunteer.

 3) Tell the volunteer to start with a single sound,
(hopefully with rhythm) and tell them to contin-
ue that sound the whole time.
4) Tell the next person in the circle to make a differ-
ent sound they think will go with the first.
5) Continue this around the circle until everyone is
making sounds.
6) Hopefully you will create some interesting music!
7) They can hum and sing notes, but encourage
them to do other things than sing words.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the challenges of this activity?
 Why was it important to work together?
 What happens if someone is not working with the team?
 How does this relate to teamwork in real life?
Familiarity with Numbers
Topic: Icebreaker, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To familiarize students with
numbers, to provide an opportunity for social inter-
action and the development of basic social and life
skills.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 6-15
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Match up students in pairs.
2) Have each pair face each other, hands towards
opponent, fists closed.
3) Leader/teacher says “1,2,3 SHOW”.
4) On “SHOW” each person extends any number of
fingers.
5) The first person to add the total number of fin-
gers wins a point.
6) You can vary this activity by using subtraction or
multiplication.
7) The leader may also say “1,2,3 Add” or “1,2,3
Multiply” to let kids know which one they need to
do (this makes it more challenging).
8) You can also have the pairs count for them-
selves.
9) Variation: Have the class stand in a circle. Say
“1,2,3 (number)” Anyone who extends that number
needs to sit down. Do this until everyone is sitting
down or you have one person left as a winner.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the strategies of the winner?
Rhythm Clap
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To introduce people in a fun way!
Number of Students: 5-30
10
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have the group get into a circle.
2) Start off a rhythmic clap by clapping your hands,
slapping your thighs, snapping your fingers, etc in
time to an introductory statement. For example:
“My name” – clap clap – “is Nino” – clap clap – “I
live” – clap clap – “in Kobuleti” –clap clap.
3) Go around the circle in this way until all partici-
pants have introduced themselves to the rhythm.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask the students to repeat other students’ names
to see if they learned the names
Everybody With…
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get people comfortable and
to have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Chairs (enough for every person)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) From a circle of chairs, one less than the number
of participants.
2) Appoint a volunteer who stands in the center of
the circle of the chairs.
3) That person calls out “Everybody with ….” And
then adds their own idea. For example: “Every-
body with black shoes” or “Everybody who ate
bread this morning”.
4) Everyone who fits the description stands up and
switches chairs as quickly as possible.
5) They cannot stand up and sit back down in the
same chair and they cannot sit in the chair next
to them.
6) They should stand and run to a chair across the
room. The volunteer tries to sit too.
7) Whoever is left standing goes into the middle of the
circle and does the same as the last volunteer.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did this activity help everyone become more
comfortable with each other?
 What did you learn about your new friends?
Life Boat
Topic: Icebreaker, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students work as a team
and to have fun!
 Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have all participants spread out in the room.
2) Tell them to imagine they are floating in a great
sea, like the Black Sea, after as shipwreck.
3) They need to form life boats to survive.
4) The facilitator will call out a number (6 for ex-
ample).
5) Participants must form strong groups according
to that number (so if you call six, they must form
groups of six) to keep from drowning in the sea.
6) If the group is formed with less or more than the
number the facilitator calls, they “sink” and must
stand on the side until the group continues.
7) If there is only one or two people left they also
“drown”.
8) Play this until there is only a few left.
9) Play this twice for those who get out early and
want to play again.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the challenges of this activity?
 Did you have to work together? Why or why not?
 Why was teamwork important for this activity?
Shout, Whisper, Sing!
Topic: Icebreaker, Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help student’s learn each oth-
er’s names. To practice communicating.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10- 15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to stand in a circle.
2) Explain that you are going to call out someone’s
name as you cross the circle towards that per-
son.
3) He or she should then move from his or her posi-
tion in the circle to the place where you were
standing.
4) That person should call out someone else’s name.
That next person should also move, and so on.
5) When your name gets called again, continue with
the game, but this time, whisper the name of the
person you chose next.
6) Ask everyone to whisper next when it comes their
turn.
7) Finally, when your name is called again, say that
this time they name of the next person must be
sung out.
8) Continue until everyone has had a chance.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did you learn the names of the students in the
circle?
I’m Going on a Trip
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get to know the people in the
group.
Number of Students: 5-40
Age Range of Students: 8 and up
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes (depending on group size)
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the participants to stand in a circle.
2) Start by saying “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking
a hug”.
3) Hug the person to your right.
4) He or she then has to say, “I’m going on a trip
and I am taking a hug and a pat on the back” or
anything else that person wants to “bring”.
5) He or she then has to give the next person a hug
and a pat on the back.
6) Go on around the circle until everyone has had
a turn, adding what they would like (encourage
creative thinking!).
7) Each person must repeat what the last one said
and then add their own to the list.
8) If someone has trouble remembering, encourage
others to help him or her.
9) You can do this same exercise with other objects
or with names as well (“My name is Nino and I am
going on a trip. I am taking a nut cracker).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What did you learn about the other people in
your group?
Meat! Meat! Meat!
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get the class comfortable and
have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to stand in a circle.
2) Ask for a volunteer.
3) The volunteer calls out “Meat! Meat! Meat!”
4) The group responds “Meat!”
5) Again the volunteer says “Meat! Meat! Meat!”
6) The group again responds “Meat!”
11
 7) The volunteer then lists type of meat that can
and cannot be eaten, such as chicken/pig/cow or
dolphin/hawk or dinosaur.
8) If it can be eaten, the group must jump and say
“Meat!”
9) If the animal cannot be eaten, they must stay still.
10) Whoever fails to jump and say “Meat!” on a ani-
mal that can be eaten or jumps when the animal
cannot be eaten must move to the center and call
the next round.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Were there any disagreements on what you can
eat? What about dog? Bear?
Fire On the Mountain
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get comfortable and have fun!
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Water, Land, Sky
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to stand in two circles – a small
one inside of a larger one.
2) Every person in the inner circle should have one
person behind him or her.
3) There must be an equal number or participants in
each circle.
4) You stand in the center of the circles.
5) The outer circle should then start running around
the outside of the inner circle while you say “Fire
on the mountain!”
6) They respond by saying “Fire!”
7) You say “Fire on the mountain!”
8) They say “Fire!”
9) You continue on and on until you say “Put it out!”
After you shout “Put it out!” jump in front of one
of the members of the inner circle.
10) Each of the participants from the outer circle
then also tries to get in front of a member of the
inner circle.
11) The person left without a place moves to the cen-
ter and starts the game again.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did this activity help you become more comfort-
able with the group? How?
Banana-Banana-Coconut
(Duck, Duck, Goose)
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To get comfortable and to have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
12
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to sit or stand in a circle.
2) Choose a volunteer.
3) That volunteer walks behind the chairs or peo-
ple.
4) He or she touches each volunteer while saying
“Banana, banana, banana” as they touch each
person.
5) When the volunteer finally says “Coconut!” the
person who he or she touched must chase the vol-
unteer around the circle.
6) The volunteer tries to get into the empty spot
before being caught.
7) Whoever is left standing outside the circle leads
the next round.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 You can change the words to this game to objects
that relate to your group (healthy, health, sick etc)
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): This is just a fun warm up
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Optional: tape or chalk (to draw lines on
the floor), paper, marker, prize for the winner
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class make three signs, “Water” “Land”
and “Sky”.
2) Draw three long lines down the center of the room.
3) Mark one with the “Water” sign on the first line.
4) Mark the middle one with the “Land” sign.
5) Mark the last line with the “Sky” sign.
6) All participants should stand on the “Water” line.
7) The caller cries out “Water, Land,” or “Sky” re-
peatedly
8) The participants must hop from one line to the
other.
9) Any participants who fails to hop, hops to the
wrong line, or wavers, is out and must stand out
of the game.
10) The person who is in the game longest wins the game.
11) You can also have them do other actions to each
line, like crab walk, crawl or hop on one foot.
12) Have a student be the caller after you have done
one round.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the challenges of this activity?
 What advice would you give to another group who
were going to play this game?
Keep On! Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

Topic: Icebreaker  None, this should be the last activity of the day.
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get comfortable and have fun! Fun Bag
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17 Topic: Fun
Time Required: 10 - 20 minutes Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
Materials: A small item from this activity?): Just for fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
1) Ask students to form a circle. Materials: Paper, Scissors, Pen/pencil, Bag/box
2) Choose a volunteer.
3) The volunteer must then go outside the room. Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
4) The circle of participants choose small item to
hide from the volunteer. 1) Cut up small papers and write different words,
5) The entire group starts to sing “Keep On! Keep actions or people on the papers (sample words
On! Keep On!” (to the tune of a Auld Lang Syne or are given at the bottom).
some other familiar tune – maybe Jingle Bells?). 2) Fold up the papers and put the names of different
6) The volunteer is asked to come back into the participants on the front of the folded paper.
room and starts to move around. 3) Put all the papers in a bag or box.
7) If he or she is very far from the hidden item, the 4) Whenever the group gets bored or needs a break,
singing gets louder. someone can shout “Fun Bag!” and draw a paper
8) If he or she is very close to the hidden item, the sing- out of the bag/box.
ing gets quieter (you can do the opposite as well). 5) The paper should be handed to the person whose
9) Continue signing until the volunteer finds the object. name appears on the front.
6) That person will stand in front of the room and
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics: act out what is written on the paper without
speaking.
 Was it difficult to be the volunteer? Why or why not? 7) The other participants should guess what the per-
 How did the group work together to help the vol- son is trying to be.
unteer? 8) You can choose great Fun Bag words, actions and
so on to match what you are teaching that day or
that week.
Hand in Hand 9) Remember to add relevant local ideas or dances
to the fun bag!
Topic: Closing Exercise
Sample Words:
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
 Drunk man
this activity?): To bring closure to a session or day.
 Bus driver
Number of Students: 5-30  School director
Age Range of Students: All ages  Pregnant woman
Time Required: 5 – 10 minutes  Smoking person
Materials: None  Priest
 Tangerine farmer
 Kissing
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
 Proposing to a girl
1) Everyone stands in a tight circle.
2) Ask the first person to your left to put his or her Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
right outstretched arm into the middle of the
circle and say something he or she has found dif-  None
ficult about the session.
3) Then have the students add something he or she Name Your Personality
has found good about the session.
4) Ask the students to use these phrases: “I didn’t Topic: Icebreaker
like it when…” and “I did like it when…” Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
5) After each student has finished, the person to his this activity?): To add more to normal introductions.
or her left will do the same, placing his or her Number of Students: 5-30
hand on top of the hand already in the middle.
Age Range of Students: All ages
6) Continue around the circle until all the partici-
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
pants have their right hand placed in a tower on
top of one another. Materials: None
7) Finish by saying that this tower of hands can rep-
resent the strength together as a group.

13
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have everyone sit in a circle.
2) Tell each participant to say their name and a
characteristic that starts with the same letter as
the first letter in their name (for example, “My
name is Giorgi and I am great!”).
3) The next person should then say the names of the
two people before him/her and their characteris-
tics.
4) Every person must say the name/characteristic of
all the people before them.
5) The last person has to remember everyone’s
names and characteristics!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did you learn anything new about the people in
your group? What did you learn?
Title Throw Away
Topic: Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To rid the group of labels before
they start the class/lesson
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pens/pencils, Trash can or bag
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) As people come into the room to begin the class,
give them name tags (small sheets of paper).
2) Ask them to write their names and titles on the
name tags (for example, Name: Maqvala, Title:
English Teacher). For younger students, have
them write down a label that has been given to
them by their peers or their family (for example,
Name: Dato, Title: Eating a lot).
3) When everyone is seated and ready to do the
introductions, make sure you begin by stressing
your own name and title.
14
4) Then have everyone go around the groom and
give their names and titles.
5) After everyone has introduced themselves, talk a
bit about the importance of feeling comfortable
to speak freely, with no reservations, in a class
such as this one.
6) Explain that often participants feel uncomfort-
able truly expressing their opinions because their
boss might be in the room, or because some par-
ticipants might feel others are more educated or
more popular than they are (this will have to be
changed depending on age of audience).
7) Stress that it is crucial to the success of the pro-
gram for everyone to let go of their confining
titles and positions in society.
8) They must approach the ideas and discussion as
the whole, entire human beings they are rather
than from just one angle given to us by our titles
in life.
9) After making this speech, explain that we are
now going to free ourselves from the confines of
our positions and make ourselves more comfort-
able to speak our opinions.
10) Dramatically tear up your name tag and re-intro-
duce yourself using just the name you want ev-
eryone to call you.
11) Go around the room with a trash can or bag as
participants, one by one, tear up their name tags
and tell everyone else the name they would like
to be called.
12) Collect the torn name tags in the trash can or
bag.
13) Reissue new sheets of paper to serve as name
tags if you like, but this time people should write
just what they want to be called.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did this activity make you feel?
 How can titles be harmful?
 Can titles sometimes be a good thing? How?
Communication

15
16
Peek-a-Who
Topic: Communication, Teamwork, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students work as a team
and develop communication within the team. To
learn names of students in the group.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Large tarp or large sheet
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into two groups.
2) Place them on either side of the tarp/sheet.
3) Ask team members on each end to of the tarp/
sheet to hold it up so that neither team can see
each other. Taller students work better.
4) One person must go up to the front on each
side.
5) When the tarp/sheet is dropped the team must
shout the person in the front’s name first.
6) Who ever shouts first takes the other person over
to their team.
7) Do this until everyone is on one team.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did you feel when you played the game?
 How did you have to work together, what were
your strategies?
 How did you communicate?
Communication Puzzle
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To list barriers to good communi-
cation. To identify good communication skills.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Communication puzzle (cut up in five piec-
es) in an envelope for each participant, Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Markers or chalk, Handout:
Communication puzzle (complete), Handout: Pro-
cessing Exercise (one for you only); Optional: Prizes
for winners, Candy for the whole class
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell students that communication skills are per-
haps the most important skills you can have.
Examining barriers to good communication and
thinking about steps to good communication is
very important.
2) Pick a volunteer to leave the room. Tell the rest of
the class to remove everything from their desks.
3) Give one envelope to each student and tell them
they must not open it or even touch/look at it.
Tell them to wait for further instructions.
4) Explain that they will get three chances to as-
semble the puzzle.
5) Tell the class: Do not take the pieces of the puz-
zle out until the volunteer says so. Under no cir-
cumstances are you allowed to look at someone
else’s puzzle. Absolutely no talking is permitted.
There can be no questions. Wait for the volunteer
to give instructions. Follow the instructions step-
by-step. After the volunteer is finished, we will
check each puzzle for a winner before going to
the second round.
6) Tell the volunteer: Give the volunteer a cope of
the puzzle sheet. Tell him/her to make sure that
the participants can’t see the sheet. Explain that
each member has pieces of the puzzle. The vol-
unteer is to go inside and explain step-by-step
how to put together the puzzle. Emphasize that
under no circumstance should the volunteer an-
swer any questions. There should be complete
silence from the members. If a question is asked,
they are to ignore it. Ask the volunteer to stand
with his or her back to the group while providing
instructions on how to complete the puzzle.
7) The volunteer goes back to the room. Make sure
his/her back is to the group while he/she talks.
8) When he/she has finished, see who has put to-
gether the puzzle correctly Ask the volunteer to
leave the room again and wait for more instruc-
tions.
9) If someone has finished the puzzle, congratulate
him/her, make sure no one sees the puzzle and
take him out of the group.
10) Second round say the same thing as before, but
this time they can ask questions if they want.
11) For the volunteer, they are allowed to face the
group, BUT he/she is NOT allowed to answer any
questions. Tell him/her to ignore any questions
given to him/her.
12) Guide the volunteer back to the room and con-
duct the second round. Some will be annoyed,
but that’s part of the point. If someone gets the
puzzle right, do the same as the last round.
13) For the third and final round, participants should
feel completely free. They may ask questions
and/or look at puzzles around them. They should
do whatever they want to do to finish.
14) The volunteer is also to feel complete free. He/
she can answer any questions, or do whatever it
takes to make sure all the participants finish the
puzzle.
15) Use the handout “Processing Exercise” to fill out
the three flipcharts as a class: First Round, Sec-
ond Round, Third Round.
16) Bring out the blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
and have the group make a list of good communi-
cation skills.
17
Communication Puzzle

Processing Exercise  He/she slowed down because it was clear

we were not getting the puzzle
 Faced us this time, looked at us, felt more
First Round in touch with speaker

 What are some of the problems that came up dur-
ing the first round?
 Why was it difficult to complete the puzzle?
 What was good about this round? Frustrating?
 What would have made it easier to complete the
puzzle?
 How did they feel during this round?
Examples:
 No way to communicate
 Volunteer not even facing us or looking at
us
 No eye contact or encouragement
 Went too fast or did not realize we were
not getting the puzzle
 Did not understand any of his/her instruc-
tions
Third Round
 Why was it much easier to complete the puzzle?
 List all the things that were helpful that hap-
pened during this round. Ideas might include
1) Moved around the room and helped us
2) More encouraging, improved body and eye
contact
3) Answered our questions, responded to our
needs
4) Seemed much more friendly and helpful
5) We were allowed to help each other, more
support
6) Thought we knew what the puzzle would turn
out to be, but it does not look like anything

Second Round
Good Communication Skills Examples:
 How was it better this time?
 Was anything improved?  Body language, gestures, good eye contact
 What were the frustrations?  Responsive to questions, encouraging attitude
 What were feelings associated with being ignored  Important not to assume you know what the per-
by the speaker? son is saying, but to keep your mind open (corre-
sponds with thinking they knew what the puzzle
 What does this mean for communication skills?
would look like in the end)
 Encouraging words or sounds
Examples:
 Listening skills
 Asked questions, but was ignored
 Feedback
 Volunteer was not helping us
 We could see his/her face this time, and
that helped sometimes

18
Statues of Power (Tableaux)
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To stimulate some of the emo-
tions associated with power and how these emotions
effect us.
Number of Students: 10-30
Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into pairs.
2) Each pair is going to produce a tableaux (frozen
image) showing one person in a position of power
and other in a powerless position.
3) Allow a few minutes for the pairs to make their
first tableaus.
4) Ask them to also change roles during their prepa-
rations.
5) After they have had time to prepare their tab-
leaux, give each pair the opportunity to show
them to the rest of the class.
6) Ask for quick comments about what people ob-
serve.
7) Ask the members of each tableau to express what
they are feeling in one word (proud, scared, hum-
ble, and so forth).
8) Ask the class the following questions:
 Which of the two positions felt more fa-
miliar?
 Can they relate any of the emotions they
felt to situations in their lives?
 What did they feel for the powerless per-
son when they were in the position of
power? Vise versa?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What does power mean to you?
 What are traits of powerful people? Are they all
the same?
Assertiveness: Attack and Avoid
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To examine attacking and avoid-
ing behavior, where and when they use these behav-
iors and how tone and body language can create each
of these behaviors: 5-30
Number of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: List of actions (one for you); Optional:
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Paper, Pen/paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to listen to a list of actions you
are going to read out. A list of actions can be
found on the next page.
2) If they think they do an action often, they should
put both hands in the air.
3) If they think they do an action sometimes, they
should put one hand in the air.
4) If they think they never do an action, have them
keep their hands down.
5) Pause a few moments after reading each action
to let the class gage how many hands there are
in the classroom (don’t do this too long or people
might be afraid of being judged).
6) Tell the students that the actions are from two
groups: attacking and avoiding (write these two
groups in the board if you have one).
7) First read the attacking group and pause a mo-
ment to let the kids think about it
8) Then read the avoiding group and do the same.
9) Brainstorm with the group the word “attack”
and the word “avoid” – ask everyone what that
word means to them (you can write this on a the
board). Allow two minutes for each word.
10) Ask the group why they would behave in an at-
tacking or avoiding way. Ask a few volunteers to
describe their examples to everyone.
11) Ask participants to consider how “attacking” or
“avoiding” could be expressed. What would they
say? How would they say it? How would they say it
with their bodies? You can write the ideas on the
board.
12) Ask the group to come up with examples of phras-
es they could use in attacking and avoiding situ-
ations. This can be fun, so try to encourage cre-
ativity! Give them a few examples: “Why do you
care??” “You are wrong!” “If you don’t answers
me I will…” (attacking), “I don’t feel so good”
“Nevermind” “It doesn’t matter” “Whatever”
(avoiding).
13) For more advanced students, you may say a
phrase and ask them how they would change it
into an attacking or avoiding phrase.
14) Point out that body language can change every-
thing!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did the attacking phrases make you feel?
 How did the avoiding phrases make you feel?
List of Actions
Attacking
 Nagging
 Shouting
 Persisting (I am right!)
 Revenge (I’ll get you back!)
 Warning (If you don’t…)
 Interrupting
 Exploding
 Sarcastic
 Insulting
 Correcting
Avoiding
 Withdrawal
 Sulking in silence
 Taking it out on the wrong person
19
  Saying that you are being unfairly treated
 Talking behind someone’s back
 Feeling ill
 Being polite but feeling angry
 Feeling low and depressed
 Not saying anything but now wanting to
hurt the other person
 Trying to forget about the problem
The Yes or No Game
Topic: Communication, Self-Awareness, Character
Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show how body language,
tone and other forms of expression can affect both
sides of an argument.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students to stand up and split into two
groups.
2) One group should make a line facing the center of
the classroom.
3) The other group should make a line facing the
other group.
4) Explain that one group is the “yes” group and one
group is the “no” group.
5) In the “yes” group, the only word allowed is “yes”
and in the “no” group the only word allowed is
“no”.
6) When you say “go”, each group needs to try to
convince the other, but they can only use the as-
signed words – yes or no. They do this by using
body language and tone of voice, not words.
7) After a minute or so, have the group change
roles.
8) After another few minutes, ask the students to
describe how they felt about doing this exercise.
9) Ask about body language or use of “attacking” or
“avoiding” actions.
10) Discuss how laughter is also another form of ex-
pression. Laughter can be both good and harmful
depending on the timing.
11) Ask for examples.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What other expressions do you use when you are
trying to convince someone?
 Why are expressions important in communication?
 Can you communicate only using expressions?
Why or why not? How?
Passive, Assertive, Aggressive:
Role Plays
Topic: Communication, Character Building
20
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn the differences between
passive, assertive and aggressive behavior. To discuss
what actions make behavior passive, assertive or ag-
gressive.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Behavior handouts for each group; Option-
al: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the class that they will see three role
plays to understand the differences between pas-
sive, assertive and aggressive behavior. Before
the exercise you should go over what the three
behaviors are (see handout below). Ask group to
come up with examples of each.
2) Divide the class into three groups.
3) Give each group one of the behaviors: passive,
assertive and aggressive (try to keep this a secret
from the rest of the class!).
4) Give each group a handout with a description of
each behavior.
5) Tell the groups they are to come up with a short
role play to express their behavior.
6) Give the groups at least 15 minutes to come up
with their role play.
7) When everyone is finished, have the aggressive
group go first (don’t let them say what they are
before the role play).
8) After the first one discuss the following questions:
 Is (name)’s behavior passive, assertive or
aggressive?
 Why? What did (name) do to make you de-
cide he/she was aggressive? What did he/
she say? How did he/she say it? Describe
body language.
9) Have the passive group go next.
10) After they have finished ask the same questions
as the first group.
11) Have the last group go (assertive).
12) Ask the same questions to the class as the first
two groups.
13) Emphasize the actions in assertive behavior.
These might include:
 Speaking in a calm, firm voice
 Discussing needs, making feelings clear
 Checking to see if the other person is com-
fortable with statements made
 Body language – facing the other person,
looking him/her in the eye
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What behavior is the most productive? Why?
 What behavior do you see yourself doing the
most? Why?
 How does it feel when someone is being passive
with you? Aggressive? Assertive?
Behavior Handout

Passive Behavior

 Giving in to the will of others, hoping to get what you want without
actually having to say it. Leaving it to others to guess or letting
them decide for you
 Taking to action to assert your own rights
 Putting others first at your expense
 Giving in to what others want
 Remaining silent when something bothers you
 Apologizing a lot
 Acting submissive – for example: talking quietly, laughing nervously,
sagging shoulders, avoiding disagreement, hiding face with hands

Assertive Behavior

 Telling someone exactly what you want in a way that does not seem
rude or threatening to them
 Standing up for your own rights without putting down the rights of
others
 Respecting yourself as well as the other person
 Listening and talking
 Expressing positive and negative feelings
 Being confident but not too “pushy”
 Staying balanced – knowing what you want to say, saying “I feel”
not “I think”, being specific, using “I” statements, talking face to
face with the person, no whining or sarcasm, using body language
that shows you are standing your ground and staying centered.

Aggressive Behavior

 Expressing your feelings, opinions or desires in a way that threat-

ens or punishes the other person
 Standing up for your own rights with no thought of the other per-
son
 Putting yourself first at the expense of others
 Overpowering others
 Reaching your own goals, but at the sake of others
 Dominating behaviors – for example: shouting, demanding, not lis-
tening to others, saying others are wrong, leaning forward, looking
down on others, wagging or pointing finger at others, threatening,
or fighting

21
Opening a Fist
Topic: Communication, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice assertive behavior
when facing someone aggressive.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 14 – 17
Time Required: 25 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the class that body language can in-
fluence other people’s responses to us. For in-
stance, if someone is acting us aggressively, he
or she may be leaning towards us with clenched
fists. By changing our body language we can im-
prove the situation. For example, if we are sit-
ting down, we can relax our shoulders, uncross
our arms, open our palms upwards, uncross our
legs, hold our heads straight, and/or look right at
the aggressive person. All of these changes help
to create a more balanced response in the ag-
gressive person.
2) Ask the participants to divide into pairs.
3) Tell them that first, one will act as the aggres-
sive person and the other will act as the assertive
person. Then they will switch roles.
4) The aggressive ones must hold their hands up in a
very tight fist and pretend to feel very angry.
5) The assertive ones must try to persuade or con-
vince the aggressive ones to undo their fists.
6) The assertive ones should use all their skills to
persuade the aggressive ones to calm down and
open their fists.
7) The aggressive and assertive people should not
touch each other.
8) The assertive one can say anything that they
think will convince the aggressive one.
9) If the aggressive ones think the assertive ones
have done a good job, they may open their fists.
But they must NOT give in too easily!
10) Give the pairs eight minutes to try out their as-
sertiveness skills on each other.
11) Praise and encourage everyone and explain that
it gets easier with practice.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did it feel to be talked to with a closed fist?
With an open fist?
 How do expressions help us communicate?
 Do we sometimes expression one emotion but say
another?
22
Assertive Messages
Topic: Communication, Peer Pressure, Character
Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?):To practice creating assertive
messages.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: Handout: Steps to Deliver an Assertive Mes-
sage, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Scenario
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Review the definitions of passive, assertive and
aggressive:
 Passive: not reacting visibly to something
that might be expected to produce mani-
festations of an emotion or feeling
 Assertive: confidently aggressive or self-
assured; positive: aggressive; dogmatic
 Aggressive: characterized by or tending
toward unprovoked offensives, attacks,
invasions, or the like; militantly forward
or menacing
2) Talk briefly about how assertive behavior can im-
prove communication and interactions.
3) Hand out the sheet “Steps to Deliver an Assertive
Message” (you can also have it on the board if you
like)
4) Explain the situation at the top and then go step-
by-step through the handout
5) Act out the “messages”
6) Remind the group that body language and tone is
very important!
7) Make sure everyone is clear on the steps before
proceeding
8) Use the following message to develop assertive
messages:
Giga and Giorgi are good friends. Giga has a
part-time job and he has loaned money to
Giorgi on several occasions. Lately, Giga has
noticed that Girogi is becoming slower to pay
the money back. Giga decides to discuss this
matter with Giorgi and ask Giorgi to pay the
money back sooner
9) After reading the situation aloud and making
sure it is clear, go through the steps and have the
group come up with their own messages
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is delivering an assertive message sometimes
important?
 In which situations would you use an assertive
message?
 Can being assertive sometimes be negative?
When?
 Steps to Deliver an Assertive Message

Giga and Giorgia are good friends. Giga has a part-time job and he has loaned money to Giorgi on several occasions.
Lately Giga has noticed that Giorgi is becoming slower to pay the money back. Giga decides to discuss this matter
with Giorgi and to ask Giorgi to pay the money back sooner.

Steps Description Words you might say… Messages

1) Explain your State how you feel  “I feel frustrated when…” “I feel as if I’m being used
feelings and about the behavior or  “I feel unhappy when…” when I lend you money
the problem problem. Describe the  “I feel…when…” and don’t get it back in
behavior or problem  “It hurts me when…” good time.”
that violates your rights  “I don’t like it when…”
or disturbs you
2) Make your State clearly what you  “It would like it better if…” “I would like it better if
request would like to have hap-  “I would like you to…” when you borrow money
pen  “Could you please…” you would give it back as
 “Please don’t…” soon as possible.”
 “I wish you would…”
3) Ask how the Invite the other person  “How do you feel about it?” “Is that okay with you?”
other person to express his or her  “Is that okay with you?”
feels about feelings or thoughts  “What do you think?”
your request about your request  “Is that all right with you?”
 “What are your ideas?”
Answer The other person indi- The other person responds “Yes, I guess you’re right.
cates his or her feelings I’m not too good at get-
or thoughts about your ting money back right
request away, but I’ll return it
sooner next time.”
4) Accept with If the other person  “Thanks” “Thanks for understand-
thanks agrees with your re-  “Great, I appreciate that.” ing. Let’s go and listen to
quest, saying “thanks”  “I’m happy you agree.” some music.”
is a good way to end  “Great!”
the discussion

Creating Our Own 5) After reading each situation, each person will
write out assertive messages following the steps
Assertive Messages on the handout “Steps to Delivering an Assertive
Topic: Communication Message”.
6) Then each person will share the messages with
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
their partners, getting any advice and making any
from this activity?): To create assertive messages.
changes that they might decide together.
Number of Students: 5-30
7) The pair will act out each situation with each
Age Range of Students: 10 and up other and practice delivering their assertive mes-
Time Required: 1 hour sages.
Materials: Scenario cards (next page), “Steps to De- 8) Go around to each pair and ensure that the in-
livering an Assertive Message” handout (found on structions are clear and assist people if needed.
page before activity) 9) Allow 30 minutes for this part of the exercise.
10) After each pair practices two different situations,
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): invite interested pairs to come up in front of the
class and act out their assertive messages.
1) Explain that the class will be creating their own 11) Use this time to spark discussion.
assertive messages.
2) This may be hard/awkward at first but will be-
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
come easier with practice.
3) Split the class into pairs.  Can you think of any real life situations where
4) Give each person a different scenario card (each you have had to be assertive?
pair will have two scenario cards, one each) and  Can being assertive be a negative thing? When?
a handout.  Do leaders sometimes deliver assertive messages?
When/why?

23
 Assertiveness Scenario Cards
1) A person of the opposite sex asks you to go to
a party with him or her. You don’t know any-
one who is going, which makes you feel a little
uncomfortable. You have also heard that this
person uses drugs and does not have a very
good reputation at school. You decide to be as-
sertive and say no.
2) You are talking to a number of your friends. Most
of them smoke and are teasing you about the
fact that you do not smoke. One of the mem-
bers of the group hurts your feelings by saying
something inappropriate. You decide to make
an assertive reply.
3) You decide to get your ears pierced. You friend
tells you that you can get it done at a place
in town. You go to the place, but it does not
look very clean. You have heard about people
getting serious diseases from dirty needles.
You decide to ask the person if the needles
are clean and to see the equipment used for
cleaning. The person won’t show you, but in-
sists that the shop is very clean and safe. The
person urges you to get the procedure done.
You decide to say no assertively.
4) A friend of your family asks if you wan t a ride
home from school. You do not feel very good
about this person and you feel uncomfortable
about the situation. You deice to be assertive
and refuse the ride.
6) Ask the group “What do you say when someone
tries to get you off the Topic:?” (you can also
write this on the board).
7) Brainstorm possible ideas with the class.
8) Some ideas might be:
 Please let me finish what I’m saying.
 Please don’t stop me until I’m finished.
 That’s fine, but please listen to what I
have to say.
 I know you think… but let me finish what
I’m saying.
 Thank you, but…”
9) Ask the class “What do you say when someone is
trying to persuade you?” and brainstorm.
10) After you brainstorm, categorize them into three
categories:
Refuse
 No, no, I really mean no.
 No, thank you.
 No, no – I am leaving.
Delay
 I am not ready yet.
 Maybe we can talk later.
 I’d like to talk to a friend first.
Bargain
 Let’s do… instead.
 I won’t do that, but maybe we could do…
 What would make us both happy?
Large Persuasion Cards

 Reasons
Persuasion Categories  No Problem
 Threaten
Topic: Communication, Peer Pressure, Character Building  Put You Down
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from  Getting Off the Topic:
this activity?): To recognize persuasion and distraction  Argue
from assertive statements and come up with responses.
Number of Students: 10-30 Small Persuasion Cards
Age Range of Students: 13 – 17  You’re just afraid
Time Required: 1 hour  Why not? Everyone is doing it!
Materials: Large Persuasion Cards, Small Persuasion  You know that I love you.
Cards (for each participant), Tape; Optional: Black-  I’ll find someone else who will.
board/whiteboard/flipchart  Nothing will go wrong.
 I’ll take care of everything.
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):  Aren’t you grown up enough to do this?
 But we’re getting married anyways.
1) Tell the group that they will take a look at the  You have nice eyes.
different ways people might try to get you off  What do you know about… anyways?
your Topic: (an assertive message) or refuse to  You owe me.
accept your assertive message.  What do you think can happen?
2) Tape the different Large Persuasion Cards at dif-  Do it or goodbye.
ferent points along a blank wall.  I can hurt you if you don’t.
3) Review each card and discuss how people can use  Don’t worry.
the technique to convince, persuade, or distract  I’ve got it all handled.
from assertive messages.  You can’t get addicted if you just do it once.
 You’re old enough now.
4) Hand on Small Persuasion Card to each participant.
 I like you when you’re angry.
5) All members of the group should stand up, read
the statement on their cards, explain the possi-
ble categories where the statement might belong Persuasion Categories
and tape the statement to the wall underneath
the appropriate category. Put you Down
 You’re just afraid
 Aren’t you grown up enough to do this?

24
 Argue
 Why not? Everyone’s doing it!
 What do you think can happen?
 What do you know about… anyways?
Threaten
 Do it or goodbye.
 I’ll find someone else who will.
 I can hurt you if you don’t.
No Problem
 Nothing will go wrong
 Don’t worry.
 I’ll take care of everything.
 I’ve got it all handled.
Reasons
 But we’re getting married anyways.
 You can’t get addicted if you have it just
once.
 You owe me.
 You’re old enough now.
Getting Off the Topic:
 You have nice eyes
 I like you when you’re angry
 You know that I love you.
Persuasion Role Play
Topic: Communication, Peer Pressure, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice using phrases when
someone is trying to distract or persuade you.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart; Option-
al: Role Play Cards;
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Review and explain the three categories for re-
sponding to persuasion or people trying to dis-
tract you (refuse, delay, bargain).
Refuse
 No, no, I really mean no.
 No, thank you.
 No, no – I am leaving.
Delay
 I am not ready yet.
 Maybe we can talk later.
 I’d like to talk to a friend first.
Bargain
 Let’s do… instead.
 I won’t do that, but maybe we could do…
 What would make us both happy?
2) Split the class into three groups.
3) Assign each group one of the categories.
4) Give each group a role play card.
5) Tell them they must make a role play using a
phrase or strategy from their category.
6) Give each group at least 15 minutes to come up
with their role play.
7) Have each group perform in front of the class.
8) Discuss each role play after they are finished.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have you ever had a friend/family member try
to persuade you to do something you didn’t want
to do?
 Can persuasion be a good thing? How?
Persuasion Role Play
Your older brother is supposed to give you a ride
home in his car. You meet him but he is staggering
and slurring his words. You feel that he has had too
much to drink and it would be not wise to ride with
him in his car when he is driving. He tires to persuade
you to go with him. Each group will do the role play
using different endings (refuse, delay or bargain)
Work together to come up with a SHORT role play to
show this situation. Use the following kinds of state-
ments in your role play.
Sister: “I feel scared about driving with you when
you have been drinking”
Brother: “What do you know about drinking any-
way?”
Sister: “Please let me finish what I am saying. I
don’t want to drive home with you and I
really don’t think you should be driving.
What do you think? Will you please not
drive home?”
Brother: “Hey, I’m fine. You have nothing to worry
about.”
Sister: (Use alternative endings)
Mother-Child Trust Call
Topic: Communication, Trust
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build communication skills
and trust within the group.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blindfolds
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the participants to divide into pairs.
2) The pairs should select one person to be the
“mother” and one person to be the “child”.
3) Each pair should also choose one animal.
4) The “mother” should make the sound that animal
makes so the “child” will know the “mother’s”
voice.
5) Now separate the groups – all “mothers” on one side
of the room and all the “children” on the other side.
6) “Children” must close their eyes. You may also
use blindfolds.
7) “Mothers” will make the animal sound while mov-
ing about the room.
8) With their eyes closed, the “children” must try to
find and touch their “mothers”.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What does this activity show about communication?
25
Body Language
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how easy it is
to read body language and the importance of body
language in communication.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students:
Time Required: 20 – 30 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the group into pairs.
2) Each pairs should think of a discussion that one of
them has had with their spouse, friend, or any-
thing that developed into an argument.
3) The pair should first establish the two characters
and their relationship.
4) They should then re-enact the argument between
them in mime, only using their bodies and faces,
with no words.
5) Give the pairs a few minutes to work on this.
6) Then ask everyone to return to the group.
7) Pick out two pairs whose scenes looked particu-
larly clear.
8) Ask the first pair to re-enact its scene in the mid-
dle of the circle.
9) Ask members of the audience to tell the story the
pair is acting out.
10) Point out how easy it can be for us to know what
is going on in general through what we do with
our bodies.
11) Repeat with the second pair.
12) Point out the different types of body language,
such as eye contact, distance between people,
and positions.
13) Finish by suggesting that participants think over
the next few days and week, about the ways they
use their own bodies to say things to one anoth-
er.
14) Encourage them to think how they might use their
bodies differently in different contexts to convey
different messages to people.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are the different types of body language?
 Do we sometimes subconsciously communicate
with our body without even knowing it? How?
Pass the Picture
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how people can
understand things differently.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 – 30 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper or large plain paper (2),
Markers
26
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask for five volunteers to leave the training area
for a few minutes.
2) Bring out a piece of flip chart paper (or plain pa-
per).
3) Ask the remaining people to agree on a picture,
and two or three people to draw it.
4) The picture could include, for example, a house,
animals, a tree and so forth.
5) They should not make it too complicated.
6) Then hid the picture and ask someone to call the
five volunteers into the room.
7) One volunteer is then shown the picture for about
a minute.
8) This volunteer must then describe the picture in
words to the second volunteer.
9) The second volunteer in turn describes the pic-
ture to the third volunteer and so on.
10) When the fifth volunteer has heard a description
of the picture, he or she should be handed a new
piece of paper and some markers.
11) He or she should then try to draw the picture as
he or she understands it to look from the descrip-
tion.
12) He or she should receive no help from the rest of
the group!
13) When he or she is finished, compare it with the
original picture.
14) There should be some interesting differences.
15) Thank the five volunteers.
16) Point out that it is often much harder than we
supposed for all of us to understand things in the
same way.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What does this activity show us about communi-
cation?
 How does this relate to real life?
Rumors, Telephone
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show how rumors can distort
information and make it far from the truth.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask everyone to stand in a circle or line.
2) Think of a phrase to whisper beforehand, such
has “How many people like khajapuri?” or “I wish
I could go to the sea”.
3) Whisper this phrase quietly to the person to your
right. Make sure no one else can hear you.
4) This person whispers exactly what they heard to
the person to his or her right and so on until you
get to the last person.
 5) The phrase is not allowed to be repeated and
they must say exactly what they heard.
6) The last person says what they heard out loud to
the group.
7) Announce to the group what you had originally
said.
8) There should be some funny differences!
9) Let someone else try and make up a phrase.
10) Discuss how this relates to communication and
spreading rumors about people.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Based on this activity, should we always believe
the rumors we hear? Why or why not?
 What can we do to stop bad rumors?
Pooey
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate different meth-
ods of communicating.
Number of Students: 10-40
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: An open space for walking around; blind-
fold for each student or complete darkness
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand out blindfolds or make sure you are in place
where all light can be blocked out. You can ask
students to close their eyes, but this is hard to do
and many students will peek.
2) Ask everyone to put on their blindfolds or turn off
the lights.
3) Tell the group to stay still.
4) Tap one person quietly without letting others
know who you tapped.
5) Tell the group that the person who you touched
cannot speak, but they are the Pooey. The other
members of the group should NOT know who the
Pooey is.
6) Tell the group that they must shake each others
hands and ask “Are you the Pooey?”
7) If they are NOT the Pooey, the other person must
say “Yes, I am the pooey.” The students then must
leave that person and try to find another person
who is the Pooey.
8) If a student shakes hands and the other person IS
the Pooey, the Pooey does not speak. That person
then must hold hand with the Pooey and become
part of the Pooey. This means that if another per-
son shakes hand with that part of the Pooey, they
must also be silent.
9) This will continue until everyone is holding hands
and have become part of the Pooey
10) After everyone has become part of the Pooey,
stop the game.
*Note: The name “Pooey” doesn’t translate well, so
you may want to change the name. Any name will be
okay, but try to make it funny if you can.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was it easy to find the Pooey? Why or why not?
 Did it confuse you when people who were not the
Pooey said, “I am the Pooey”?
Animal Noises
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate the strength of
communication with only sounds.
Number of Students: 10-40
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: A large open space, Blindfolds for each
child or complete darkness
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand out blindfolds to each child in the group. If
there are no blindfolds available, make sure you
are in a dark room with NO LIGHT.
2) Before the students are blindfolded/you turn off
the light, explain the rules to the game,
3) When they are blindfolded or when the lights are
off, name three animals.
4) Tell the students to chose one of those animals to
be WITHOUT saying it (it is important they don’t
let anyone else know what they are).
5) When the students are blindfolded or the lights
are off, the students must find other students
who are the same animal as them by making the
animal’s noise.
6) They must NOT say their animal’s name nor talk
at all. ONLY ANIMAL NOISES!!!
7) When the students are finished, they will let you
know.
8) When they are finished, ask the students to take
off their blindfold or turn on the light.
9) Ask the students to check and see if they are in
the right groups.
10) Once they understand the game, name animals
with more difficult sounds. If you want a big
challenge, name animals which don’t have a
real sound (for example, a giraffe, hippo, rabbit
etc).
11) Discuss the activity after it is finished.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was this a difficult activity? Why or why not?
 What strategies did you use to find the other ani-
mals in your group?
 Was there a leader in any of the groups? How did
that leader help?
Listening Pairs
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show the importance of good
listening and to talk about how it feels not to be
listened to.
27
 Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the group into pairs
2) Once should describe to the other an event in
his or her life which make him or her feel very
happy.
3) The listener should say nothing but just concen-
trate hard on hearing what is being said.
4) After a couple of minutes, ask the listeners to
stop listening.
5) At this stage, the speaker should continue to de-
scribe his or her happy experience, but the lis-
tener should stop listening completely (maybe
plug ears or talk to another listener).
6) He or she could yawn, look elsewhere, turn
around, or whistle too.
7) The important thing is that he or she is not longer
listening to the speaker as the speaker continues
the story.
8) After a couple of minutes, yell “STOP!”
9) At this stage, the speaker and listener should
change roles and do the exercise again.
10) Ask participants how they felt as speakers telling
their story to a willing, interested listener com-
pared with telling it to a bad listener.
11) Process the exercise.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Is it always easy to listen to people? Why or why
not?
 Why is listening important?
 What can happen if you don’t listen?
 How do you feel is someone is not listening to
you?
28
Folding Paper Game
Topic: Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show students different forms
of communication and how a lack of any of those
forms can make communication harder.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 – 30 minutes
Materials: Sheets of paper (one for each partici-
pant)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask every participant to close their eyes.
2) Make them promise to keep their eyes shut!
3) Hand each participant a sheet of paper.
4) Ask participants to do the following:
 Fold their paper in half
 Tear off the bottom right-hand corner of
the paper
 Then fold the paper in half again
 Next tear off the lower left-hand corner
5) Remind them not to peek!
6) Now ask them to open their eyes and unfold their
pieces of a paper.
7) Have them show their paper to the other stu-
dents.
8) The papers should look different.
9) Ask participants what this exercise can show us.
10) One point is to show everyone how even simple
instructions can mean very different things to
different people. We often think we are saying
something clearly to someone, only to discover
later that what we meant and what they under-
stood were quite different.
11) Everyone followed the instructions correctly, but
the results were different.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What does this tell us about communicating with
different people?
 How does culture affect communication?
 Character
Building
and
Responsible
Behavior

29
30
The Problem With Excuses
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To analyze common excuses for
dangerous behaviors.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 12 – 17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: List of dangerous activities, Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart; Optional: Cards with excuses
prepared
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, create a list of dangerous activities
that students should not participate in
2) Divide class into groups of three or four
3) Give each group one of the following excuses
 Just one (or a little won’t hurt)
 I can control myself, so this one time
won’t matter
 Everybody’s doing it
 I don’t want to be left out
 I deserve this
 I feel stressed out. This will help me relax
 If I don’t do this, they will think I’m a …
 If I don’t do this, they might not like me
 If I don’t do this, they might get made at
me
 I’m too young for this to hurt me
4) Have each group analyze each excuse
5) They should first determine in what situation
might someone use the excuse
6) Then have the group determine why it isn’t a
good reason to do something
7) After five minutes, rotate the excuses
8) Give each group an opportunity to discuss eat of
the excuses
9) Have each group chose a dangerous behavior
10) Ask them to write a list of excuses NOT to do the
behavior
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What other excuses do people use to rationalize
dangerous or inappropriate behavior?
 Why do we talk ourselves into doing things that
we know we shouldn’t be doing?
Are you a Caring Person?
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify and discuss personal
emotions with regard to caring.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Paper, pen, questionnaire
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give students the questionnaire and have them
fill it out (five minutes) – you should of course
translate it before handing it to students.
Are You a Caring Person?
True/False
___ ___ I am never mean, cruel, or insensitive
___ ___ I treat people with kindness and gener-
osity
___ ___ I am charitable
___ ___ I give of myself for the benefit of oth-
ers
___ ___ I am responsive to the concerns and
needs of others
I conclude that: ___________________________
2) Have students write an essay on one of the fol-
lowing Topic:
 Describe the most caring thing anyone has
ever done for you. What effect did that
have on you?
 Write a thank you note to someone in your
community who did something very car-
ing.
 Write about a real or an imagined experi-
ence in which you performed a random act
of caring and the results it produced.
 Imagine that you have just inherited
$20,000, and you want to spend it all to
help other people. What would you do
with it and why? What effect would it have
on the people you would be helping?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What kinds of activities did you identify in your
essay as caring?
 How does it feel when someone does something
you identify as caring for you?
 How does it feel when you do something caring
for someone else?
Making Introductions
Topic: Character Building, Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To feel at ease when introducing
people and themselves.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Throughout your whole life you will be meeting new
people almost every day. Being able to do this eas-
ily is one of the first and most important steps of
making friends. A person’s first impression of you is
formed within the first few minutes after meeting
you. This impression often stays with them and af-
31
 fects what they think of you or how they feel about
you. People often decide if they want to get to know
someone because of a first impression.
1) Discuss how this skill can help the student. Your
ability to handle meeting people and making intro-
ductions with ease will be valuable to you through-
out your whole life. This skill can help you to:
 Feel more comfortable at parties, in a
new club, at school, or any time when you
are around strangers
 Make friends more easily
 Give an impression of poise and self-con-
fidence
 Be at ease when applying for jobs
2) Discuss how you make introductions - When you
are being introduced:
 Smile
 Try to think about making the other person
feel at ease and then you won’t have time
to feel nervous or uncomfortable
 Be warm and friendly
 Look the other person in the eyes
 Step forward
 Be sincere in what you say
What you might say:
 How do you do?
 Hello, how are you?
 I am glad to meet you
 I have been looking forward to meeting
you
 How do you do, “name”?
3) Have students list other possible ways to respond
to an adult and to a person their own age.
4) Tell students each person must find out what is
most comfortable and natural for them to say.
This comes only through practice. The most im-
portant thing is to say SOMETHING. No one wants
to feel ignored.
5) If the other person puts his hand out to shake
hands, meet him with a warm, firm handshake.
Discuss methods of greeting in Georgia (kissing on
a cheek). What are appropriate gestures between
men/women?
6) When you are doing the introduction:
 In introducing man-woman, say lady’s
name first (Nino Jashi, I would like you to
know Giorgi Gugunava)
 When introducing a much older person to
a younger person, say the older person’s
name first
 After your two friends have had a chance
to speak, it is thoughtful to give them
something to talk about
7) Try introducing:
 One group member to another
 Your leader or teacher to another student
8) When students are comfortable with this, take
turns introducing one person to the whole group.
Give a Smile
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show children how doing
things for other people can make them happy.
32
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 11 and under
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: Paper (for each child), Makers/pens/col-
ored pencils; Optional: Glue, Scissors, Yarn, Stickers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before this activity, talk with the group about be-
ing nice to others. Here are some questions you
could ask:
 Why should we be nice to other people?
 Should we be nice to people who are dif-
ferent from us? Why?
 What does respect mean?
 Why should we respect the feelings and
property of others?
 Why should we be polite to others?
 There is a Golden Rule that says “Do unto
others as you would have them do unto
you”. What does that mean to you?
 Do you think the Golden Rule is a good
rule? Why or why not?
2) Hand out paper and markers/pens/colored pen-
cils to the students.
3) Tell the class that they are going to make greet-
ing cards for someone they think would need a
nice card or a smile. Examples could be nursing
homes, orphanages, family members that get ig-
nored, sick people, people in hospitals etc.
4) Have children make their cards.
5) Tell the children to be sure to say something nice
about that person in the card.
6) If the people are in one place collect the cards
and deliver them to the place as a class.
7) If they are in several places, have the students
deliver their cards to that person (be sure to have
a way of checking up on if they brought them or
not, try to really encourage them to give them to
the people).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do you feel if someone is mean to you?
 What happens when people aren’t nice to each
other? Among your friends? In your family? In the
world?
 What does it feel like to be left out of a group
activity?
 What is embarrassment? Jealousy? Anger?
 What might make us feel these things? Are they
normal feelings?
 What can you do if someone makes you feel em-
barrassed, jealous or angry?
Pleasing Others
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To think about activities that
please other people.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 11 and under
Time Required: 30 minutes
 Materials: Paper (for each student), Colored mark-
ers/pencils/pens; Optional: Other art supplies to
make the pictures more fun, Blackboard/white-
board/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the students if they think it is right to do
things for other people.
2) Ask them to come up with examples of things they
could do for other people to make them happy.
3) Tell the students that there are probably already
things they do on a regular basis that they do to
please other people.
4) Ask students to sit and brainstorm for a minute or
two about things they do to make other people
happy.
5) Give each student a piece of paper and colored
markers/pens/pencils.
6) Tell the students they must now draw a picture
of something they do in a normal day that makes
others happy (something they don’t do just for
themselves).
7) Some examples are:
 doing chores around the house
 getting dressed up for a special occasion
 not talking in class or at a performance
 washing the dishes
 visiting a relative you don’t really like
8) Give the students at least 10 – 15 minutes to work
on their drawing.
9) When they are finished have the students stand
up and explain their picture to the class briefly.
10) You can write these on the board to make a list if
you would like.
11) Discuss the activity and how it made them feel.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it a good thing to make other people happy?
 What are some things that you would like others
to do for you to make you happy?
Thank a Friend
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To explore people’s reactions
when you do something nice for them, or just say
thank you!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 11 and under
Time Required: 30 minutes in two class periods
Materials: Paper (for each student), Colored mark-
ers/pens/pencils, Pencils; Optional: Stickers, Glue,
Scissors, Colored paper, Blackboard/whiteboard/
flipchart, Chalk/markers, Envelopes
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the students to think of a nice thing a friend
has done for them recently.
2) Ask the students why they think their friend did
that thing.
3) Ask the students how they felt when their friend
did a nice thing.
4) Tell the students you are now going to make
cards for their friend who has done nice things
for them.
5) The cards should say “Thank you” on them and
say what their friend did and how it made them
feel inside the card.
6) Give each student a piece of paper and colored
markers/pens/pencils.
7) Give them at least 15 minutes to complete their
cards.
8) If you have envelopes, give them an envelope and
have them put their friend’s name on it.
9) Tell the class they must give the envelope to their
friend before the next class.
10) At the next class, ask the students how their
friends reacted when they received the card.
11) If you have a board, write down the reactions on
the board.
12) Ask the class how they felt giving the card (write
them on the board if you can).
13) Discuss how doing nice things for people make
you and the other person happy and how saying
thank you is always a good idea.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Are there ever times you should say thank you,
but you don’t want to?
Manners in the Bag
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn to share and to say
please and thank you.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Small paper bags (one for each student),
Scissors (one pair for each group), Puppet face cut-
outs (one per student) (see next page), Yarn (in
balls), Glue (one for each group), Markers (only one
or two for each group); Optional: Colored markers/
pens/pencils, Other items to make puppets more
decorative
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell the class they will be learning about sharing,
saying please and saying thank you today.
2) Split the class into small groups of four or five.
3) Give each student a paper bag and a puppet face
cut-out sheet.
4) Tell the groups that they must make a puppet
(have an example ready to show them).
5) Give the groups one pair of scissors, one glue
bottle/stick, and only one or two markers.
6) Tell them that they must share these items.
7) When they ask for an item, they must say
please.
8) When they receive an item they must say thank
you.
33
 9) Give them at least 15 – 20 minutes to finish their
puppet.
10) Monitor the class to make sure they are saying
please and thank you.
11) After everyone is done, ask them if it was easy to
say please and thank you and how it made them
feel to share.
*Note: This can also be a fun activity for beginning
English classes when learning “please” and “thank
you”.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Are there ever times when you should share but
you don’t want to?
Puppet Face Cut-outs
Courtesy Circle
Showing Respect
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To talk about different ways of
showing respect to other people.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and under
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Large poster board (one for each group),
Markers, Pencils; Optional: Old magazines, Scissors,
Glue, Colored markers/pens/pencils, Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class what the word respect means to
them (if you have a board, write the word on the
board).
2) Come up with ideas (if you have a board, write
the ideas on the board).
3) Ask the class to think of different ways they can
show respect to other people (write these on the
board if available).
4) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
5) Give each group a poster board and markers.
6) If you have old magazines, scissors and glue, give
those out to the groups.
34
7) Tell the groups to write “respect” in large letters
in the middle.
8) Now tell the group to either illustrate or cut and
paste different ways they can show respect to
other people.
9) Examples include:
 Sharing
 Helping with chores
 Cooking for someone
 Helping someone feel better if they feel
bad
 Helping someone who is hurt
 Assisting a teacher
10) Give the groups at least 15 – 20 minutes to com-
plete their posters.
11) After each group is done, have them come up
and present their posters to the class, explaining
what each picture means.
12) If you have the space, put the posters on the wall
to remind the students how they can show re-
spect to others.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Are there also ways you can be disrespectful?
What are some examples? How do they make the
person feel? How do they make you feel?
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice giving compliments
to each other.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flip-
chart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) If you have a blackboard and the time available,
ask the class to come up with some examples of
compliments they could give to each other and
write them on the board before the activity.
2) Ask the class to get into a circle.
3) Tell them that this activity will help them prac-
tice to say nice things to others.
4) Start off the circle by giving a compliment to the
student on your right.
5) Tell the students that they must all give a compli-
ment to the person on their right in turn.
6) Once they have gone all the way around the cir-
cle, reverse the direction so that they are now
saying a compliment to the person who previ-
ously gave them a compliment.
7) Ask the class how they felt during the activity.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Who are people you could give compliments to
during a typical day?
  When do you think it is most important to give
compliments?
 How do you think compliments make other peo-
ple feel?
Heart of Gold
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss and act out kind things
we do to other people.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/
markers; Optional: Props for skits
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask your class to think about nice things they do
for other people.
2) Write these ideas on the board.
3) Now ask your class for ideas on nice things they
could do for other people.
4) Write these ideas on the board.
5) Some ideas might be:
 Helping a friend who feels bad
 Helping your mother with the dishes
 Helping a teacher clean the chalkboard
 Opening the door for someone
 Giving directions to someone who is lost
 Sharing candy with a sister or brother or
friend
6) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
7) Tell the groups that they must choose one of the
things on the board and create a skit.
8) Give them at least 10 to 15 minutes to create
their skit.
9) Have each group perform their skits in front of
the class.
10) After each skit, ask the class what the nice thing
was and how they think it made the person feel.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do nice acts make you feel?
 How do nice acts make other people feel?
 Did this activity give you any new ideas on how to
be nice to others?
Pretend It’s You
Topic: Character building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice how to act without
hurting someone’s feelings in awkward situations.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Situation cards; Optional: Props for skits
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to students that we cannot always say
what we want to say. Sometimes we have to be
careful not to hurt other people’s feelings so we
must be careful with what we say. If you are in a
situation where you want to say something nega-
tive, you should still say something positive.
2) Give some examples of these kinds of situations.
3) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
4) Give each group a situation card with different
awkward situations.
5) Tell the groups they must come up with a skit to
show how they would handle the situation.
6) Give the groups about 10 or 15 minutes to make
their skit.
7) After everyone is finished, ask the groups to per-
form their skits to the class.
8) After each skit, ask the class if they thought what
the skit showed was the appropriate response.
Ask for additional ideas
Situations for cards (translate with your coun-
terpart, then write)
 Your aunt Nino comes to your house wear-
ing a very big and silly looking hat. She
asks you if you like her hat. What do you
do?
 You visit your friend’s house and his/her
mom makes you dinner. You do not like the
food that she made. What do you do?
 You are having a birthday supra and your
friend comes and brings you a gift. When
you open the gift, you find that it’s some-
thing you didn’t want and you are disap-
pointed. What do you do?
 You are watching your favorite show on
TV, when your uncle, who is visiting from
Russia, asks you to change the channel to
something you don’t like. What do you
do?
 Your friend has spent all day drawing you
a picture and he/she gives it to you before
you leave school. When you look at it, you
can’t tell what it is! He/she asks you if you
like it. What do you do?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you think of any real life examples of when
you have had to say something nice when you
wanted to say something negative?
 When are good times to say what you truly feel?
Share and Share Alike
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice sharing with others.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Favorite objects or toys from each child
35
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class (in the pervious class is best) tell
the students that they must bring their favorite
toy, object, picture, book etc to class for an ac-
tivity.
2) Have everyone take out their object.
3) Tell the class that they now must all “share” their
object with the rest of the class.
4) Ask them to go around and talk about and let
other’s look at/use their object.
5) Give them enough time so that everyone will be
able to see each other’s things.
6) When you are finished, ask the students, one at a
time, to come to the front of the class with their
object.
7) When the students is in front of the class, ask the
class about the object in his/her hand.
8) They should know a good amount about it if that
person shared.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did it feel to share?
 How did it feel to be shared with?
 What other things can you share besides your fa-
vorite objects?
Shhhhhhh
Good Deeds Checklist
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach children about the dif-
ferent places low voices or silence is needed.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/
markers; Optional: Props for skits
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the students that are some places and
situations where low voices or silence is needed
and some places where you can be noisy.
2) Ask the class for examples of places they know
low voices or silence is required.
3) Write the ideas on the board.
4) Now ask the class for examples of places they can
be noisy.
5) Add onto the list if needed.
6) Examples are:
Quiet
 During a performance (dance, theatrical,
vocal, school, etc)
 In class
 In a library
 When someone else is talking in class
 During a test
 In a hospital
 In church
36
Loud
 At the beach
 In a park
 On the playground
 In the yard
 During a sports event (like soccer)
 During a dance party
7) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
8) Assign each group a different place where low
voices or silence is needed.
9) Tell the groups they must create a skit to show
the kind of voices that are needed in that place.
10) Give the groups at least 10 to 15 minutes to cre-
ate their skits.
11) After everyone is done, have the students per-
form their skits.
12) After each skit, ask the class if the voice level
used was appropriate and why or why not.
13) Discuss the reasons why low voices or silence is
needed in certain places.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does it feel when someone is using loud
voices during your performance or when you are
saying something?
 What can you do if someone is being loud and an-
noying when they aren’t supposed to?
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To keep track of good deeds dur-
ing the week.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 10 minutes in-class, one week out
of class
Materials: Good Deed’s checklist, Pencil; Optional:
Notebook, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/
markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each student the checklist and explain what
to do.
2) If you don’t want to print out lists for everyone,
write it on the board and have the students write
it in their notebooks.
3) Tell the students they must keep this list with
them during the week.
4) When they have done a good deed on the list,
they must check it off.
5) Tell them that this is NOT a contest and honesty
is expected.
6) After the week is over, have students look at their
lists and think about the good things they have
done for others and the things they would like to
do next week.
7) This would also be a good time for a journal write
so students can reflect on the week.
8) Be sure to translate the checklist before giving it
to your students.
 Good Deed Checklist:
Share something ...........................................
Open a door for someone . ...............................
Take turns playing with a toy ............................
Pick up some trash . .......................................
Help a classmate with a lesson ..........................
Give someone a compliment .............................
Help a young child .........................................
Help someone with a chore ..............................
Help someone carry something ..........................
Pick up something dropped ..............................
Help your parents with a job at home . ................
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did doing good deeds make you feel?
 How did doing good deeds make others feel?
 Will you do these again?
 Were there any that were particularly difficult?
Any particularly easy?
 Which ones did you miss? Would you like to do
them soon?
Bashing Bad Habits
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To describe bad habits and ways
in which we can stop these bad habits.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Paper (for each student), Colored pens/
pencils/markers, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart,
Chalk/markers; Optional: Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask your students what is a bad habit and if they
think bad habits are hard or easy to break.
2) Explain to your students that even if bad habits
are hard, they CAN be broken with good decision
making. Ask the students to give you suggestions
of bad habits and make a list on one side of the
board. Examples can be:
 Chewing fingernails
 Watching too much TV
 Interrupting people when they are talking
 Smoking
 Talking disrespectful to parents
 Eating too much candy/fatty foods
 Not picking up after yourself
 Saying bad words
3) Now ask for suggestions on how to overcome
these bad habits.
4) Write a list on the other side of the board, con-
necting habit w/ solution. Some examples can
be:
 Replacing candy/fatty foods with healthy
snacks like vegetables.
 Start another hobby such as playing foot-
ball or reading instead of watching TV.
 Take care of your nails and be aware of
biting them.
 Wait until someone has finished his/her
sentence before you say anything.
 Don’t start smoking! Or exercise and keep
busy to distract yourself from smoking if
you already have started.
 Be sure to look around a room and see
what you have left around before you
leave the room.
 Set up a “bad word” jar, where you have
to put in 20 tetri every time you say a bad
word.
 Always say “please” and “thank you” to
your parents.
5) Give each student paper and pens. Tell students
to draw a vertical line down the center.
6) On one side they draw a bad habit they have - the
other side they draw the solution for this habit.
7) Have a few students present their drawings to the
class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do bad habits hurt us?
 Are their any good habits? What are they?
What Does it Mean?
Topic: Character Building, Responsible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To assist students in understand-
ing what is responsible behavior.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) On the board write these definitions of responsi-
bility and irresponsibility:
A responsible person…
- thinks ahead
- uses self-control
- accepts the consequences for his or her ac-
tions
- meets his or her obligations
- sets a good example
An irresponsible person…
- blames others
- doesn’t complete tasks they were assigned or
agreed to do gives up, especially when others
are depending on him or her
- doesn’t offer to help even if he or she can
help
2) Lead a class discussion on the meaning of each
aspect of responsibility.
3) Variations may include:
37
 On the board write definitions of responsibility
and responsible:
Responsibility:
- A task or duty a person must accomplish or
complete in a satisfactory manner
- An object, person, or animal which are in the
care of a person
Responsible:
Keep Going
- A person legally or morally obligated or held
accountable to carry out a duty, care for a
person or thing
- A person charged with making decisions for
others and taking the blame for their mistakes
- A person who can be relied on to do what they
agree to do
Lead a discussion on the meaning of responsibil-
ity and responsible. Ask students to work in pairs
(small groups) and make two lists of what a re-
sponsible person does and doesn’t do.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Identify example responsible/irresponsible ac-
tivities with the class.
 Conduct skits to show responsible/irresponsible
behaviors.
The Furry, Scaly and Feathered
Topic: Character building, Responsible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To communicate responsibility
towards pets.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pens/pencils; Optional: Colored
pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class how many students have pets.
2) Ask the students who have pets to explain to
the class the responsibilities they have for their
pets.
3) Tell all of the students to draw pictures of their
pets if they have one, or draw imaginary pets if
they don’t have one (they can be as creative as
they want!).
4) You can also have all students create an imagi-
nary/exotic pet for more fun.
5) Ask the students to list the things they think are
important when caring for their pets.
6) Remind the students that caring for a pet means
giving the animal not only food and water but
also regular attention and cleaning up after it.
7) If the students can’t think of pets that they prop-
erly take care of, have them pretend it is a show
dog or an animal at a zoo (something they can’t
just throw bread to and leave outside).
38
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you need to be responsible to own a pet?
 What happens if you don’t provide certain things
for your pet? (for example, if you don’t pet your
dog he may get frightened of people or not like
you)
Topic: Character building, Responsible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach the value of following
through and to help students recognize the effects
of quitting.
Number of Students: 10-15
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: Books, Whiteboard/blackboard/white-
board/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to your students that a person of charac-
ter doesn’t quit, especially if others are depend-
ing on him/her.
2) Demonstrate the effect that quitting can have on
others by the following activity:
3) Choose two pairs of students and have them stand
at the front of the room.
4) Put a pile of about twenty books in front of each
pair.
5) Instruct the children to move the books as fast
as they can to the back of the room, but each
person can move only one book at a time;
6) The team who moves all the books first wins.
7) Before they begin, choose one child to quit after
carrying five books, complaining that the work is
too hard.
8) When the activity is over, ask everyone how they
felt about the fact that one child quit/or the gen-
eral outcome of the game.
9) Ask how it changed the contest.
10) Have all the students think of phrases a person
uses to “give up” on doing a task.
11) Write them on the board.
12) Include the following:
 It’s too hard
 I can’t
 I’m too tired
 Who cares?
 I don’t want to
 I won’t succeed anyway
13) As a group, think of positive phrases to counter
the negative ones.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it important not to give up? Why is it im-
portant not to give up on a team?
 What are some examples of people in history who
didn’t “give up”?
The Price of Choice
Topic: Character Building, Responsible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students responsibility
with their every day duties.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 20-25 minutes
Materials: 3x5 index cards (or pieces of paper)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Create a matching game of actions and conse-
quences.
2) On a 3x5 cards (or pieces of paper), write ac-
tions such as “I watched TV instead of studying
my spelling words” or “I did not wear my helmet
while riding my bike”.
3) On other cards write corresponding consequenc-
es, such as “I did not do well on my English test”
or “I crashed and had to go to the hospital”.
4) Create twenty pairs.
5) Put your students in groups of five or six.
6) Give each group an opportunity to play the
matching game (at the same time).
7) See which group can do it the fastest (have them
race each other).
8) Once the games are finished, lead a discussion
about actions and consequences.
Other options:
* In a smaller class, do the matching game as a class
without the competition
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you think of real life examples where irre-
sponsible behavior led to bad consequences?
 Why do you think some people decided to partici-
pate in irresponsible behaviors?
 What are ways you can help someone make a re-
sponsible decision?
What Would You Do If…
Topic: Character Building, Responsible Behavior, De-
cision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students to be respon-
sible and trustworthy in everyday life
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 15-25 minutes
Materials: Situation cards; Optional: Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into five or six groups.
2) Think of a variety of situations as a class. Some
examples are:
 You get too much change at the store
 You find a wallet or purse
 You break your mom’s favorite lamp
 You didn’t finish your homework in time
 You lose a library book
3) Give each group a different situation from your
situation card pile.
4) Have the groups work together to create a list
of do’s and don’ts for each situation in response
to the question “How would a responsible person
handle this problem?”
5) After the groups are finished, ask them to share
their answers with the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What would an irresponsible person do in this
situation?
 What would you do? Is it responsible or irrespon-
sible? Why or why not?
Travel Safety
Topic: Character Building, Responsible Behavior,
Safety
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students to be respon-
sible for their own safety and health.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 13-17
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Paper, Pens/pencils; Optional: Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Read the following quote to the class:
“I like feeling when I’m traveling that I am re-
sponsible for myself and my few possessions.
In some ways I am in complete control of ev-
erything I do.”
*Nino Japaridze, executive, Tbilisi
2) In pairs or small groups make a list of what you
will need for a week long trip.
3) Tell the class to justify their choices from a posi-
tion of a responsible person.
Variation
1) Read the following text:
Before we do anything in life, even the most
impulsive of us do some preparation. We edu-
cate ourselves to prepare for careers, plan
strategies for important meetings, develop
menus for simple or extravagant meals. Prepa-
ration helps us reduce our fears by giving us
knowledge and builds confidence by increasing
our comfort with the unknown. Preparing men-
tally and emotionally for traveling overseas is
just as important as obtaining your visas and
shots. Give yourself time to work through fears
you may have about safety, traveling alone, or
fitting into a different culture.
39
 2) Ask students to make a list of things to do before
a trip abroad (discuss each item from the position
of being responsible for your own safety and life.
3) Ask students (especially girls) to make a list of
things to do before a trip alone (discuss each
item from the position of being responsible for
your own safety and life).
4) Ask girls to come up with strategies for avoiding or
responding to unwanted attention. For example,
to avoid unwanted advances, a woman should:
 Walk with purpose
 Think and look ahead to anticipate com-
promising situations
 Consider wearing a wedding ring
 Dress conservatively
 Communicate a feeling of confidence and
responsibility
 Try to sit or stand next to other women or
families in public places
How to respond to unwanted attention:
 Completely ignore comments, cat-calls
and whistles
 Avoid all eye contact
 Don’t try to speak their language
 Listen to your inner voice. If you are uncom-
fortable, get out of the situation right away
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are other dangerous situations you can
avoid by planning ahead?
Risky vs. Healthy Behavior
Topic: Character Building, Decision Making, Respon-
sible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To develop an understanding of
how risky and healthy behavior compare.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 20 – 30 minutes
Materials: Paper, Crayons/markers, Pens
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain the differences between risky and healthy
behaviors (for older students you can have them
help you come up with differences).
2) Ask the class for examples of each behavior. Here
are some examples:
Risky
 Throwing rocks at windows
 Riding in a car without a seatbelt
 Driving too fast
 Drinking and driving/walking home drunk
 Eating without washing your hands first
 Smoking
 Jumping into a river head first
Healthy
 Eating fruits and vegetables every day
 Talking walks with your friends
 Using your seatbelt in your car
 Driving the speed limit
40
 Reading about how smoking is bad for you
 Making sure the water is safe before going
swimming
 Staying at a friend’s house when you are
drunk
3) For younger kids, have them draw one picture of
a healthy behavior and one picture of a risky be-
havior.
4) For older kids have them write down one healthy
and one risky behavior (they can also illustrate it
if they want).
5) Ask them to read out loud to the class/show their
picture beginning with their risky behavior.
6) Go back and have them read/show their healthy
behavior.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you think of a time when you participated in
a risky behavior? A healthy behavior?
 What are ways to avoid risky behaviors?
 What risky behaviors do you see as problems in
your community?
A Way in Which I’m Responsible
Topic: Responsible Behavior, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To define responsibility, list responsible
behaviors regularly performed, describe tasks students
are responsible for that promote good health, and iden-
tify behaviors that do not lead to good health.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Pens, Paper; Optional: Blackboard/white-
board/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain what “responsibility” means (you can
write the definition on the board if you have
one).
2) Give examples of responsibilities between teach-
ers and students, parents and children, friends
and friends, etc.
3) Ask students to write down two responsibilities
they have at home and two at work/school.
4) Have everyone read them out loud.
5) Ask the students to write down health responsi-
bilities they have. Examples are good hygiene,
cooking, taking care of others, going to the doc-
tor, following a doctor’s instructions, seeking out
health information, etc.
6) Ask students if other people in their households
have health-related responsibilities.
7) Ask the students to list behaviors they know can
result in health problems. Examples are: drink-
ing, smoking, not seeking medical or pre-natal
care, throwing garbage in the river, not taking
prescribed medications, etc.
8) Ask the students what are the benefits to taking
responsibility for their health and the health of
those around them.
 9) Emphasize the importance of being responsible
and each individual’s responsibility towards oth-
ers.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are risky behaviors? How do they effect be-
ing responsible?
 Why do people engage in risky behaviors?
 Why do people engage in responsible behaviors?
 Why do you think that irresponsible behavior is
sometimes considered “cool”?
Support for Responsible Behavior
Topic: Responsible Behavior, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify common situations
where students’ intervention might be helpful, iden-
tify strategies to support responsible behavior, and
list resources available in their communities that
they might use if they require assistance or informa-
tion.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 14 and up
Time Required: 1.5 – 2 hours
Materials: Hand out: Peer Support Situation Cards
(next page), Slips of paper or index cards; Optional:
Props for role plays
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Introduce the Topic: to the group. Discuss that
sometimes young people take risks with their
health and safety. Because of serious conse-
quences, taking risks can be very dangerous.
Young people who make healthy decisions (not to
smoke, use drugs, to use a condom or to be toler-
ant) need the support of their friends, family and
community.
2) Divide the class into groups and give each group a
role play card.
3) The groups must read and discuss the situation,
decide what they would do to give the main per-
son in the story support for their healthy deci-
sion, and create a role play.
4) Have all groups perform their role plays.
5) Discuss the strategies suggested by the group and
provide additional ideas.
6) You may want to ask the following questions:
 Why do many young people feel it is not
“cool” to support healthy decisions?
 What difficulties might you have if you
support these healthy behaviors?
 How might you overcome these problems?
7) Remind the class about the important responsibil-
ity they have as friends. Supporting healthy deci-
sions when they look “uncool” is one of their most
important, but perhaps the most difficult, tasks.
As friends/educators, they can set the tone for
behaviors of other young people. If young people
begin to see that not using drugs, not smoking or
using a condom has the support of their friends,
it will be much easier for everyone to choose to
make healthy decisions.
8) Discuss different types of issues that students
should not try to deal with by themselves. They
may have the opportunity to talk privately with
young people who need more information and
counseling than they can’t provide. Therefore it
is important to know where to get help in the
community. Use brainstorming, small group work
or a field trip.
9) Students should identify a number of sources and
how to reach them. Examples of these can be dif-
ferent clinics, NGO’s, hospitals, student centers
or even helpful teachers and church elders.
Peer Support Cards
1) You have been dating a person for a short time and
you feel you are in “love” and will get married.
This person is trying to persuade you to have sex
before you get married. You use all your assertive
skills but the situation gets worse. He or she will
not agree with you and becomes impossible to talk
to. You ask a friend who is with you to walk you
home. On the way home, you tell your friend what
happened. Your friend supports your decision not
to have sex and to wait by saying “………..”
2) You have had the same sweetheart for over a year.
You love each other very much and plan to get
married soon. You have talked about sex and have
agreed to use a condom to protect yourself against
unwanted pregnancy or STIs (sexually transmitted
diseases). You decided to have sex with a condom
a few times, but this night you forgot to bring a
condom and you would still really like to have sex.
Later you decide not to have sex that night, but
just to spend time with each other. The next day
you discuss the decision with your best friend. Your
friend supports your decision by saying, “……….”
3) After school, you and your friends want to go to
the local store for candy. Someone says, “I know
the storekeeper and he/she will give us cigarettes.
We should buy some and smoke them.” Another
person says, “Smoking is really bad for you and it
smells. I don’t think it’s a very good idea.” This
person asks you what you think. You say “………..”
4) It is Monday morning and you are talking to some
friends about what happened over the weekend.
One of the members of the group is bragging
about being at a party where there was a lot of
alcohol and sex. He even mentions they went to
the prostitutes afterwards. A couple members of
the group are impressed and say things that sup-
port him, like “Yeah! You must have had a good
time!” You are not impressed by this, and you
feel you should say something. You say “………”
5) You are at a dance. You notice a group of people
in the corner laughing and pushing someone. Get-
ting closer, you overhear them teasing the boy or
girl because he or she is refusing to drink some
of the wine they are passing around. They are a
bit drunk and are getting rough with that person.
The person keeps trying to refuse to drink – say-
ing he or she does not like alcohol. They continue
to tease him or her. You say “……….”
41
Please and Thank You
Topic: Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach children when it is right
to use please and thank you.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 11 and under
Time Required: 30 - 45 minutes
Materials: Paper (2 pieces per child), Markers/pens, Sto-
ry using please and thank you (example on next page)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give two pieces of paper to each student.
2) Tell the students they must make a sign on one
sheet of paper saying “Thank you” and on the oth-
er piece of paper make a sign that says “Please”.
3) After the students are done making their signs,
ask them to give you some situations where they
would use each word. Some examples are:
 When someone gives you a present – thank you
 When you would like your mother to buy
you some ice cream – please
 When your friend tells you that you look
nice today – thank you
 When you are at a store and want to try on
a shirt – please
 When your grandmother braids your hair
– thank you
 When your mother makes you dinner
– thank you
4) Now tell the children they must listen to a story.
5) Tell the children that in the story there will be
different scenarios where the character needs to
say please and thank you. During these times you
will pause and they must hold up the correct sign
(if the character must use “please” have the stu-
dents hold up the “please” sign and vise versa).
6) Read the story.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does saying please and thank you make you
feel?
 How does it feel when someone says please and
thank you to you?
 How do you think it makes the other person feel
when you tell them thank you and/or please?

Example “Please and Thank you” Story

Giga has a long day ahead of him. He needs your help to know when to say “please” and when to say “thank
you”. Listen to Giga’s day and help him say “please” and “thank you”.
Giga woke up at seven o’clock to get ready for school. He had a very long day ahead of him! He has been invited
to his friend Jaba’s birthday party after school. After Giga gets dressed and brushes his teeth, he walks downstairs
to eat breakfast. His mother gives him papa to eat. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) He eats his papa, but he also
wants tea. He asks his mother for tea. ** PAUSE** (Please or thank you?). During breakfast, Giga asks his father for
money to buy Jaba a present. His father says yes and gives him five lari. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) After he
finishes his breakfast, he walks out the door to school. His little sister runs after him. “Giga! You forgot your English
book!” She gives him his English book. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) Giga starts walking to school.
On the way to school he meets his friend Tengo. Tengo reminds Giga that there is a test in English today and tells
him that he will study with Giga at lunch before the test. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) Giga and Tengo walk to
school and arrive at school a little early. Giga wants to ask his math teacher for help before class starts. He walks
up to the math classroom and his math teacher Ia is there preparing for class. Giga asks her for help. **PAUSE**
(Please or thank you?) After his math teacher helps him, Giga walks to class. His friend Tengo has saved a seat
for Giga. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) After class, Giga walks outside. On the way he meets his friend Lali.
Lali tells Giga that she likes his new hat. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) During break, his friend Jaba meets
him in the school yard. “Happy Birthday Jaba!” says Giga. Jaba says… **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) His friend
Tengo has brought a basketball to school to play with. Tengo tells Giga that he can use it for a while. **PAUSE**
(Please or thank you?) When Giga goes back to class, he realizes that he lost his pen. He asks his friend Nino to
borrow a pen. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?)
After school, Giga takes the money he received from his father to go buy Jaba a present. He walks into a store
that sells toy cars. Giga finds a toy car that Jaba would like very much. It costs four lari. He brings the car to the
storekeeper and asks to buy the toy car. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) The storekeeper takes the five lari and
gives Giga back one lari. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) Giga walks out of the store and starts to walk towards
Jaba’s house. One the way he forgets which house was Jaba’s. He asks a neighbor to tell him which house was
Jaba’s. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) The neighbor tells him that Jaba’s house is the blue house on the right.
**PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) When Giga arrives at Jaba’s house, Jaba is at the door to greet him. Giga gives
Jaba his present. Jaba says… **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?). Jaba’s mother asks Giga to sit down and brings
him a glass of campoti. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?). Soon other friends arrive and they all sit down at the
table to eat khinkhali and eat cake. Giga wants the pepper that is on the other side of the table and asks his
friend Nino to give it to him. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) After a while, Giga needs to use the restroom,
but doesn’t know where it is. He asks Jaba’s mother. **PAUSE** (Please or thank you?) Soon it is time for Giga to
go home. He has had a lot of fun at the party. Jaba and Jaba’s mother say goodbye. **PAUSE** (Please or thank
you?) When Giga arrives back home, he is very tired. He says goodnight to his parents and falls asleep. It was a
very long day!

42
 Self-Awareness
and Self-Esteem

43
44
“Me” Collage
Topic: Self-Awareness, Self-Esteem, Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students express them-
selves and identify what make them who they are
and what is important to them.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Materials: Magazines (many), Scissors (several pairs),
Pens, Glue, Paper; Optional: Colored paper, Poster
board, Colored pens/pencils, Markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell students to individually cut pictures or word
phrases out of magazines that represent their
personal interests and abilities, or who they are.
2) Tell students to glue pictures and words onto a sheet
of construction paper/regular paper to form a col-
lage (give them at least 20 minutes for this) Encour-
age them to put down many different things.
3) When they are finished, collect the collages.
4) Number the collages and hand them up.
5) Completed collages will be displayed and num-
bered.
6) Tell students to write down who they think each
collage belongs to (this is to be done with NO
talking). Give them several minutes for this.
7) Each collage should be matched with its owner
and the owner should be given time to explain
what he/she put on their collage and what the
symbols meant.
8) You can keep them in your room on display if stu-
dents allow you to.
Glory Story
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss what students think makes up a person.
 Talk about how everyone is different inside and
out (diversity).
 Talk about self-esteem.
Love-Line
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To communicate feelings and to
improve the self-esteem of others.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 – 40 minutes
Materials: 1 large envelope for each student, A stack
of 3x5 cards cut in half (or paper), Pens or pencils,
One piece of heavy string or rope (length depends on
group size), Hole punch (or something to poke holes
in cards/paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, cut a large piece of string (length
depends on how many students are in the class,
make sure you can fit every envelope on the
string).
2) Give each student one envelope.
3) Have each person in the group put his/her name
on the envelope.
4) Have students punch a hole in the corner of the
envelope and thread through the string (so every-
one’s envelope is dangling on the string).
5) Attach the rope or heavy string along a wall or in be-
tween chairs so the envelopes dangle in the middle.
6) Cut 3x5 cards in half and provide a stack for the
group members to use at any time.
7) Inform everyone to write a nice note or compli-
ment on a card to anyone else in the group.
8) Put that comment or note in that person’s envelope.
9) Encourage the group to write positive notes to as
many people as they can (if the activity happens
over several days group members should write
notes to everyone).
10) At a designated time allow everyone to read his
or her “love line” notes.
11) When the activity is finished, a group member may
take his/her envelope home to read in the future.
*Note: This activity can be finished in one class pe-
riod or over a period of time
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do you feel after reading all the notes that
you have been given?
 How did you feel when writing notes to other
people?
 Why is it important to be able to accept and to
give compliments?
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To increase students’ self-es-
teem by recognizing positive traits in others and
hearing positive comments about them.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 25-30 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of 3-5.
2) Separate the groups so that they cannot hear
each other.
3) Have each group take out a couple sheets of pa-
per and a pen/pencil.
4) Assign each group one of the other groups and ask
them to write down all the names of the people
in that other group on their paper.
5) Ask each group to write a story that includes all
the members of the other group as the charac-
ters. Include the positive traits, strong points and
assets of each person as a part of the story line.
You may need to provide guidance to students
who are having trouble writing a story.
45
 6) Once all the stories are written, ask each group
to read their story to the entire group.
7) Leave room for discussion.
* Note: The group should know each other well be-
fore they do this activity
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Were you surprised by any of the attributes that the
other group included as part of your character?
 Can you think of any additional positive traits
that you could add to your character or to anyone
else’s character?
 How can you build upon your strong points to
improve you life and to develop you “character”
into what you really want to be?
Bold Billboard
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To give students the opportunity
to express their positive traits and attributes in a
non-threatening environment.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: One large sheet of paper for each group,
Paints, paintbrushes or fat colored markers, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Self-Esteem Graffiti
1) Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4.
2) Give each group a large piece of paper.
3) Tell the groups that they must make a billboard
that is big, bold and colorful.
4) The billboard also must have words and pictures
that reflect the positive traits of those creating it.
5) Each person must advertise him/herself through
their group’s billboard by highlighting his/her
own unique and positive traits.
6) Once everyone has completed their billboard, ask
each person to read their billboard to the group.
7) Hang billboards on the wall if there is room to do so.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did anyone have difficulty thinking of things to
but on your billboard?
 How did you feel when others were looking at
your billboard?
 Why is it important to be able to identify positive
things about yourself? Why is it important to be
able to tell other people these things?
Storefront
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To allow students to use adjec-
tives, pictures and objects to express who they are.
Number of Students: 10-30
46
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30 – 40 minutes
Materials: Large pieces of paper for each group, Col-
ored markers/paint, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4.
2) Give each group a large piece of paper and mark-
ers/paint.
3) Tell them they must create a storefront that ex-
presses everyone in the group’s positive attri-
butes and personal qualities.
4) They can use signs, posters, or items (for exam-
ple: they might advertise books for people who
like to read, skis for a skiing fan, a radio for a
music lover etc).
5) After each group has finished, have them present
it to the class.
6) Put up the storefronts and allow time for every-
one to look at the posters.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did anyone have difficulty thinking of things to
but on your storefront?
 How did you feel when others were looking at
your storefront?
 Why is it important to be able to identify positive
things about yourself? Why is it important to be
able to tell other people these things?
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To give students the opportunity
to express their positive trains and attributes in a
non-threatening environment.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Large pieces of paper for each group, Col-
ored markers/paint, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into group of 3 or 4.
2) Give each group a large piece of paper and col-
ored markers/paint.
3) Tell each group to make “graffiti” on their paper.
4) First, everyone should put their names on their
papers and then paint two positive words de-
scribing themselves.
5) Each person must then go around the group and
paint at least one nice word or comment on ev-
eryone else’s paper.
6) Let everyone have time to look at their paper and
everyone else’s paper.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did anyone have difficulty thinking of things to
put on your graffiti?
  How did you feel when others were looking at
your graffiti?
 Why is it important to be able to identify positive
things about yourself? Why is it important to be
able to tell other people these things?
King’s Throne
Topic: Self-esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To increase self-esteem through
receiving positive comments from peers.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 25-30 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pen/pencils, Chair
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Set up a chair at the front of the room. This is the
“king’s throne”.
2) Divide the class into groups of 10 – 15.
3) Have each person write down a positive comment
about each member of the class.
4) Once everyone has completed writing down their
compliments, select one member of the class to
sit in the chair (the king’s throne) at the front of
the room.
5) Have the class take turns and read their comment
about the person in the “king’s throne”.
6) Allow enough time for each person to sit on the
throne and hear all of the comments written
about them.
7) Discuss the activity.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did you feel when you were on the king’s
throne?
 How does it make you feel when you hear positive
comments about yourself?
 Why is it important to hear positive things from
others?
 Do you more often hear positive comments made
about yourself or negative comments?
 If you mainly hear negative comments, how can
you put yourself in situations where you will hear
more positive comments?
Balloon Burst
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn to give and receive
compliments and to recognize positive qualities in
oneself.
Number of Students: 12-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: 1 large balloon (not inflated) per person,
Permanent markers, Paper, Pens/pencils, Scissors
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each student a balloon.
2) Tell the students to blow it up, but NOT to tie it.
They should hold it closed with their fingers.
3) While holding it in the air, have them write their
names on the balloon (they may need a partner’s
help for this).
4) Tell the students to let the air out of their balloons.
5) Pass out the paper, scissors, pens/pencils to everyone.
6) Gather the group in a circle.
7) Tell the students to pass their balloon to the per-
son sitting next to them.
8) Once everyone has somebody else’s balloon, each
person needs to cut a piece of paper small enough
so that it can have a comment on it and fit into
the balloon.
9) Have the students write a comment about the
person whose balloon it is.
10) Have the students put the comment into the balloon.
11) Have the students pass the balloon to the next
person.
12) Continue this until everyone has their own bal-
loon again.
13) Ask the group if they want to know what the com-
pliments are in the balloon.
14) Ask them to figure out the best way to get the
compliments out of the balloon so they can read
them.
15) Now everyone may blow up their balloon and tie it.
16) Each person must then pop his/her balloon and
read the compliments that are found there
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do you feel after reading the positive com-
ments found in your balloon?
 Do you believe these compliments? Why or why
not?
 Is it easier to give and receive compliments anon-
ymously or directly? Why?
Ten Seconds
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build self-esteem and to cre-
ate a positive atmosphere by saying and hearing pos-
itive comments and help those who need to learn to
think positively.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: Depends on group size (ten seconds
are needed for each participant)
Materials: A watch/stop-clock/timing device (must
measure seconds)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Gather the class in a circle.
2) Ask for a volunteer.
3) The volunteer has ten seconds to say something
positive, nice or uplifting.
47
 4) These comments can be about anything, or you
may limit the comments to the group, group
members, and or/individual giving the comment.
5) After the positive comment has been given, the
next person in the circle gets ten seconds to come
up with his/her own positive comment.
6) Allow each person around the circle ten seconds
to say something positive, nice or uplifting.
7) If someone doesn’t say something nice they are
“out”.
8) You may also be put out if you say a positive com-
ment that has already been said or if you say
something negative.
9) You may also add that a person can enter back
into the game if people say two nice things about
you.
10) You can change difficulty by adding or subtracting
time.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was it hard or easy for you to come up with posi-
tive comments?
 Do you usually say negative words to others or
positive? Why?
 What is the effect of positive words on a group?
 How can positive words affect your everyday
life?
 Do you need to hear or say positive words more
often?
Three for Me
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how to accept
and give compliments as well as make positive state-
ments about oneself.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: Frisbee, Hula Hoop (or any type of target),
Soccer ball, Two orange cones or boundary markers
for a soccer goal, Two large sheets of paper and two
fat tipped markers, Stopwatch or timer
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Engage the group in the following three activities
(one after the other)
Frisbee throw:
1) Lean a hula-hoop or other target against a wall or
other stable surface.
2) Each person takes a turn throwing the Frisbee at
the target from a predetermined spot.
3) If the Frisbee goes in the hoop, the individual
who threw it must say on nice thing about him/
herself.
4) If the target is missed, then the individual must
point to anyone else in the group and that person
must say something nice about that individual.
48
Soccer shot:
1) Set up a soccer goal that is challenging but not
too difficult.
2) Each person takes a turn and attempts to make a
goal from a predetermined spot.
3) If the shooter makes a goal, then everyone in the
group must say something nice about him/her.
4) If the shooter misses the goal, then he/she must
say something nice about the next person in
line.
Write and run:
1) Divide the group into two teams.
2) Tell each team to form a single file line.
3) Set a large piece of paper and fat tipped marker
at the other end of the room or a good distance
away.
4) Give the group a three-minute time limit.
5) Tell the team this is a race to see who can come
up with the most positive things written on their
paper.
6) Tell the teams that the first person in each line
must run to his/her team’s paper and write down
something that he/she is good at doing or a spe-
cial quality he/she has.
7) Once they have written something down, they
leave the pen by the paper and run back to the
line and tag the next person in line.
8) That person runs and does the same thing and so
on until the three minutes are up.
9) After the race is over, the teams count their com-
ments and you declare a winner.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did anyone feel uncomfortable today for any rea-
son? If so, why?
 How did it feel to get compliments?
 How did you feel when you gave compliments?
 Was it easier to give and receive compliments
during a game than in real life? Why?
Me on TV
Topic: Self-esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify and advertise one’s
positive traits.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pens/paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of 4 – 5.
2) Give each person in the group paper and a pen-
cil.
3) Instruct the group that each person must create
a TV commercial that advertises his/her positive
traits. If time is limited, ask the group to create a
TV commercial for only one person in the group.
 4) Each commercial must contain at least three pos-
itive traits and must convince the audience that
the person being advertised has special gifts,
talents or personality traits that make him/her
great!
5) Allow time for each person to create a screenplay
for his/her commercial.
6) Each person must be in his or her commercial and
may use as many of the other group members as
needed to play characters or props.
The Car Wash
7) Set a time limit for planning and for how long each
commercial is according to the size of the class.
8) Have each student present his/her commercial.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was this a difficult thing for you to do? Why or
why not?
 Would it have been easier to make a commercial
for your friend than for yourself? Why?
 What did you learn about others in the group
when doing this activity?
 Is it hard to tell others the good things about
yourself? Why?
Ten Questions
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For each student to get bom-
barded with qualities that classmates find positive
about him/her.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 40 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pen/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have the students write down a list of personal
characteristics that are positive about them.
2) This list should focus upon personally and char-
acter traits, but can also include physical charac-
teristics, skills, hobbies or interests.
IALAC
3) Tell students to keep their private lists with them
as they form groups of three or four.
4) When the groups are together, have members
count off as one, two, three and four.
5) The number one person starts by saying “You
have ten questions to guess which of my positive
qualities I am pointing to on my list”.
6) The group then takes turns trying to guess what
the quality might be.
7) Be sure to emphasize that both the characteris-
tics and the guesses must be positive.
8) When a group member offers a guess, the focus
person responds by saying “Yes, thank, I am hon-
est, a generous person, etc, but that’s not the
one I’m pointing to”.
9) When the correct one is said, the person says “yes,
thank you, that’s it. I am a good football player”.
10) When ten questions have been exhausted or when
the quality has been guessed, the next person
takes a turn.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Were you surprised by some of the questions you
received from your peers? Which ones?
 How did this activity make you feel?
 Is it easy to receive compliments? Why or why
not?
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To boost group members’ self-
esteem.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Line up your class in two parallel lines quite close
together.
2) One student is sent through the wash (between
the lines) and everyone touches him or her and
says words of praise and affection and encour-
agement.
3) The pats on the back, hand-shaking, and verbal
support produce a sparkling, shinny and happy
car at the end of the wash.
4) It’s best to run one or two people through the
car wash each day rather than everybody on one
day (that makes sure the compliments are fresh,
energetic and authentic).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did this activity make you feel?
 Why do you think people need to receive compli-
ments?
 What happens if people receive a lot of negative
remarks?
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To illustrate how one’s self-con-
cept can be destroyed by others.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: A sheet of paper with the letters IALAC writ-
ten on it in large bold print (pronounced I-ah-lack)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hold the paper with IALAC on it on your chest so
everyone can see it.
2) Tell them “everyone carries invisible IALAC signs
around with them at all times and wherever they
go. IALAC stands for “I am lovable and capable”.
This is our self-concept, or how we feel about
49
 ourselves. The size of our sign (how good we feel
about ourselves) is affected by how others inter-
act with us. If someone is nasty to us, teases us,
or puts us down, rejects us, hits us etc, then a
piece of our IALAC sign is destroyed (illustrate
this by tearing off a piece of the sign).
3) Tell the students a story to show how this hap-
pens in every day life.
4) The main character is a boy or girl who is the
same age they are (pick a name that no one in
the class has).
5) As you tell the story try to be as emotional and
dramatic as you can without overdoing it.
6) A sample story is below, but you will have to use
your own imagination to fill it in (some teachers
have their students help write the story).
7) As you describe each event, tear another piece
off the sign until at the end you are left with
almost nothing.
Story: A 7th form boy named Lasha is still lying
in bed three minutes after his alarm goes off.
All of a sudden his mother calls, to him, “La-
sha, you lazy-head, get your body out of bed
and get down here before I send your father up
there!” (rip) Lasha gets out of bed, goes to get
dressed and can’t find a clean pair of socks. His
mother tells him he’ll have to wear yesterday’s
pair. (rip) He goes to brush his teeth and his
older sister, who’s already locked herself in
the bathroom, tells him to drop dead. (rip) He
Introduction to Self
goes to breakfast and finds cold tea waiting for
him. (rip) As he leaves for school, he forgets
his lunch money and his mother calls to him,
“Lasha, you’ve forgotten your money, you’d
forget your head if it weren’t attached!” (rip)
As he gets to the corner, he sees he see the
marshutka pull away and he has to walk a long
way to school. (rip) He’s late to school and gets
yelled at by his teacher. (rip)
Other examples: being criticized for forget-
ting homework, getting a bad mark on a test,
being called on for the only homework ques-
tion you can’t answer, being picked last to
play soccer, dropping khachapuri in the dirt
with everyone laughing, being picked on by
bullies on the way home from school, being
referred to as “hey you” in gym class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does your IALAC sign get torn up? What things
affect you the most?
 What do you do that destroys the IALAC signs of
others in school, family etc?
 How do you feel when your IALAC sign is ripped?
When you rip someone else’s?
 What can we do to help people enlarge their signs
rather than make them smaller?
I Love Myself
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to describe
at least one quality they like about themselves.
50
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Paper, Pens; Optional: Colored pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Teach students how to say “I love myself” and
what it means.
2) Have the students write “I love myself” on a
piece of paper.
3) Tell them they must add “because” and then fin-
ish the statement.
4) Tell the students they must have at least three
finishes to their statements.
5) When they are finished, have them draw a pic-
ture about how they love themselves.
6) Have them share their statements and picture
with the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is loving yourself important?
 Do you think it is easier to love yourself or love
others? Why?
 What are ways you can show that you love yourself?
Topic: Self-Awareness, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify and explain at least
four things that symbolize who they are, and then
identify and explain four things that identify what
they want to be in the future.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Colored/white paper cut in half, One big
magic marker, Assorted colored pencils (pens are
okay too)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Let the students pick their favorite color paper
(or just take a paper if it’s all white).
2) Have them fold the paper lengthwise so that it
makes a “tent” that can stand on its own.
3) Have the students write their name in BIG letters
on one side.
4) On one side have the students 4 symbols of who
they are in the 4 corners (religious symbols, fa-
vorite food, favorite animal, flowers, family
members etc).
5) On the other side have the students draw 4 sym-
bols of what they want to be in the future (teach-
er, mother, father, doctor, happy, rich, etc).
6) Have them come to the front of the class and ex-
plain their drawings (show encouragement, this
might be hard for some).
7) Use the nametags during the rest of the lessons.
* Note: An example nametag is shown on the next page

Do We Have Self-Esteem?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it necessary to have a good idea of who
you are?
 Why should you think about what you want to be/
your future goals?
 How can you communicate to people who you
are?
Identifying the Missing Life Skill
Topic: Self-Awareness, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify specific life skills that
are missing or need reinforcement in common com-
munity situations. To describe the bridge model.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1.5 – 2 hours
Materials: Bridge Model; Optional: Assorted props for
role plays, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Review the Bridge Model (the Bridge Model is
found in the original Lifeskills Handbook).
2) Divide the class into small groups.
3) Tell each group to create a role play showing a
typical risk situation that a young person might
face.
4) Examples might include being pressured to have
sex, doing drugs or doing something they don’t
feel comfortable with.
5) The role play should show the young person en-
gaging in the risk behavior because one of the life
skills we listed on the bridge is missing.
6) For example, the role play might show a young
person incapable of being aggressive and then
giving in to drinking alcohol.
7) After the group has come back together, invite
each group to perform its role play.
8) Members of the larger group should then identify
which skill is missing in the role play.
9) The group may notice more than one life skill is
missing – perhaps the person is lacking self-es-
teem, good communication skills and resistance
to peer pressure.
10) Let the group brainstorm about the many life
skills that might have helped the young person
effectively manage the situation in the role play.
11) Use this exercise as means of exploring the way
these life skills could change a situation in a
young person’s life.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students come up and explain the bridge
model to the class.
 Discuss any personal experiences that relate to
this activity.
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To define self-esteem and find
whether or not we have self-esteem.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
ers/chalk, Paper (for each student), Pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Write the term “self-esteem” on the board.
2) Ask for possible definitions of “self-esteem” from
the class.
3) Possible definitions could be:
 How you see yourself
 Believing that you are worth a lot
 Person strength (etc)
4) Ask the students where self-esteem comes from.
5) Write down what the students come up with on
the board.
6) Possible ideas include:
 How your parents raise you or treat you
 Image of girls or boys in the community
 Treatment by brothers, sisters, other fam-
ily members
 Personal reflections on our lives
 Belief in God or higher power (part of His
creation etc)
7) Tell the class to think for a few moments about
their own image. What are the most important
parts of you? How do you see yourself?
8) Tell the class to write 10 sentences about them-
selves starting with “I am” (examples can be “I
am intelligent”, “I am hard working” etc).
9) After they are finished, ask the students to check
the things they wrote which they like about them-
selves.
10) Have them put a question mark next to the parts
they would like to change.
11) Ask the class, after looking at their lists; do they think
they have good self-esteem? Do they need to maybe
work on developing their self image a bit more?
51
 Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Journal about self-esteem, including ideas on
where self-esteem comes from.
 Write down five things you could do to increase
your self-esteem.
 Think about what kind of things bring down self-esteem.
A Pat on the Back
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build self-esteem and encour-
age others to build up the people around them.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 -45 minutes
Materials: Paper for each student, Markers or pens for
each student, Tape, Pins, clothespins or paperclips
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each student a piece of paper, a pen/marker
and a pin/paperclip.
2) Explain to the group that we all have positive
things we would like to say to one another, but
sometimes we forget to tell each other the good
things. Tell the class this exercise will give every-
one a chance to do that.
3) Tell each student to write their name in the up-
per right-hand corner.
4) Tell the students to draw a symbol that represents
themselves in the center of the paper (this can be
their hand, a sun, star or any other symbol).
5) Tell the students to help each other pin the pa-
pers onto their backs.
6) Give them a few minutes to think about good
things they could say about people in the room.
7) When you say “go”, each person goes around the room
and writes positive things on everybody’s back.
8) When most have seemed to finish, you can say
“stop”.
9) Have the students remove the papers from their backs
and read what others have written about them.
10) You can have each student (if you have time)
stand up and read off their list to the class.
Personal Snowflake
11) You can also have them read the list of as self state-
ments. For example “My name is Nino and I am
beautiful, kind, funny, smart and a good leader”.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are things you can do in real life to build
other’s self-esteem?
 What are some things you can say when someone
else has lowered someone’s self-esteem?
Fixed Positions
Topic: Self-Awareness, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show how things can be seen
differently from different perspectives.
52
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students to stand in a circle.
2) Ask one volunteer to stand in the middle.
3) Ask him or her to stand still, facing the same way
through the questions and answers which are to
follow.
4) Explain to all participants that you are going to
ask some questions.
5) Ask everyone to answers at all times according to
what they can actually see from their own posi-
tion, not what they know is there.
6) Ask someone standing in front or the volunteer
“How many eyes does he or she have?”
7) Ask someone standing behind the volunteer the
same question.
8) Ask someone standing directly to the side of the
volunteer the same question.
9) Then place someone else in the middle.
10) Choose another part of the body, such as the
arms.
11) Go through the same questions with three differ-
ent people.
12) Finally, ask one participant to walk around whole
circle, looking at the volunteer and from all angles.
13) Ask the walker to give a running commentary on
what he or she is seeing and how his or he vision
of the volunteer changes.
14) After everyone sits down, ask participants to con-
sider how our perspective on a situation shapes
our understanding of it.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How can we give ourselves a more complete pic-
ture of the time?
 In what way can we relate this exercise to our
everyday experience?
Topic: Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how everyone is
unique and special!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: White paper (at least two for each student),
Scissors (one per 3 students), Markers, Tape; Optional:
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) This activity can be extra fun in winter!
2) Give each student a couple of white pieces of pa-
per and have scissors available for every three
students or so.
 3) Demonstrate to the students how to make a pa-
per snowflake.
4) Have each of your students cut out a big paper
snowflake. This is done by folding one corner
of the paper across to the opposite corner. You
should have a rectangular shape left over. Cut
this part off so you have a perfect triangle. Fold
the triangle again two times. On the folded edg-
es, cut out shapes in the paper. Be sure not to
cut across all the way, or the snowflake will fall
apart. After you are finished, unfold the paper
and you should have a snowflake!
5) Explain that no two snowflakes are exactly alike,
just as no two people are exactly alike.
6) Have the students write words that describe
themselves on the points of the snowflake.
7) Have each student (if they are comfortable) share
their snowflake and read the words they wrote
about themselves.
8) Tape the snowflakes on the wall for a fun decoration
and to remind students what they see in themselves.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What is diversity?
 Why is diversity important?
 What other kinds of diversity do we see in nature?
What’s In a Name Game
Topic: Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To brainstorm qualities and
characteristics about ourselves and express them
creatively.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and under
Time Required: 15 – 25 minutes
Materials: Paper (one for each student), Pens/pencils/mark-
ers, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have students write their names in block letters
down the side of a paper.
2) Have them write a word or phrase that begins
with each letter in their name.
3) Write examples on the board with your name and
other names.
4) Encourage them to write words describing per-
sonal strengths, qualities, hobbies, cultural back-
ground, etc.
5) An example can be:
N – nice
I – interesting
N – never late
O – open to new ideas
Or
G - giving
I – imaginative
O – only child
R – really likes football
G – great friend
I – ice cream lover
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did your parents choose your name?
 Do you think you would be/act different if you
were given a different name? Why or why not?
All About Me!
Topic: Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate self-awareness
and share with others characteristics and qualities
that make up who we are.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: Several class periods
Materials: Paper (at least 10 pieces for each stu-
dents), Colored markers/pens/pencils, Pens/pen-
cils/markers, Cardboard or card stock, Yarn, Scis-
sors, Hole punch (or something to punch a hole in
thick paper); Optional: Glue
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) This is a good activity to do throughout the year
or over several weeks
2) Have students create a book about themselves
including:
 A self portrait or photo
 Drawings or photos of family members
 Lists and drawings of things the child likes
about school
 Drawings or photos of favorite foods, toys,
books, people, games, etc.
3) Once the pages are finished, make a cover out of
cardboard or card stock. The students can glue dif-
ferent decorations if they would like (if you have
glue). You can also decorate it with stickers.
4) Bind the book by punching two or three holes on
one end. Weave a long piece of yarn through the
holes and tie them in a bow in the middle.
5) Set aside a special shelf or place in the room for
the students’ books.
6) Ask each student to share his or her “All About
Me” book with the class.
7) Explain that each book is different because each
person is unique.
8) You may want to do this project at the beginning
of the school year and again at the end so your
students can compare the two books to see the
changes in their lives and interests.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What kind of changes did you see in your lives/in-
terests over the last year?
 Were there any surprises when you looked at your
book again? What were they?
Do Well. Do Better
Topic: Self-Awareness, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To think about things you do well
53
 and do not do well and to brainstorm on how to do
better.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Paper (at least one for each student), Col-
ored markers/pens/pencils; Optional: Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand out a piece of paper to each student.
2) Ask each student to draw a line down the center
of the paper.
3) On one side have them write “well” and on the
other side “not so well”.
4) Have your students draw pictures of something
they do well on the side that says “well”.
5) Have them draw something they do not do well
on the side that says “not so well”.
6) When the students are finished, ask for volun-
teers to talk about their pictures.
7) The class can then offer suggestions on how to
improve each other’s abilities.
8) For example:
 I don’t run very fast. Solutions – try run-
ning every day and time yourself. With
practice you may run faster!
 I don’t do math very well. Solutions – make
sure you do all your homework. Ask the
teacher for help. Ask a lot of questions in
class. Do extra practice problems. Study
before tests
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Were the solutions you found to the things you
did not do well easy or hard? Why?
 What kinds of characteristics are important when
trying to improve?
Today’s My Day!
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make students feel special on
their birthday.
Number of Students: any
Age Range of Students: 17 and under
Time Required: 10 minutes on any student’s birthday
Materials: Poster board or large paper, Markers, Col-
ored markers/pens/pencils, List of birthdays from
the class, Game ideas; Optional: Small pictures of
students, Prizes, Birthday badge/crown
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the school year or before your club starts
up, make a poster displaying every student’s
birthday.
2) You could make it a calendar or you could draw
small birthday balloons or presents and write the
name and the date in the picture.
54
3) You could also get small pictures for the students
and put those on the poster.
4) On every student’s birthday, take ten minutes to
sing happy birthday and let them choose a game
or a prize (if you have any).
5) You can also create a crown or badge for the
birthday girl or boy to wear during that class.
6) Make sure you make the student feel extra spe-
cial on his or her special day!
7) Set a day for weekend and summer birthdays.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it important to celebrate birthdays?
 How do you feel on your birthday?
Guess Who?
Topic: Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To encourage students to think
about positive characteristics and qualities in others.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: Preparation 5 – 10 minutes, 5 minutes
every class
Materials: Descriptions of each student; Optional: Prizes
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the classes, create a list of characteris-
tics/qualities for each student (you may want to
wait until you know the students well).
2) At the beginning or the end of every class, read
a list of characteristics/qualities of a “mystery
student” in the class.
3) Tell the class they must guess who that “mystery
student” is.
4) The first person who guesses the person described
wins.
5) You can hand out prizes of you have them.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it important to hear positive things about
yourself?
 Why is it important to say positive things about
other people?
Citizen of the Week
Topic: Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make a student feel special
and reward good behavior.
Number of Students: any
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: Depends
Materials: Paying attention to good behaviors; Op-
tional: Prizes, Certificates, Badges
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): I Am Special!

1) Start a program to recognize students for non- Here are some special things about me:
academic, positive behavior. (e.g. good citizen-
ship, politeness, cheerfulness, achieving a goal, 1. My name is ............................................. .
helpfulness, attention to rules, etc.).
2) Students and/or teachers could take part in the
2. My address is .......................................... .
selection process.
3) The “Citizen of the Week” should receive some
3. I live with .............. (how many) other people.
extra attention, for example:
 a badge proclaiming him or her as “Citizen
of the Week” 4. My phone number is .................................. .
 become special monitor or helper for the
week 5. I go to ......................................... School.
 be allowed to help choose a craft project
or game for the class to do 6. I am in .......................................... grade.
 have his or her picture put up on a class
bulletin board 7. My birthday is ......................................... .
 receive a “proclamation” describing his or
her positive behavior
8. My favorite game is .................................. .
 be honored with a “good citizen ceremo-
ny” at a parent or school function
4) This can be something within your class or some- 9. My favorite color is ................................... .
thing to implement in your whole school. Talk to
you director about this idea. 10. One thing I do really well is: ........................
............................................................
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
11. One thing I would like to learn to do better is:...
 What is a citizen? ............................................................
 What are the characteristics of a good citizen?
12. One thing I like to do with my family is: ..........
Mirror, Mirror ............................................................
13. One thing I like to do in school is:..................
Topic: Self-Awareness, Self-Esteem ............................................................
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To boost self-esteem/self-aware- 14. One thing I like to do with my friends is:..........
ness and have some fun! ............................................................
Number of Students: 7-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and under DRAW OR PASTE
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes YOUR PICTURE HERE
Materials: Hand mirror; Optional: Radios/CD/Cas-
sette player, Recorded music

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) Have your students sit in a circle.

2) Turn on music (or make your own music!).
3) As the music plays, the children pass the hand
mirror around the circle. Tell students they must
look into the mirror quickly, think of something
that makes them special and quickly pass it to
the next person.
4) When the music stops, the child with the mirror
looks into it and says, “I am special because .....
.................................,” filling in the blank.
5) The game proceeds giving everyone a turn.

Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

 Was it easy or difficult to think of something spe-

cial about yourself? Why
 Why is it sometimes difficult to say good things
about yourself?

55
The Person I Admire
Topic: Self-Awareness, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To think about and share sto-
ries about people we admire and to find the qualities
they hold in common
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
ers/chalk, Large paper(one for each group), Pens/
pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) To begin the lesson, write down the term “role
model” on the board.
2) Discuss the meaning of “role model” with the
class.
3) An example definition could be “Someone whose
example you follow in life” or “Someone you ad-
mire and wish to be like”.
4) Ask the participants to think about who is the
person they most admire in the world. It could
be anyone, not just someone famous. It could be
a neighbor, a friend, a family member or a celeb-
rity. Give them a few minutes to think about it.
5) Tell the class to get into pairs.
6) Give ten 5 – 10 minutes each for each person to
tell their pair a story about their favorite person.
7) After this is done, tell the pairs to find another
pair (now there should be groups of four)
56
8) In the groups, chose one of the stories you told in
a pair to share with the other pair (there should
be two stories).
9) Have the groups of four find another group.
10) Have each group pick a story and share it with the
other group.
11) Do this until you have two or three large groups.
12) Have each group pick a story to share and ask for
three stories be shared to the class.
13) Split the groups back up into groups of four.
14) Give each group a large piece of paper and a
marker.
15) Tell the groups to think about what the role mod-
els in each of the stories told had in common.
16) Tell the groups to write down the qualities in
common on their large piece of paper and title
the piece of paper “Qualities We Admire”. Give
the groups about 5 or 10 minutes for this.
17) After they are done, have them present their list
to the group.
18) As a class, discuss what they think are the top ten
qualities they admire in a person and write them
on the board.
19) Discuss the importance of roles models and the
qualities they chose
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What things could you do to make yourself more
like the person you admire?
 Teamwork
and Leadership

57
58
Team Counting
Topic: Teamwork, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students learn to work
as a team.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 10-30 minutes
Materials: A room with a lot of empty floor space
(enough for kids to lay down spaced out)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have each student spread out in a room and find
a place.
2) Have the students lay down on the floor, hands at
their side, eyes facing the ceiling
3) Explain to students that they are not allowed to
move, make noises or say anything besides the
numbers.
4) Explain to students that they must count to twen-
ty (or however many students are in the class)
without saying the number at the same time,
without any student saying a number twice and
without communicating who goes next.
5) If the students can’t get it down, try to give them
hints (for example, try to go slow or if you say
a number, continue to say that number every
time).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 You may try to discuss what happened and what
were the challenges and the successes of the ac-
tivity. Also ask what made it better/easier and
what they learned in terms of teamwork.
Blind Man’s Walk
Topic: Leadership, Teamwork, Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To increase student’s ability to
rely on other members of the group and to teach
student’s how to lead others.
Number of Students: 2-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials:A large open, safe space (preferably out-
side), Blindfolds (one for each pair of students)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into pairs.
2) Give each pair a blindfold.
3) Tell the pairs to choose one person who will be
the “blind man/woman” and one person who will
be the leader.
4) Explain to the group that the “blind man/wom-
an” will be blindfolded and the leader must lead
the “blind man/woman” by VOICE ONLY. This
means that they cannot touch their partner at
any time!
5) The only time you can touch the “blind man/
woman” is if the he/she is in danger
6) Before the blindfolds are put on the “blind man/
woman”, be sure to explain to the leaders that
they are responsible for their partner’s safety. If
they purposely put their partner in danger, they
will have to sit out for the rest of the game.
7) Allow the pairs to walk around for at least ten
minutes.
8) Encourage the leaders to try more difficult plac-
es, like stairs or doors.
9) After ten minutes, ask the blind men/women to
take off their blindfolds and call everyone in to-
gether.
10) Discuss the activity.
*Note: You can create a fun variation of this activity if
your group finds this too easy. Designate a path with
obstacles and have a blind man/woman’s race! Make
sure that you don’t include dangers such as stairs or
holes which could seriously injure a student. A park
with tress and bushes is the best location for this.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did it feel to be blind? Were your frightened?
Did you trust your leader?
 Was it difficult to be the leader? What was the
more difficult part? Why?
 What are other examples of times when you have
to trust someone else to lead you?
 What are other examples of times when someone
must lead others?
 Why is trusting others important? In the game?
In life?
 Why is good leadership important? In the game?
In life?
Rope Square
Topic: Teamwork, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To increase students’ ability to
work as a group, increase group communication, and
strengthen individual communication.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 13-17
Time Required: 30 min -1 hr.
Materials: A large play area (half a gym, open field),
Rope (about 40 feet long), Blindfolds for each team
member; Optional: Time clock
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into teams of four.
2) Explain activity thoroughly.
3) Blindfold each member of the team (have one
team go at a time so the other’s can observe the
teamwork).
4) Coil the rope up in the large play area.
5) Tell the group that they must make a square with
the rope and that each member had to be holding
one corner of the square.
59
 6) Have the team first talk about what they will do
(with blindfolds).
7) Encourage constant talking and communication
with the team members.
8) Tell the observing students to observe only and
do not try to help the team (unless they are giv-
ing general encouragement).
9) You may time the activity to make it more chal-
lenging, or maybe make it a contest between
teams.
10) Discuss what happened with each team after
everyone is done (ask what went wrong, what
they could do better, what strategies worked the
best).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Try asking the group to talk about how the meth-
ods used in solving this problem could be used in
solving other problems as a group.
Human Knot
Topic: Teamwork, Leadership
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To develop teamwork and lead-
ership ability within the group.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: People!
The Boat is Sinking
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) If the class is large, you should divide it. There
should be no more than 10 or 15 students in a
group.
2) Have all the students get in a tight circle and
grab two different hands.
3) This should create a knot.
4) Tell students that they must NOT let go at any
time.
5) Tell the students that they must untangle them-
selves and make a circle holding hands.
6) Remind them NOT to let go.
7) You may have to help them sometimes, but try to
let them be the leaders.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Would you have been successful if you only lis-
tened to your own ideas?
 What was the most frustrating part?
 What were the challenges?
 How did you overcome those challenges?
 What was your plan of action? Did you have one?
Cross-Hand Pass
Topic: Teamwork, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To encourage cooperation and
team work and to just have fun!
60
Number of Students: 20-30
Age Range of Students: 8-10
Time Required: 10 – 20 minutes (depending on group
size)
Materials: A ball, block or beanbag
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into two teams.
2) Within the teams have the students chose a part-
ner.
3) Line up across from their partner facing each
other.
4) Have the partner link hands across.
5) Each team starts the ball/block/beanbags at
the end of the line and tries to pass it, everyone
keeping their hands together, down the line.
6) If it is dropped, the partners must pick it up with
their hands still held together.
7) The first team to get the ball/block/beanbag all
the way down the line wins.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the difficulties of working together in
this activity?
 How would these difficulties be experienced in
real world situations?
 Despite these difficulties, what are the advan-
tages of cooperative teamwork?
Topic: Leadership, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students develop listen-
ing skills and how to lead/follow a leader.
Number of Students: 12-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 10-25 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have the class get into a large circle.
2) One person from the group is selected as the
leader and must stand in the center of the cir-
cle.
3) All students should be facing one direction (one
student should be looking at the back of the one
in front of them).
4) The leader moves clockwise around the circle
rapidly and quickly chants “The boat is sinking,
the boat is sinking”.
5) At the same time, the circle begins to move coun-
ter clockwise.
6) Every time the leader says “the boat is sinking”,
the class replies “sinking”.
7) The leader can repeat this as many times as he/
she wants.
8) When the leader says “a boat of __ (any number)”,
the group must break apart quickly and form groups
of the selected boat number by holding hands.
 9) Those not in a group with the right numbers are
“all wet” and are out of the game.
10) Continue until you have a few winners.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How hard was it to pay attention to the leader
when he/she gave instructions?
 Why is it important to follow the leader of this
activity?
 How does this apply to real life situations?
Toxic River
Topic: Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn creative problem solving
skills, to work together as a team, to develop com-
munication and demonstrate leadership abilities.
Number of Students: 20-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Blocks of plywood or pieces of firewood
about 1-1.5 feet long (5 per every five people or so)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Mark off an area about 15 feet wide (your “riv-
er”).
2) Divide the group into teams of about 10-15 people.
3) Explain to the students that they must cross the
river.
4) The river is toxic, and if anyone on the team puts
even one foot in the river, the whole team will
have to start over.
5) Hand each team equal numbers of blocks of wood,
and explain that these are “magic lily pads”. and
that as long as someone is in physical contact with
a lily pad, they will float on the river and you can
stand on them. However, if no one is touching a
lily pad, then it will sink (you or another teacher
will take it away).
6) Explain that the first team to get all of their play-
er to the other side of the river will win.
7) Every time a team has to start over, give them
back all of the blocks of wood that have been
taken from them.
8) If the game lasts to long and the students are hav-
ing too much difficulty, give them more blocks.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Did you help one another?
 Did one person on each team become a leader?
 How did different teams communicate within
their teams?
The Longest Line
Topic: Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork and practice
using available resources.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: Outdoors, Whatever the class brought with
them (no telling ahead of time)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Take participants outside where they can have a
large area to work.
2) Split them into two teams (or more if the group is
large).
3) Explain that they are to create a long line on the
ground or floor, using whatever they currently
have on their bodies.
4) They are not permitted to get additional things,
but only whatever they have (tissue, watches,
clothing, shoes etc).
5) Their goal is to have a longer line than the other
teams.
6) If people get really creative they will lay down on
the ground and use themselves to make the line
longer!
7) The team with the longer line is the winner.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does this exercise relate to teambuilding in
real life?
Concentration
Topic: Teamwork, Leadership
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To allow a group to work togeth-
er to accomplish a difficult task. To give the opportu-
nity for leaders to emerge and lead the activity.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: 2 long ropes, Large space, Two poles or
trees to tie a rope across
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class starts, tie two long ropes be-
tween two trees or poles, waist high (make sure
no one is able to jump over the rope).
2) Divide the group into two teams (if there isn’t
enough students for two teams, it is okay to use
just one team).
3) Tell the teams they must get their whole team
over the rope without touching it, but there are
rules to follow:
 Every member of the team must get over
the rope.
 No one can touch the rope.
 Every team member must be touching at
least one other person on the team (the
team must be connected at all times).
 If any of the rules are broken, the team
must start over again.
*Note: This activity can be very challenging and
frustrating for students. Be encouraging and pos-
61
 itive! You may need to provide assistance from
time to time.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What did you find difficult about this activity?
 What made working together easier? More difficult?
 Did you have a leader? How did the leader lead?
Was it helpful to have a leader? Why or why not?
One-Legged Man/
Women/Peer Educator
Topic: Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork and have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: None
String Spider Web
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Set a boundary for this game.
2) Explain the boundary to the group.
3) Ask for one volunteer from the group.
4) That volunteer is the “One-Legged Man/Women/
Peer Educator”.
5) He or she cannot do all the work alone to edu-
cate people on behavior change or Lifeskills, so
he/she must build a team of educators to help.
6) The volunteer hops on one foot and tires to catch
the others.
7) The group is running away from him or her within
the boundary you have set.
8) When the “One-Legged Person” touches some-
one, that person must join arms and also hop on
one foot to try to catch the others.
9) Continue until they are all caught by the team.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is teamwork important in everyday life?
 What are some examples of teams you see everyday?
Sitting on Knees
Topic: Teamwork, Trust
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork and trust
within the group. Also to have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask everyone to stand closely in a circle, you in-
cluded.
2) Everyone should turn to his or her right, so that each
person in the circle is facing the back of someone else.
62
3) Ask all to put both hands on the shoulders of the
person in front of them.
4) Explain that you are going to call out “1, 2, 3
SIT!” and that everyone should call it out slowly
with you.
5) On the word sit, everyone should carefully sit
down on the lap of the person behind him or her,
still holding onto the shoulders of the person in
front of them.
6) Everyone should be supporting each other.
7) If your group is really brave, they can try moving
around in a circle.
8) Ask discussion questions afterwards.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did you feel doing this?
 Did you think we were going to be able to do this?
 How does this relate to real life experiences?
Topic: Teamwork, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork within the
group.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Ball of string or yarn
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask everyone to sit or stand in a circle.
2) Show the big ball of string.
3) Hold on to the end of the string, then roll or toss
it across to someone sitting or standing opposite
to you, saying something positive to him or her as
you sent it.
4) Keep holding onto your end tightly.
5) Ask the recipient to hold onto the strong so that
it makes a taunt line between them and you,
6) Then ask him or her to send to ball back across
the circle to someone else, saying something pos-
itive about him or her as he or she rolls or tosses
it.
7) Everyone continues doing this until the circle is
full of taut lines criss-crossing the circle.
8) Each person should be holding tightly to a bit of
string.
9) Next, ask everyone to look at how the string con-
nects everyone, like spider’s web.
10) You are all dependent on each other to keep this
web firm and supportive. If anyone were to take
his or her hand away from the web, part of it
would collapse.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does this exercise relate to real life?
 What happens if part of your community (your
village, city etc) were to disappear? How would
that affect the rest of the community?
Trust Circles
Topic: Teamwork, Trust
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build trust within the group.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blindfold
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask all the participants to stand together in a
small, tight circle in the middle of the room.
2) If you have a lot of people make small circles of
about six people each.
3) Each participant in turn should stand in the mid-
dle of the circle and then close his or her eyes or
put on a blindfold.
4) He or she then falls backwards, sideways or for-
ward – keeping eyes closed – and will be caught in
the safety of the arms of the other participants.
5) Each participant needs to have a few turns at this
before someone else goes in the middle of the
circle.
6) This can be quite scary for some people, but
should be perfectly safe if the group works to-
gether.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What does this activity teach us about each other?
 Was it easy to trust your partner the first time?
Why or why not?
 What made it easier to trust your partner? Did
your partner say/do anything that made you trust
them more?
 Why is it important to build trust between friends?
Businesses? Family? Other community members?
Cross the Circle
Topic: Trust, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build trust within the group
as well as teamwork.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to form a big circle, facing in-
ward.
2) Each participant identifies someone standing op-
posite him or her.
3) When you say “Go!” each participant must close
his or her eyes, walk across the circle and stand
in the place of the person opposite him or her.
4) Everyone must do this at the same time.
5) NO PEEKING!
6) People get very confused, but sort themselves
out eventually.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did this feel with your eyes shut?
 How does this relate to real life?
Human Wall
Topic: Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork within the
group.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) This can be a little rough so maybe you can set
some ground rules for roughness to make it saf-
er.
2) Form two teams.
3) One team should make a “human wall” – a wall of
people that cannot be broken.
4) When you say “go” the other team will rush the
wall and try to break through.
5) Then switch sides and let the other team form a
“human wall”.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does this activity relate to real life?
 What were the challenges of this activity?
 What made it easier to break through the wall?
Tugs of War and Peace
Topic: Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork within the
group.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Length of strong rope; Optional: Tape or
chalk (to make a line)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the group into two teams.
2) Ask these two teams to stand up and hold oppo-
site ends of a long, strong rope.
3) Mark a line across the middle of your training
area, over which each team must try to pull the
other.
4) When you say “1,2,3 GO!” the teams should start
pulling against each other.
5) Let hem go until one team has ended up failing
over the line.
63
 6) Next, have everyone sit in a circle and hand the
rope to the participants so they are sitting around
the edge of it.
7) Ask all the participants to pull together on the
rope so they can all stand up.
8) Ask the participants to explain what this exercise
means to them.
9) The idea is to show how, instead of people pulling
on opposite ends as in a tug of war, where only
one team wins, we can approach situations in a
win-win way so that everyone benefits and feels
The Yurt Circle
good bout the result.
10) True, the tug of war might be fun for the victors,
but what about the losers?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are other ways to make a win-win situation?
 How do you think it feels to be on the loosing side?
The Straight Line
Topic: Teamwork, Trust
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build teamwork and trust
within the group and to demonstrate how support
can help a person walk “a straight line” in life.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: Blindfold or scarf
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Invite a volunteer to come forward and walk
slowly in a straight line across the training area.
2) Put the blindfold on him or her and turn him or
her around several times before he or she sets
off in a straight line across the training area – to
reach an agreed point on the opposite side.
3) Instruct the rest of the group to keep completely
silent, giving no encouragement or guidance at all.
4) They should also not touch the volunteer.
5) When the volunteer reaches the other side, ask
him or her to take off the blindfold.
6) Compare how close he or she is to where he or
she intended to reach.
7) Ask him or her how he or she felt about having no
Minefield
comments from the others.
8) Ask him or her to replace the blindfold and re-
peat the exercise.
9) This time the others are allowed to verbally en-
courage him or her and give him or her advice
10) They should still not touch him or her.
11) Then, finally, you can ask the volunteer to repeat
the exercise with the others using their hands to
guide the volunteer.
12) Process the difference in how if felt during each
stage.
13) Emphasize how safe someone can feel with the
support and guidance of others.
64
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does this relate to real life?
 Have you ever shown support for another person
so they could walk “the straight line”? When?
How did you show support?
 Is it easy to make decisions on your own at all
times? Have you ever needed support from a
friend or family member about a decision?
Topic: Teamwork, Trust
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build trust and teamwork
within the group.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: An even number of students
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Assign a name to each, alternating names, such
as “Milk, Water, Milk, Water”.
2) Everyone should link arms all the way up to the
elbow.
3) When you say “Milk”, all of the “Milks” should
lean into the circle, while all the “Waters” should
lean out.
4) Notice how this tension keeps the group supported.
5) Switch now, saying “Water”.
6) All the “Waters” lean into the circle and the
“Milks” lean out.
7) You can continue doing this smoothly, to show
how change and tension can still be very positive
for the team.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were some of the challenges of this activ-
ity? What were some of the positive outcomes?
 What made it easier to work as a team? What
made it more difficult?
 Did anyone in the group take a leadership posi-
tion? How?
Topic: Leadership, Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate the importance
of communication when leading others.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 10 – 20 minutes
Materials: An open room/space, Two or more blindfolds, Ob-
jects to use for mines (blocks of wood, bottles, rocks etc)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class set up your objects around the room/
space as in a minefield.
 2) Divide the class into pairs.
3) Ask the pairs to get into two lines (the pairs stay
together in one line).
4) Ask for the first two pairs to come to the front.
5) Blindfold one person in the pair.
6) Tell the person who does not have the blindfold
they must direct their partner through the mine-
field without touching them. It is a race between
the two pairs.
7) If a person touches a minefield, they are finished
and must go to the back of a line. The other pair
will automatically win the race.
8) Whichever pair reaches the other side of the
minefield first wins.
9) Continue to run races until every pair in the class
has been through the minefield at least once.
10) You can also run additional races and have the
winners race each other until there is one cham-
pion in the class.
11) Try to switch the pairs so each person gets a
chance to lead and to follow.
12) Discuss the activity after you are finished.
*Note: Make sure the rest of the class is quiet while
the pairs are racing. Remind them that it is easier to
hear the other person when others aren’t yelling.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What was the most difficult part of the minefield?
Why?
 Was it easier to follow or to lead the race?
 Why is communication important in this activity?
 What are the challenges of being a leader? How
does this activity relate to leading in real life?
Who’s the Leader?
Topic: Leadership, Icebreaker
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build leadership in the group
and to have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the group to stand in a circle.
2) Ask for one volunteer and send that person out of
the room.
3) The people in the circle should secretly choose a
person to be the leader.
4) The leader should start an action such as clapping
hands, dancing or stomping feet.
5) The action should change every 15 seconds or
so.
6) The other members of the circle should follow
the leader’s movements, without looking directly
at the leader and giving him or her away.
7) The volunteer is brought back into the room while
these actions are taking place.
8) The volunteer has three chances to guess who the
leader is.
9) If that person guesses right, the leader becomes
the volunteer and they choose a new leader for
another round.
10) If the volunteer cannot guess right, they have to
leave the room again and try again.
*Note: This is a fun activity to fill empty time with,
students enjoy this in any situation
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are some qualities of a good leader?
 How would these qualities help the leader in this
activity?
 Why do we need leaders in groups?
Follow the Leader
Topic: Leadership
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To build leadership skills and al-
low students to become comfortable with being in a
leadership position.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the participants to stand in a circle.
2) You or the group chooses a leader
3) The leader stands inside the circle, starts to run
on the inside of the circle and calls out “Follow!
Follow! Follow!”
4) The group replies “Follow! Follow! Follow!” as
the run on the outside of the circle.
5) The leader repeats “Follow! Follow! Follow!” and
the group repeats.
6) The leader starts to do some other action such
as dancing, jumping, sitting or singing and says
“I dance, I dance, I dance!” (or whatever action
they are doing).
7) The group responds by mimicking everything the
leader does.
8) The leader then goes back to “Follow, follow, fol-
low” and repeats the process.
9) Do this until everyone is tired!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What qualities are important in a leader? How
would they help the leader in this activity?
 Is it always good to follow a leader? Why or why
not?
65
66
Emotional
Health

67
68
Emotion Charades
Topic: Emotional Health, Expressions, Emotions
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students how to express
emotions and how to read other people’s emotions.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-30
Time Required: 15-20 minutes
Materials: Emotion papers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class prepare a stack of papers/cards with
different emotions written on them. Examples
of emotions are angry, sad, tired, happy, shy,
scared, annoyed, worried, nervous, excited, etc.
2) Students take turns.
3) Each student picks an emotion paper. They do not
show it to the class.
4) Without speaking they must act out the emo-
tion.
5) The class must guess what the emotion is,
6) Whoever guesses correctly goes next.
7) You can also do this in teams to motivate every-
one to participate!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do people show their emotions in real life?
 How much communication do people do without
talking?
 What were the challenges/successes of this activity?
Big vs. Small
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For individuals to practice anger
control in a situation that is clearly unfair and upset-
ting.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials: A basketball, volleyball, beach ball or bal-
loon
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class to line up from shortest to tallest.
2) Divide the line in half so all the short people are
on one team and all the tall people are on the
other.
3) Set up a game for the group to play in which
height is the advantage (basketball, volleyball or
keep away).
4) After playing for a little while, the tall team will
most likely be winning and the short team will be
feeling upset.
5) At this point change he rules and tell the tall team
that they must all put one hand in their pocket or
behind their backs for the rest of the game.
6) Leave time for discussion.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How did you feel when the game was in your fa-
vor?
 How did you feel when the game was not in your
favor?
 Do you ever feel like your life is like this game?
Are you usually winning or losing?
 Do you ever get angry when things seem to be
unfair?
 How do you release the anger that you feel when
things are unfair? What are good ways to handle
an unfair situation?
Body of Anger
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss and learn how our
bodies react when we become angry so that individu-
als can detect the signs of anger.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: An old white T-shirt, An old pair of pants
(that can be written on), Face paint, Markers that
can be used on fabric
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, find an old pair of pants and an old
shirt that you do not want anymore and wash
them well.
2) Ask one volunteer in the class to put on the old
pants and shirt.
3) Have the volunteer stand in front of the class.
4) Ask the class all the distinct ways their bodies
react when they feel angry.
5) As people name different things, have someone
write them down on the part of the body with the
face paint or markers (if more appropriate, make
a tracing of a person on a large piece of paper
and mark that).
 For example: rapid breathing could be
written on the chest where the lungs are,
or red face can be written on the cheek
6) Leave time for discussion.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Which body reaction do you most identify with?
 How do you control your anger?
 How do you release feelings of tension?
 Why do you think our bodies react the way they
do to anger?
 How can you use your body signals to help you
control anger?
Good, Bad, and Ugly
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To determine positive was of
handling anger. To promote discussion of different
69
 ways to handle anger and discuss the effect these
actions have on people’s lives.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: 3x5 cards or small pieces of paper, Pens/
pencils, 3 small boxes, Prepared scenarios; Optional:
Already prepared scenarios
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, write down several scenarios where
a person may have a negative reaction.
2) Give each person in the class a pile of 3x5 cards
(or pieces of paper) and a pen/pencil.
3) Ask them to create three piles in front of them
and write “Good” on the tope of card in one pile,
“Bad” on another and “Ugly” on the third.
4) Create a few scenarios that would likely make
the participants angry and read them to them at
this time (you can have these prepared already).
You can also ask the class for scenarios that would
make them angry
5) After a scenario is read, each person must write
down a good response to the situation on the
“good” card, a bad response on the “bad” card
and an ugly response on the “ugly” card.
6) Place three boxes labeled “good”, “bad” and
“ugly” at the front of the room.
7) Ask the students to put their cards in the respec-
tive boxes when finished.
8) Do this for several different scenarios.
9) After all the situations have been read and all the
cards have been turned in, take the ugly box and
read the cards to the class.
10) After each card ask people to raise their hands
if they have ever expressed their anger in this
manner, to describe the situation and discuss the
consequences or benefits of reacting in this way.
11) Do the same thing for the bad and good boxes.
12) Conclude with the good box.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What did you learn as a result of this activity?
 Do you tend to express your anger in a good, bad,
or ugly manner most often? Why?
 Which way works best for you? Is this a good
way?
 What would be the best way for you to handle
your anger?
 What is the easiest way to express anger? Is that
good/bad/ugly?
 How do you feel when others express their anger
this way?
The Unfair Game
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For individuals to practice using
anger control in a situation that is clearly unfair and
frustrating.
Number of Students: 3-15
70
Age Range of Students: 8 – 17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: deck of cards, pair of dice, bag of candy
(about 5 pieces per person), copies of the rules; Op-
tional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Be sure to read the directions BEFORE you start
the game! Before you start, take all but a couple
of spades out of a deck of cards and mix the few
spades left towards the top of the deck. If pos-
sible, replace the spades with cards from a dif-
ferent suit using an identical deck.
2) Start by gathering the group into a circle and give
everyone five pieces of candy and tell them NOT
to eat them (they will be able to keep whatever
candy they have at the end of the game and they
can eat it then) then develop a creative name for
the game.
3) Place a few copies of the rules on the table for
students to refer to during the game (or just have
them on the board for all to see) – it is important
that you lead this game.
4) Set a time limit or end the game when too many
people are eliminated to continue, or when the
pot is full with candy.
5) At the end of the game select the person who
played with the best sportsmanship – of course
this is YOU, the leader, because this is the unfair
game - collect all the candy in the middle.
6) The game should be truly unfair (like life). It is
best that you don’t hand out the candy to the
group after the game is done to be fair to have
a greater affect – but you can do what you want.
To heighten the effect you may also reveal the
trick about the deck of cards. You can also wait
until now to reveal that this is called the “Unfair
Game”.
Game Rules
1) When it is your turn you may roll the dice or se-
lect a card.
2) If you role the dice and get: Odd – you must put a
piece of candy in the pot (a place in the middle of
the table) Even – you make take a piece of candy
from anyone else’s pile, Double – you must give a
piece of candy to someone else in the group (this
does not count as an even number).
3) If you draw a card: Heart – you must give a piece
of candy to the person on your right, Club – you
must give a piece of candy to the person on your
left, Diamond – you must put a piece of candy in
the pot, Spade – you get two piece of candy from
the pot (or from someone else’s pile).
4) If anyone loses all their candy, they are elimi-
nated from the game.
5) If you are eliminated from the game you may
continue to sit in the circle but can return to the
game only if someone gives you a piece of candy
during the course of the game (no one can give
them candy out of the goodness of their heart, it
must be by dice or cards).
6) At the end, the person who has the most candy wins,
and everyone may keep any candy they have.
 7) The leader decides who displayed the best sports-
manship during the game, and this person gets to
keep all the candy left in the pot at the end of
the game.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was this game unfair? Why or why not?
 How do you feel right now?
 Do you ever feel like your life is unfair? If so how
do you respond to unfair situations?
 Do you think it would help you in life to change how
you act when situations seem unfair? If so how?
Agree or Disagree: Understanding
Violence
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will analyze their feel-
ings regarding to violence, learn to debate their feel-
ings, and how to resolve disputes without violence.
umber of Students: 5-15
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: two signs – one “agree” and one “dis-
agree”, flip chart paper for groups to write on
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Put up the two signs on opposite sides of the
room.
2) Explain that everyone must participate.
3) Read the statements and have students walk to
one side of the room, to the “disagree” side if they
disagree and to the “agree” side if they agree.
4) Have the students pick two statements upon
which they disagree.
5) Have the students break into group depending on
their opinion and write on the flip chart paper
reasons to support their opinion.
6) Each group should choose one representative to
present their side of the argument.
7) The only rules of the debate are that there can
be no violence and students must listen to the
other side.
8) Students must state their point of view with reason.
Statements:
 When you get into a conflict with some-
one, it’s okay to hit and call names.
 It is sometimes necessary to fight to solve
a problem.
 When somebody says something mean to
you, it is okay to yell at him or her.
 If is difficult to apologize when you are wrong.
 If you see someone fighting you should get
involved.
 Violence is just something you have to get
used to because it happens all the time.
 You can do nothing to prevent becoming per-
sonally involved in a violent confrontation.
 There’s something wrong with someone
who will just walk away from a fight.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why do you think some people express their an-
ger with violence?
 Have you ever wanted to become violent in an
argument? What stopped you?
 Why do you think some violence is considered
“cool”?
 Why do you think people are entertained by vio-
lence?
Good Feelings
Topic: Emotional Health, Self-Esteem
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to identify
five things people can say and do to help them feel
pleased with themselves and be able to compliment
at least one person in the class.
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Paper (for each student), Pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand out paper to each student.
2) Have each student write five statements that
make him/her feel good about him/herself.
3) The statements can be verbal compliments or ac-
tions that make the student feel good.
4) Provide examples such as “You are such a good
helper!” or “Receiving flower or a piece of fruit
at school” or “someone saying happy birthday on
your birthday”.
5) Break students into small groups to share their
statements, or have them share with the whole
class.
6) Give time for students to make a compliment to
people in their groups.
7) Have them share the compliments.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Is it easy to receive good feelings from other
people?
 How many good feelings did you get yesterday?
 Is it easy for you to give good feelings?
 Have the students say something nice to someone
the next day
Abstract vs. Concrete
Topic: Emotional Health, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to create a
piece of abstract art and organize a color scheme so
that the same color isn’t touching in the pattern.
Number of Students: 1-50
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Half sheets of white paper, Assorted markers and
colored pencils; Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
71
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Draw a “scribble” on the board (or piece of pa-
per), without lifting the chalk/pen to make a se-
ries of shapes.
2) Let the students pick a marker and make their
own “scribble” (don’t be surprised if this task is
very difficult for some students).
3) Distribute the colored pencils and tell them to
color the different shapes.
4) There is one rule: No two shapes can have the
same color if they are touching.
5) Have a few students come up to the front of the
class to show their drawing and explain why they
colored it the way they did.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What is abstract and concrete thinking?
 How does this relate to abstract/concrete think-
ing?
 Is this art?
 What did you draw/what shapes does your scrib-
ble make?
 Is it pretty? Why/why not?
What’s in the Picture?
Topic: Emotional Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To describe the complexities of
a picture.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 5-17
Time Required: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Various pictures from magazines; Option-
al: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, cut out various pictures from maga-
zines.
2) In class, put all pictures face down on the table.
3) Have the students sit around the table.
4) Pick a student to go first.
5) The first student picks a picture and identifies
one thing in the picture.
6) The student passes the picture around the table
with each student identifying something differ-
ent in each picture. Try to go around the table
twice without anyone repeating any answers.
7) The student to the right of the first student gets
to choose the next picture and the same process
starts over.
8) Once the students are comfortable with identify-
ing the content of pictures, they can start making
judgments. Does the picture represent something
healthy or unhealthy? They can make two piles or
tape them on two sections of the wall.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why do you think different people saw different
things in the pictures?
72
 Did someone find something in the picture that
wouldn’t have noticed otherwise?
 Why do you think it’s important to hear several
different perspectives during a discussion?
Relationships
Topic: Emotional Health, Peer Relations
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about different types of
relationships, if they are healthy or unhealthy, and
how unhealthy relationships help us see the good in
ourselves.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: poster board, magazines, tape, slips of pa-
per, paper, pens; Optional: Colored pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class make a poster with cut outs from
magazines (or your own drawing) illustrating dif-
ferent types of relationships. Do not write on the
poster.
2) Ask the students:
 What is a relationship?
 What types of relationships are there?
3) Here are some examples of relationships to use:
 with self
 with family
 with friends
 with boyfriend/girlfriend
 parent/child
 with religion
4) As the children answer the questions about “types
of relationships”, put their answers on slips of
paper and tape them to the poster.
5) Ask the class the following sets of questions. En-
courage discussion.
 Is there such a thing as an unhealthy re-
lationship?
 Can you describe the difference between
a healthy and an unhealthy relationship?
 What do you do if a relationship is un-
healthy? (you can use another piece of
flipchart paper to list the qualities of a
healthy relationships and the characteris-
tics of an unhealthy relationship)
 Are you what other people say you are?
(Discuss positive and negative influences
of relationships)
 Do you have someone you can trust?
 Are you someone other people can trust?
6) Put blank piece of paper on every student’s
back.
7) The other students must write one nice thing
about that student on their back. NO repeated
comments. After every student has written one
thing, have the children read their sheet of paper
out loud: “I am nice, happy, etc” Using “I am”
statements is important.
8) End with discussing how our relationships can
help us be healthy by helping us see the good in
us and support us in our goal of overall health.
Rest and Taking Care of You
Topic: Emotional Health, General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To talk about the need for rest, what
could happen if you don’t, rest and ways to rest.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Paper,
Pens/pencils; Optional: Colored pens/markers/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Everyone needs rest! Without it you may experience
exhaustion, malnutrition and illness. You may have
symptoms such as headaches, neck, back and shoul-
der pain, and or/stomach problems.
Rest is connected to all things:
 physical, social and spiritual health
 food
 exercise
 disease prevention
1) Have students draw something or make a list of
things to do for rest.
2) Have them write something on the board.
3) Tell them that their homework is to do something
restful. Examples of restful things are:
 sleep 7-9 hours
 avoid caffeine
 have a bedtime routine
 exercise
 drink milk
 listen to music
 go for a walk
 spend some time alone
6) Discuss the fact that what you think of yourself
affects your health. “The most beautiful people I
know are those who love themselves.” We are all
special and unique.
7) Ask the class what they think about themselves.
Rate yourself on a scale from 1-10.
8) List one thing you would change about yourself.
9) List one goal. Talk about making one small change,
towards this goal, as homework.
10) Do a name acrostic:
* Nino: Natelia, Imedi, Naturauli, Ori tavi
11) Review homework assignment the next class.
Treat yourself to something resting and relaxing.
If your students are having a difficult time think-
ing of what would relax them, discuss hobbies.
If the problem is with finding time, discuss the
possibility of delegation/shared work.
Controlling Stress
Topic: Emotional Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify at least two ways
they can help reduce harmful stress in their lives.
Number of Students: 5-50
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Wired Willy Story, Paper, Pens
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students if they have ever been in a running
race. Ask them to recall the excitement before
the race began. Conclude this introduction by
asking if the student(s) would enjoy running a
race that lasted every hour they were awake. It
can be harmful to the entire body if excitement
is ongoing in a person’s life. Some stress may be
helpful, such as the excitement one would feel
just before a race.
2) Entertain a discussion on stress with the class
employing your teacher-led questions. Suggested
questions include:
 “What is stress?” (a feeling of tension or
strain on your mind and/or body)
 “Have you ever felt stress?” (answers will
vary)
 “How can stress affect your body? (the
heart may beat faster; the palms of the
hand may get sweaty, breathing may
quicken to gain more oxygen for the body;
and stored sugar may be released to allow
for more energy.)
 “Can stress be helpful?” (yes)
 “How?” (It can help one do his/her best
when he/she feels occasional pressure,
such as competing in a ballgame or race
or doing well on a test. It can give one an
energy life.)
 “How can stress be harmful?” (Stress can
be harmful when events occur in one’s life
that cause prolonged tension or worry.
This may lead to restlessness, a lack of
sleep, nervousness, headaches, the heart
working faster, and an inability of the body
to fight off disease. Over a long period of
time, it could damage the heart.)
 “How can one control stress?” (talking
and sharing feelings with your parents or
friends, getting enough exercise and rest,
eating a balanced diet).
3) Have students read the story (or read it aloud)
and answer the questions on the worksheet. This
may be done individually, in small groups, or with
the entire class.
Answers to Worksheet:
1. at the start of the game
2. when he blamed himself for the loss
3. not sharing his feelings of guilt with his par-
ents or friends
4. assignments weren’t completed; he appeared
tired during class
5. probably not; answers will vary
6. talking with his parents helped Willy under-
stand the problem
7. talking with parents or friends about impor-
tant issues in your life; getting enough sleep
and exercise; eating a balanced diet
73
 ”Wired Willy” Story
Willy felt like he had butterflies in his stom-
ach as the soccer game was about to begin.
He wanted to do his best against the cham-
pion team. When the game started, Willy for-
got all about being anxious and played very
well. He led his team in scoring during this
championship game. With one second left in
the game, Willy was fouled while shooting the
ball. His team was behind by one point. With
a penalty kick, Willy had a chance to tie the
game. Willy missed the goal and his team
lost the game. Willy felt horrible. He be-
lieved that he was responsibly for the loss.
Not wanting to talk to anyone after the game,
Willy hurried home. He went to his room
and refused to talk to his parents about the
game. In his sadness, he even forgot about
his school project that was due the next day.
All he thought about was missing the last
goal. His stomach hurt and he had a diffi-
cult time getting to sleep that night. The next
day, Willy ignored his friends who wanted to
talk about the game. He yawned frequently
and almost fell asleep in class. Because his
project wasn’t completed, his teacher wasn’t
pleased. In fact, for several days, Willy had a
hard time getting any of his schoolwork done
and he seemed very tired. Willy’s parents en-
couraged him to talk about what was bother-
ing him. Willy finally shared how he thought
he had lost the game for his team. His par-
ents helped him realize that without Willy’s
strong effort, his team would not have been
so close to winning in the first place. They
also reminded him that the reason for play-
ing is not just winning. Someone had to lose.
Willy slept much better that night when he
realized he had done his best, and that was
all anyone could do.
Worksheet Questions
1. When did Willy feel helpful stress in this story?
2. What caused Willy to start feeling harmful stress?
3. What created more harmful stress for Willy?
4. How did Willy’s schoolwork suffer because of
increased stress?
5. Do you think that Willy was pleasant to be
around during this time? Explain.
6. How did Willy relieve his stress?
7. How can you avoid harmful stress in your life?
Accepting Anger
Topic: Anger Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn acceptable ways to han-
dle anger.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
74
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class: If you and your best friend had a fight
and you became very angry, what would you do?
2) Discuss the question utilizing a flip chart if pos-
sible and listing the student’s responses:
Acceptable Ways to Handle Anger
 Run as hard as you can, until you cool off
 Go off by yourself and scream.
 Cool off and talk it over.
 Ask you friend why he did what he did.
 Go off by yourself and cry.
Unacceptable
 Hit him.
 Never speak to him again.
 Talk badly about his family.
 Scream at him.
 Pretend it never happened.
 Take his favorite toy.
 Start rumors about him.
3) After the responses are listed, ask the class to
decide which ones are acceptable and which are
not. Cross out the unacceptable behaviors.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Which of these behaviors might allow the friend-
ship to be saved?
 Should the friendship be saved?
 Which behavior do you think is the easiest to do?
The most difficult?
 Can you think of a situation when you saw any of
these behaviors? What happened?
Oh! Henry!
Topic: Emotional Health, Character Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To explore different ways to ex-
press emotions with body and tone of voice.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have all the participants stand in a circle.
2) Remind the groups that there are many ways we
can communicate – even with our bodies and tone
of voice.
3) Explain that this activity will show how tone of
voice and body language can express different
emotions.
4) Tell the group that they must go around and say
the phrase “Oh! Henry!” in different manners.
5) Give examples, such as with anger, with joy, with
passion etc.
6) Encourage creativity and fun!
7) Here are some examples:
  sadness  fear
 anxiety  love
 pain  depression
 jealousy  misery
 guilt  happiness
 anger  grief
 joy  passion
 confusion  rage
 annoyance  regret
 disappointment  laughter
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you tell which emotion is being expressed?
 What is the clearest signal? (i.e. body, voice, fa-
cial expression)
Managing Emotions Gallery Walk
Topic: Emotional Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To share and discuss different
ways of managing potentially harmful feelings.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Materials: Five or six large pieces of paper, Markers
(one for each paper), Tape; Optional: Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Brainstorm with the class a list of different emo-
tions (you can put these on the board if you have
one).
2) Have the students tell you which emotions they
think could be potentially harmful or lead to risky
behavior.
3) Have the students narrow it down to five or six
harmful emotions that may need to be managed.
4) Write each of these emotions at the top of each
piece of large paper.
5) Tape the papers up on the wall around the room.
6) Tell the students to brainstorm different ideas of
how to manage these behaviors.
7) Now tell the students to get up and walk around
the room to each paper.
8) At each paper they must put down an idea of how
to manage that behavior.
9) Try to encourage them to come up with different
answers than their peers (creativity is good!).
10) After everyone has looked at all the papers and
put down their comments, have a different vol-
unteer read off the comments on each paper.
11) Discuss with the class what they think about the
suggestions given. Are they good suggestions? Are
there any you disagree with? Are there any sug-
gestions you think you could use in your life? Can
you think of sample situations?
Example: Anger
 Count to ten
 Walk away and come back to the situation
later
 Stop and analyze why I am really angry
 Think about the situation from the per-
spective of the other person
 Pray or meditate
 Think of a funny story
 Try to communicate and resolve the situa-
tion peacefully
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why can certain emotions be harmful if they are
not dealt with properly?
 What are some suggestions of methods that you
should NOT use to deal with emotions?
What is Love?
Topic: Emotional Health, Peer Relations, Responsible
Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To explore and think about dif-
ferent kinds of love and the qualities students look
for in friends, family and partners.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 13-20
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
ers/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask everyone to divide into pairs.
2) Ask each pair to describe to each other three
qualities that they show to a close brother, or sis-
ter, or friend whom the particularly love.
3) Then have them share three qualities that they
expect from the same brother, sister or friend.
4) After about 10 minutes or so, call them back to
the larger group.
5) Ask the class to share their thoughts and ideas.
6) If there is a general agreement, move on, but if
not, discuss the differences.
7) Tell the class to get back into their pairs.
8) Tell the pairs to take turns telling each other
three qualities which they would show to a part-
ner whom they love.
9) Then have them tell three qualities which they
expect from a partner who loves them.
10) Again, call everyone back into the larger group.
11) Ask them to share their ideas.
12) If there are some clear differences in the quali-
ties of love described between partners and those
described for sisters, brothers or friends, point
these out.
13) Ask them to define these differences more clear-
ly. Encourage them to try to explain why these
differences exist.
14) Ask them to get back into pairs again.
15) This time, have the pairs tell each other five
qualities they would want in a partner in a rela-
tionship. What would their ideal partner be like?
16) After they are finished, have them get into a larg-
er group and give out qualities they thought of.
17) You can write these down on the board.
75
 18) Then have the class think quietly about the per-
son they are involved with, like or have a crush
on. Ask them to think if this person fits the quali-
ties they put down.
19) Explain to the students that it’s important to think
about these qualities, especially since sometimes
young people get “swept of their feet”. It is im-
portant to think these things through before mak-
ing any important decisions.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why do you think it is important to think about
different kinds of love?
 Why do you think it is important to know what to
look for in a partner/friend?
 Has the idea of love changed throughout history?
How?
I’d Feel…
Topic: Emotional Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students practice ex-
pressing their feelings in different situations.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 20 – 30 minutes
Materials: Cards or small pieces of paper, Pen, Bag
or box
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Write out different “I would feel..” statements
on cards or small pieces of paper.
2) Ideas are:
 If my friend hit me, I’d feel...
 If my friend asked to share my book, I’d
feel...
 If my friend asked me over for dinner, I’d
feel...
 If my friend offered me medicine, I’d
feel...
 If my friend took me to the movies, I’d
feel...
 If my friend called me bad names, I’d
feel...
 If my friend stole something from me, I’d
feel...
 If my friend said nice things to me, I’d
feel...
 If my friend taught me a game, I’d feel...
 If my friend asked me to do something bad
I’d feel...
4) Put the cards or small pieces of paper in a bag or
box.
5) Tell the class that when called on, they must
come up to the bag or box, chose a card/piece of
paper and read the statement to the class.
6) After they read the statement, they must finish it
with a feeling they would feel.
7) Call on students to come up and choose cards.
8) Be sure to encourage openness and discourage any
laughing or making fun of people. Students should
feel comfortable saying what they would feel.
76
9) Give more time for younger students who may be
a bit shy.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 After listening to how different people would feel
in situations, what could you do to help make
people feel good?
 Are there any feelings that people said that you
would also feel? Any different feelings?
Feelings are Fragile
Topic: Emotional Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To think of different ways stu-
dents can express negative emotions without hurting
others.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Poster board or large paper, Markers,
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Optional: Colored pens/pencils/markers, Magazines,
Glue, Scissors
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class to brainstorm different ways of ex-
pressing negative feelings without hurting some-
one else
2) Examples could be:
 leave the situation
 changing the subject or conversation
 talking to an adult about the problem
 talking to another good friend about the
problem (without putting the other person
down)
4) Write these ideas on the board.
5) Now ask the class to get into groups of four or five.
6) Give each group a poster board or large piece of
paper and some markers.
7) Tell the students that they are now to choose their
top four ideas that are written on the board as a
group. Give them about five minutes for this.
8) After they have chosen, tell them to list the posi-
tives and negatives of each choice. Give them
about ten minutes for this.
9) When they are finished, tell them to illustrate
their choices and then list the negatives and posi-
tives next to the drawing. Give them about 15 to
20 minutes for this.
10) After everyone is done, have each group present
their posters to the group.
11) If you have room, hang the posters up as remind-
ers to the students.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you think of any real life situations that you
have used these methods?
 Can you think of any real life situations where
you should have used these methods?
Decision
Making

77
78
Steps in Making a Good Decision
 Stop
 Take some “time out”
 Define the problem
 Think about the situation
 Seek advice from others
 Listen to the advice given
 Pray/meditate/think deeply
 Consider family values and personal values
 Consider cultural practices and religious beliefs
 Consider all of the options or alternatives avail-
able
 Imagine the consequences and possible outcomes
of each option
 Consider the best alternatives
 Make the decision
 Act on the decision
 Accept responsibility for your actions
Four Corners
Topic: Opinions
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students form opinions
about health Topics, help them express and explain
their opinion to the group, and to help them answer
questions about their opinion.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: A room with four corners, Four sheets of
paper with four letters (A,B,C,D)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Put each letter in a different corner.
2) Have all the students stand in the middle of the
classroom at the start.
3) Give the group question/scenario and give four
options. Make sure you tailor the questions to the
age group you are dealing with.
4) Assign each corner one of the options (for exam-
ple: what is your favorite color? Go to corner A if
it is blue, corner B if it is green, corner C if it is
yellow, corner D if it is red).
5) After each option is given, have students go to
the corner of their choice.
6) At each corner ask the students to explain why
they picked that corner.
7) Give other students a chance to ask questions
about why someone picked that corner.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 You could later discuss how to respect other’s
opinions and the difference between a discussion
and an argument. This can also be done before
the activity. Laying down rules before the activity
begins is a good idea if you suspect an argument
might arise.
Agree or Disagree?
Topic: Opinions, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To encourage classroom partici-
pation and discussion.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 14-17
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chairs,
Desks
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Arrange five chairs or desks in a row, leaving sev-
eral feet in between them to form four separate
areas along a line (see diagram on next page).
2) These chairs represent positions ranging from
strongly agree to strongly disagree.
3) Explain to the class that you will read several
value-related statements for which they are to
respond by walking to the area that represents
their position on the statements.
4) After each statement, allow the students to ex-
plain their reasons for choosing their opinion and
debate the options (make sure this is student
lead, but you may have to begin by encouraging
discussion).
5) This can be used for any Topic: or to review a past
lesson.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are the main differences between facts/in-
formation and opinions?
 From your responses, which were supported by
personal opinions and which were supported by
information and facts?
 When confronting problems in the community,
why is it important to gain as much knowledge
relating to the problem?
Diagram of Chair Set-up
Making Decisions
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss how decisions are
made, to discuss good/bad decision making and to
practice making good decisions.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Prepared decision making scenarios for
small group work
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Define “decision”: a choice between two or more
things or actions.
2) We begin each day with decisions. There are
some steps to follow in order to make a decision
79
 3) Talk about the importance in learning how to
make a wise decision and how to carry out those
decisions. Talk about the importance of this skill
for becoming a mature adult.
4) Have group members discuss the different steps
in making a decision.
 What is the problem?
 What are some possible solutions?
 Where can we obtain information?
 What are our choices?
 What will each choice cost us (in time,
money, energy)?
 What are our limitations (time, effort,
personal resources)?
 What will the consequences of each choice
be?
 What will you do?
 How will you do it?
 Was it a good decision? Why? Why not?
6) Divide class into groups.
7) Give groups different scenarios and have them
write down the process to making a decision re-
garding that scenario.
8) Have groups present their decisions to the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is it important to make good decisions?
 How can bad decisions affect people around
you?
 What can you do if you make a bad decision and
you realize it?
Planning a Party
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To learn how to make group decisions.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Pen/pencils, Paper; Optional: Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Poster board, Colored mark-
ers/pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
2) Give each group paper or poster board.
3) Tell the groups to plan a party for the class.
4) Decisions to be made are:
 When (date and time)?
 Where?
 Who will be invited?
 What will you do?
 Will there be snacks? If so, what snacks?
 Who will be responsible for each job?
 How much will it cost?
 Did you follow any steps in making these
decisions? What steps?
5) They can make a creative poster advertising their
party if you have time/resources.
6) Have each group present their party idea to the
class.
80
7) Vote and decide whose party the class would like
to have.
8) Have the party if you would like!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What was the hardest part of planning the party?
 What were the most difficult decisions you and
your group had to make?
 What other factors did you think of while planning?
Decision Making Scenarios
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice good decision making
in real life situations.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: 14 – 17
Time Required: 15 – 20 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper/large blank paper for
each group, Markers, Decision making scenario cards,
Steps in making a good decision handout; Optional:
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the participants into small groups of 4 or 5.
2) Give each group a card with one decision making
scenario on it.
3) Give each group flipchart paper or a large piece
of blank paper and markers.
4) The groups should do the following:
 Discuss the situation
 List the steps that the people should take
in trying to reach their decision
 Finally, as a group, discuss and make a de-
cision for the scenario on their card
 On the top of the flipchart paper/large
blank paper, write the steps to making a
good decision, what decision the group
would make for the scenario, and the rea-
sons for their final decision
5) Have each group present to the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What happens if you skip some of the steps to
making a good decision?
 What are some examples of bad decisions?
Decision Making Scenario Cards (cut into cards)
You are a 14 year old male student. You are walking
home one day from school with a friend. On the way
your friend sees another friend of his smoking and
tells you to come with him and hang out. You friend
takes a cigarette and tells you that they make him
relax. He offers you one and tells you they are really
“cool”. What will you do?
You are a 17 year old girl that has just finished school.
It is now summer and you are taking a holiday by the
sea with three of your friends. Your friend Nino tells
 you that there is a good disco that is for university
students, but she knows a boy who could get you
all in. You have heard that this club is known to be
frequently visited by the police and sometimes there
are a lot of drugs. What will you do?
You are a 24 year old boy who is attending a wedding
supra with your friends. One of your friends has a car
and drove you to the wedding. He is supposed to give
you a ride back. You decide you do not want to drink,
but your friend who has the car is “bolumde-ing” ev-
ery glass of wine. When it is time to go home, it is
obvious he is drunk, but he says he is okay to drive.
What do you do?
You are a 18 year old boy who is having a birthday.
Before the party, your friend says he has a surprise
for you. He blindfolds you and drives you somewhere.
When he takes off the blindfold, you realize he has
taken you to a whore house. He then tells you he will
pay for two hours. You are not comfortable with this
and have heard about many diseases that are spread
through these houses. What will you do?
You are a 20 year old girl who has had a boyfriend for
a long time. He wants to get married very quickly,
but you would like to go to university and get your
degree before marriage. He is putting a lot of pres-
sure on you every day and your application is due
soon. What do you do?
You are a 14 year old girl and you are walking in
Tbilisi with a friend. While you are walking, you see
a man with dark skin pass by. Your friend starts to
laugh point and say mean things about the man. You
think that this is not a good thing to do and you can
see that the man’s feelings are hurt. He has a large
backpack on and looks like he is a visitor. What do
you do?
You are a 21 year old boy who is at a friend’s supra.
Your friend has just gotten into a really good school
in London. Everybody is drinking a lot, but you don’t
want to become drunk. You have to get up early for
your job and you know that a lot of alcohol can be
very dangerous. Your friend’s dad is pressuring you by
saying that if you loved your friend, you would drink
more. What will you do?
Just Between Us
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To practice making good decisions.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Role Play Cards
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into four groups.
2) Give two groups one scenario card the other two
the other one.
3) Give the groups 30 minutes to discuss the scenario,
the decision making steps and design a role play.
4) Have each group perform in for the class.
5) Ask the following questions:
 Do we all agree with the decision that was
made? Why or why not?
 Does anyone think the situation should
have ended differently? How?
 What values were at work to arrive at
their decision?
6) Point out that decision making is not always easy.
7) Personal values play a large part in the decisions
we make, and if we go against those values, it
can lead to feelings of guilt and confusion.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What can make decisions hard to make? What can
make decisions easier to make?
 What are personal values? How do they play a
role in our every day lives?
Role Play Cards
A month before exams, Jaba tells Mamuka he has
some important information for him if he promises
to keep it a secret. Mamuka is curious and agrees.
Jaba says he knows how to get a copy of the history
exam in advance. His brother has a friend who has a
friend who works in the Ministry of Education. This
person is selling examination papers secretly. Jaba
says two classmates have already bought papers. He
wants Mamuka to buy one too. Mamuka feels fright-
ened and angry. He does not believe in cheating. He
thinks Jaba and the others should be reported to the
teacher, but he promised to keep it a secret. Now he
doesn’t know what to do.
 Decide what Mamuka is going to do. Then create
a role play acting out the situation and showing
the reactions of all of Mamuka’s friends to his de-
cision.
A doctor has a patient whom she knows well. The
patient was ill and the doctor thought he might have
HIV. She sent him for blood test, which came back
positive. The doctor knows the patient has several
girlfriends and advised him to tell them so they could
protect themselves. The patient became angry and
told her to mind her own business. His girlfriends
must not find out.
 The doctor worries a lot about this. She knows
doctors should not discuss their patients illnesses,
but she knows her information could save people’s
lives. She decides to break the rule of confiden-
tiality and inform the girlfriends. The patient is
very angry and takes the doctor to court because
she has broken her oath of confidentiality.
 Act out the court case. Present the patient’s case
and then allow the girlfriends to take the stand.
Appoint someone as judge. Do you find he doctor
guilty of breaking her professional code of confi-
dentiality? Take a group vote on the verdict.
81
Visualizing the Future
Topic: Decision Making, Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students think about de-
cisions and how these decisions change the future.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12–17
Our Own Life Story
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: “Nino Shapes Her Future” story (for the
teacher), Paper (for each group), Pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the group the importance of visualiz-
ing their future goals and using these hopes and
dreams to avoid unhealthy behavior.
2) Have the students sit and listen as you read the
story about Nino.
3) Tell the students they must now complete Nino’s
life story.
4) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
5) Give each group a piece of paper and a pen/pen-
cil and tell them to brainstorm an ending as a
group and write it on the paper.
6) Encourage creativity!
7) Give the groups at least 10 minutes for this.
8) After everyone has finished, ask each group to
share their ending.
9) After each story, ask the class the following ques-
tions about the ending:
 Did her life fulfill her expectations?
 Did her life fulfill her family and friend’s
expectations?
 Was this just a dream story?
 Did she keep control of her life?
 How did Nino’s life story change because
of the changes she made?
10) Discuss as a group what they learned about how
decisions can affect the future.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What goals do you have for you future?
 What types of choices will affect your future
goals?
Nino Shapes Her Future
When Nino was born, the stars seemed to shine more
brightly than ever before. She had such intelligence,
sensitivity, and beauty that surely her life would be
charmed.
At thirteen years old, Nino went to a good secondary
school. Her parents felt she should be given the best
possible education to prepare her for the rest of her
life. Nino shone at everything. She was so kind and
so loved by all of her friends that no one could feel
jealous of her success.
At nineteen years old, when Nino had just completed
her second year at university studying to become an
engineer, she met a sweetheart.
82
He was a loveable person with a very happy nature.
Time spent with him was always wonderful although
he never seemed very serious about his work…
* Note: You can change this to focus on males if you
would like.
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss future goals and deci-
sions/steps to be taken to achieve these goals.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10–20
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Paper (for each person), Pens/pencils,
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell your students to close their eyes and imagine
what they think their future will be like. What are
their goals? Their plans? Who would they like to be?
2) Now ask them to write down what they think
their future would be like next year:
 Who will you be living with?
 Who will your friends be?
 Will you have a sweetheart?
 Will you still be in school? If so, where?
Studying what?
 What will you do in your spare time?
 Will you drink? Smoke? Do drugs?
3) Give the students at least 5 -10 minutes to write.
4) Then tell the students to write about what they
think their life will be like in 5 years (ask the
same questions as above?).
5) Now have the students think about what their life
will be like in 10 years (or in their late 20’s):
 Will you be married?
 Will you have children?
 Where will you live? With whom?
 Where will you be working? What kind of
job will you have? Will you have a job?
 Will you have a car?
 Will you smoke? Drink? Do drugs?
 Will you have been in a car accident? Will
any of your friends?
6) Finally, have your students imagine when they
have children that are their age:
 What will they be like?
 What kind of expectations will you have
for them?
 What kind of fears will you have for them?
7) Have some students share their futures.
8) Tell them to take their papers home and reflect
on what they wrote.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are the steps/decisions/goals undertaken
to achieve these gals and plans?
  What are the steps/decisions already undertak-
en? Are these decisions moving you towards your
goals, or away from them?
Your Goals
Topic: Decision Making, Self-Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To understand the difference
between short and long term goals and to help plan
goals for the future.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Goals worksheet (for each student), Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart (markers/chalk), Pens/
pencils
I will also ask for my friends’ encourage-
ment”
 What is my plan of action? “First, I will
create a study schedule for myself. Then I
will be sure to pay attention in all my les-
sons. Finally, I must buy a exam book and
a pen to take the exam”
 Completion Date: When will I be finished
with this goal? “The exams are being held
in two weeks, so I will be finished on ____
____” (write a date)
5) Have students share their goals and discuss
WHAT ARE MY GOALS?
Short-Term Goal Long-Term Goal

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) On the board write the terms “short-term goal”

and “long-term goal” Benefits in Reaching My Benefits in Reaching My
2) Brainstorm with the class on possible definitions Goal Goal
for these terms
3) Have the classes think of examples for both short
and long term goals:
Short-term: A project that can be completed
within six months
 I am going to clean my house What might stand in my What might stand in my
 I am going to pass my exams in two way? way?
months
 I am going to knit a scarf for my friend
Long-term: A project that can be completed
in a year or more
 I am going to go to University to become
a doctor What do I need to learn What do I need to learn
 I am going to have three children who will or do? or do?
attend good schools
 I am going to remodel my entire house
4) Give each student a copy of the goals worksheet
and explain each part they must complete using
a sample goal
 Identify your goals: Write one short-term Who will encourage me? Who will encourage me?
and one long-term goal. Suggest “Pass my
exams” as an example of a short term
goal. What about a long term goal?
 What are some of the benefits of reaching
my goal? In our example, “I will make my
parents happy and have good scores so I
can go on to university” Plans of action – Steps I Plans of action – Steps I
 What stands between me and my goal? will take will take
“If I do not like to study or do not study
enough, this could be an obstacle to pass-
ing my exams” or “If I have to help my
mother/father with their work, it could be
hard for me to study for my exams”
 What do I need to learn or do? “I need to Completion Date Completion Date
learn my math and English to do well on
the exam. I also need to bring my exam
book to class”
 Who will encourage me? “I know that my
mother and my teacher want me to do
well, so I will ask them to help me study
and check me to see if I am studying well.

83
Testing the Waters
Topic: Decision Making, Responsible Behavior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To discuss different types of reactions to
different situations and discussing if they are risky or not.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15–17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Four signs: Plunger, Wader, Tester and Delayer,
Tape, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Appoint each corner of the room a number.
2) Tell the students to imagine that they went to the
lake and it was a hot day, but the water was very
cold. What would you do?
3) Tell them to go to corners:
 If you would run and jump right in
 If you would go into the water slowly and
get your body used to the water
 If you would dip a toe into the water to
see how cold it was before you got in
 If you would stand on the beach and look
around to consider what you will do next
5) After they have gone to their corners, give each
corner their appropriate sign:
 Plunger
 Wader
 Tester
 Delayer
6) Have the groups consider how this relates to real
life situations.
7) Give each group paper and pens and tell them to
write down the positives and negatives of being
in that corner.
8) While they are writing make a chart on the board
with four columns, one for each corner.
9) After each group is has finished, have them share
their list.
10) In each column, write the positives and negatives
for each corner.
11) After every group has read their list, have the
class look at the board for a minute.
12) Ask them to think about where they are and
where they would like to be.
13) Tell the class if they would like to change their
corner they can do so.
14) Ask each group why they are at that corner and
how they think it affects their decisions in life.
Just in Time!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are the similarities of your approach to cold
water and decision-making in general? Are they
similar or are they different?
Advisors
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To talk about people who help us
make decisions.
84
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Paper (for each student), Colored pens/
pencils/markers, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart,
Chalk/markers; Optional: Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the students how they learned what is right
and wrong
2) Most likely they will say their parents and not
much more, so make suggestions on other people
who help them decide what is right and wrong.
Examples could be:
 Teachers
 Another relative
 A friend’s parents
 A friend
 An older sibling
 Priest/pastor or religious leader
 Another community leader/member
3) Make a list on the board.
4) Explain that we don’t always have to make deci-
sions on our own and that these people often help
us with hard decisions and can act as “advisors”.
5) Let them take a few minutes to look at the list
and think about the “advisors” in their life.
6) Give each student a piece of paper and some
markers/pens.
7) Tell the students to draw a picture of their great-
est advisor.
8) Under the picture they must write a short para-
graph explaining why they are a good advisor and
how their advisor helps them.
9) This can be difficult for some children. Make sure
you give them at least 15 minutes for this part of
the activity.
10) Have a few students (or all if you have time) share
their picture and read their paragraph about their
advisor.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are qualities that make a person a good ad-
visor?
 Do you think your advisors will change when you
get older?
 Do you think your advisors have advisors? Who are
they??
Topic: Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice situations where
changing a decision is a positive thing.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12–17
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
ers/chalk; Optional: Scratch paper, Pens/pencils
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): 2) Brainstorm possible definitions and write them on
the board.
1) Ask your students to close their eyes. 3) Ask for examples of bad habits and write them on
2) Tell them to think of a time when they changed the board. Some examples can be:
their mind and it had good consequences.  Watching too much TV
3) Give them a few minutes to think silently.  Not doing your homework
4) If you have scratch paper and pens/pencils, ask  Eating too many sweets
the students to write down their ideas then write  Talking in class
down a few examples on the board. If you don’t  Biting your fingernails
have such materials, ask for examples and write  Chewing on pencils and/or pens
them on the board.  Not covering your mouth when you sneeze
5) A few ideas they might have: 4) Explain that people usually don’t change their
 Wanting a toy or object, deciding not to behavior until they realize that bad things hap-
buy one and finding out later that it wasn’t pen because of bad habits.
fun anyways 5) Ask the class to split into groups of four or five.
 Wanting to yell at a friend for a mistake 6) Tell the groups that they must chose a bad habit
they made, deciding not to and finding from the board and come up with a short skit
out later that they didn’t actually make about that bad habit.
a mistake 7) In the skit they must answer the following questions:
 Deciding that taking the marshutka at night  What is the bad habit? (act it out)
was dangerous, deciding to stay another  Why it is bad?
night and take the morning marshutka and  What does the bad habit do?
finding out later that there was a drunk driv-  How do you stop this bad habit?
ing accident that night near your house 8) Give at least 10 – 15 minutes to prepare the skits.
6) After you have a few examples on the board, split 9) After everyone has finished, have the groups
the class into groups for four or five. present their skits.
7) Ask the class to come up with a short skit demonstrat- 10) After each skit, discuss the questions presented above.
ing a time when changing your mind is a good idea.
8) Give the groups at least 10 - 15 minutes to pre-
pare a skit. Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
9) After everyone is finished, ask each group to per-  What bad habits do you have? (have them write in
form their skit. a journal or on a piece of paper)
10) After each skit, ask the students a few questions:  Why is it bad?
 What was the original decision made?
 What can you do to stop these bad habits?
 How was the decision changed?
 Why do you think bad habits start?
 Why was it changed?
 What happened after the decision was  Are their good habits? What are some examples?
changed?
 What could have/would have happened if Who’s in Charge?
the person did not change his/her decision?
11) Summarize the activity. Everyday, your parents and teachers help you make
decisions. You make many important decisions for
yourself, too! As you get older and smarter, you will
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
make more decisions for yourself. On the list below,
 What are steps you can take to make good decisions? circle who makes the decision with you.
 Who are people you can go to for advice about
making a decision? Who decides:
My favorite color? me teacher parent
Good Decision for Bad Habits When I go to bed? me teacher parent
What I study in school? me teacher parent
Topic: Decision Making
What I have for dinner? me teacher parent
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate bad habits and What grade I get in English? me teacher parent
discuss ways to change bad habits. Who I sit with at school? me teacher parent
Number of Students: 10-30 Who my friends are? me teacher parent
Age Range of Students: 15 and under What my favorite game is? me teacher parent
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour If I should help a friend? me teacher parent
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
If I go to school? me teacher parent
ers/chalk; Optional: Scratch paper, Pens/pencils
What medicines I take? me teacher parent

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): If I’m nice to someone? me teacher parent

Where I sit in class? me teacher parent
1) Ask you students to define a “bad habit”.
Name .................. Date ..................

85
 What is a decision? 4. A book I like is .................................... .

A decision is when there are different things you can I decided to read that book because .......... .
do and you pick one of them. You make decisions
every day.
5. My favorite game to play is ..................... .
Some decisions are easy, like choosing which book to I decided to play that game because ......... .
read. Some decisions are hard, like deciding the best
birthday present to get for a friend! Here are some
things you probably decide for yourself. Write in your 6. I share ........................... with my friends.
decisions and why you made each decision.
I decided to share that with my friends be-
cause ............................................... .
1. When I got dressed for school, I put on . ..... .
I decided to wear this because ................ .
7. What is a decision you made today? ...........
Why did you decide to do that? .................
2. For breakfast, I had .............................. .
I decided to eat that because .................. .
Name .................. Date ..................

3. On my way to school I talked to ............... .

I decided to talk to them because . ........... .

86
Peer Pressure

87
88
Wellness Cookies
Topic: Peer Pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show students the effects of
peer pressure and different ways people react to it.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Cookies (enough for all the class plus
maybe some extras), Prepared instruction cards; Op-
tional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flip chart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Prepare instruction cards before class.
2) Divide the class into groups of five.
3) Give each student one of the prepared instruction
cards. Tell them they must not show it to anyone
else in the group. The five cards must read: #1,
2, and 3 - Take one cookie, eat it slowly, and then
try to persuade everyone else in the group; #4 –
Wait two minutes, then take a cookie; #5 – Don’t
take a cookie no matter what.
4) Let them work it out for five minutes, then stop.
5) Ask the class about what happened in their groups:
 Ask person #5: How did you feel being
pressured to do something you were told
not to do?
 Ask person #4: How did you feel about giv-
ing in?
 Ask person #5: How did you feel when the
person gave in?
 Ask persons #1,#2,#3: How did you feel
persuading others?
 Ask all: Who makes your decisions?
6) Let each group discuss answers with the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 You can add all sorts of subjects to this Topic:.
For example, attach it to doing drugs, smoking,
or just general decision making. Peer pressure
can be used in many different ways
Self-Determination Role Play and
Journal Write
Topic: Self-determination, Peer Pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about self-determina-
tion and peer pressure.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 14-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Pens, Journals; Optional: Role play cards
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Define self-determination:
Self-determination= (n.) Determination by oneself
or itself, without outside influence. (found at www.
dictionary.com)
 Self-determination is a value that many
people find important.
 A value is a principle or an idea that peo-
ple think is important.
 Self-determination is a feeling that leads
to freedom of a person’s ideas.
 Self-determination means that you don’t
have to follow the crowd and that you can
go your own way.
 Self-determination gives you more self-
confidence.
 Self-determination allows for more self-
respect
1) Choose Silly Sally, and Self-Determined Sam.
2) Choose five students to pretend that they are
smoking.
3) Have Silly Sally approach the group of smokers.
4) Have the smokers tell her how great cigarette
smoking is and try to get her to smoke a ciga-
rette.
5) Have them tell her some reasons to start smok-
ing: cool, tastes good, gives a good feeling...
6) Have her mull it over out loud: the pros and the
cons.
7) Have her fall into the trap of peer pressure and
start smoking.
8) Have Self-determined Sam do the same thing as
Sally, but he will say no to smoking.
9) Repeat this several times so that everybody gets
a chance to try at least one part.
10) You can switch the roles from Silly Sally to Silly
Sam to be more gender nuetral.
11) Afterwards, have students get into small groups
of four.
12) Have them brainstorm about what they saw.
13) Have them write in their journals about what
they saw and what would be the best response.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Peer pressure and ways to counteract it. Situ-
ations that students find themselves in that in-
volve peer pressure.
Peer Pressure Skits
Topic: Peer Pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show visually different peer
pressure situations and different solutions
Number of Students: 15-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart,
Role cards
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the group what peer pressure is and
how it can be both bad and good.
2) Have the class come up with different scenarios
where peer pressure is used or situations they
have seen where peer pressure has played a part.
89
 3) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
4) Give each group a Topic: (you can have role cards
prepared if you like).
5) Tell the groups they must create a skit on that
Topic: and present it to the class.
6) Example Topics are: smoking a cigarette, doing
drugs, stealing, cheating on a test, not studying,
wearing stylish clothing, not eating/eating too
much food, doing something dangerous, disobey-
ing your parents, etc.
7) You can also use examples of “good” peer pres-
sure. Examples are: stopping a bad habit, listen-
ing to a teacher, participating in a sport or other
healthy activity, etc.
8) Have the groups present their skits.
9) Leave room for discussion afterwards.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the situations in each skit?
 Have you seen these in real life?
 Any real life examples?
 What can you do to counteract peer pressure?
 What are the differences between peer pressure
and peer support? How can you tell the difference?
Peer Pressure Simulation
Topic: Peer pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate the group dy-
namics involved in peer pressure.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 13-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: One role card per student, One bag of
M&M’s (or other similar candy) per group of four stu-
dents and extras for “non-eaters”
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of four.
2) Each group is given four role play cards.
The role cards should read:
Role 1: Someone playing this game has candy and
will try to get you to eat some. You immedi-
ately agree to eat the candy and try to get
others to eat it
Objective – try to persuade others to eat the
candy
Role 2: Someone has candy, and will try to get
you to eat some. Don’t eat any candy at first.
Give a reason why you don’t want any. Finally,
give in and start eating. Then get others to
eat them.
Objective – Persuade others to eat the candy.
Role 3: Someone in your group has candy and
will try to get you to eat some. Don’t eat the
candy, no matter what anyone says to you.
If you do not eat any, you will get your own
after the game.
90
Objective – Don’t eat any candy.
Role 4: You have a bag of candy. Get everybody
in your group to eat the candy. Slowly eat the
candy while you persuade the others to eat
some too.
Objective – Get everyone to eat the candy.
3) Before beginning, make sure that the students
understand their tasks and that they must do
exactly what the role card says. Also make sure
they know they are not allowed to let the others
in the group know what is on their card.
4) Give the student with card number four the bag
of candy and have each group begin.
5) Move between groups and facilitate when neces-
sary.
6) After ten minutes stop the group and discuss
(suggested questions below).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What happened in your group? Who had the most
difficult job? Why?
 How did it feel to be pressured by the group
to eat candy? Was it difficult to think of reason
why you didn’t want the candy? Was it more dif-
ficult to refuse when you were the only one who
wouldn’t eat the candy? How did it feel to pres-
sure others? How did you feel after you gave in
and began eating the candy? What real life situ-
ation did this activity illustrate? Can you think of
a time when your friends put the same kind of
pressure on you?
Peer Pressure and the Media
Topic: Peer pressure, Consumer Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To increase students awareness
of peer pressure in the media.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: A variety of magazines, Pen and paper for
each group.
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Describe and discuss what peer pressure is.
2) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
3) Ask the students to look through the magazines
and find examples of magazines that use the con-
cept of peer pressure to sell products.
4) Ask the group to answer the following questions:
 What are they trying to sell?
 Who is being targeted by this ad? (Who are
they selling it to?)
 Does this ad tell the truth? Why or why
not?
 Is this ad convincing? Why or why not?
 How does the ad use peer pressure to sell
the product or service?
 5) Give the groups about 15 minutes to complete
the questions.
6) After they are done have each group present
their findings to the class.
7) Leave time for discussion.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
Ask students:
 On whom do advertisers use peer pressure tech-
niques?
 How can consumers protect themselves against
such advertisements?
Ranking Peer Pressure
Holding Your Ground
Topic: Peer pressure, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how difficult it
can be to take a stand on an issue and stick with it.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30-45 minutes
Materials: Large cards number 1-10
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Lay the numbered cards on the floor (or tape
them on the walls) in order from 1 to 10 with
space in between each one.
2) The words “Strongly Agree” should be written
next to number one, and the words “Strongly Dis-
agree” should be written next to number ten.
3) Ask one student to come to the front of the room.
4) Give him/her a controversial statement from the
list below (or your own).
Suggested ideas:
 Our school should/should not have uniforms.
 A woman can do any job in the workplace
that a man can.
 It should be illegal for anyone younger
than 21 to drink alcohol.
 It should be illegal for anyone younger
than 18 to smoke.
 It is a waste of time to vote.
 Music by artists such as Metalica or Lek-
seni is not art, it is crude and obscene.
5) Ask him or her to stand by the number that rep-
resents how he/she feels about the statement (1
meaning strongly agrees and 10 meaning strongly
disagrees).
6) Now it is the task of the other students to try to
convince the student to change his or her position
on the Topic: (to change number).
7) They can use any means necessary to try to per-
suade the student.
8) All students should try to change the person’s
mind even if they agree with the student.
9) If the student agrees with a statement made by
the students on the opposing side of the issue,
he/she will move to another number.
10) Limit the time up front to 7 minutes.
11) Repeat this several times (don’t try to get every-
one in the class, it will talk too long).
12) Discuss the activity after it is finished.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask the students: How did it feel to be alone at
the front of the room? If you moved, why did you
move? How did you feel after you moved? Was
it difficult to argue your position when you were
alone? If you didn’t move, why didn’t you move?
How did it feel to be in the group trying to change
the volunteer’s mind? How did you feel when you
were successful in changing his/her mind?
Topic: Peer pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students analyze their
choices
Number of Students: 15-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) List behaviors that are likely to involve peer pres-
sure on the blackboard (for example: smoking,
doing drugs, drugs, sex, cheating in school, bul-
lying others, wearing cosmetics, wearing certain
cloths, not doing well at school, etc).
2) You can also have your students list the behav-
iors.
3) Make sure there are ten behaviors ranging in neg-
ativity.
4) Ask students to rank the behaviors from 1 – 10,
with one being the easiest to resist and 10 being
the most difficult.
5) As a group, discuss the factors that influenced
their rankings (for example, legal versus illegal,
the frequency with which they observe the be-
havior, the behavior of their friends, previous ex-
perience, the influence of a particular person, a
past experience that has influenced them, etc.).
6) Have the class form groups based on their rank-
ings of the behaviors (for example, one group will
be students who ranked smoking as the most dif-
ficult behavior to resist).
7) Ask the groups to discuss why it is difficult for
them and make a list of reasons not to engage in
the behavior and techniques to successfully resist
peer pressure.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are some ways you could avoid peer pres-
sure?
 Can you think of examples of bad peer pressure
you have seen? Good peer pressure?
 Why do you think peers pressure other peers into
doing “bad” things?
91
Peer Pressure Role Plays
Topic: Peer pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice responding to dif-
ficult situations
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Cards with situations on them
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into small groups (4-5).
2) Give each group one of the situations below.
3) Have students prepare skits to illustrate the situ-
ation and their response (this should take about
15-20 minutes).
 You have been invited to a party, but you
know that your parents will not let you go.
Your friends are encouraging you to lie to
your parents and tell them that you are
going to the library. What do you do?
 Some of your friends stole a copy of next
week’s big English test. They plan to use it
to cheat, and they have offered a copy to
you. What do you do?
 There is a group of cool kids at your school.
They like you, but they say that your best
friend is a loser. They say that you should
stop talking to your best friend and hang
out with them instead. What do you do?
 You are at a party and it is time to leave.
The person who drove you there has been
drinking wine all night and is drunk. Your
friends say it is no big deal and they get in
the car, but you are afraid it is not safe to
ride with a drunk driver. What do you do?
 You are leaving school and you see the di-
rector’s car. Your friend asks you to watch
for passers-by while she writes on the side
of the car. What do you do?
 You and your best friend meet some cool
kids in the park. Suddenly, someone pulls
out a pack of cigarettes. Everyone else,
including your best friend, takes a ciga-
rette. They want you to take one too, but
you don’t want to. What do you do?
 You go to a party with friends, and as soon
as you get there, you see that everyone is
smoking marijuana. What do you do?
 Several kids you know are planning to play
a cruel practical joke on someone and
they want you to help. What do you do?
 You friend really wants to experiment with
marijuana, but she doesn’t want to smoke
it alone – she wants you to try it with her.
She assures you that it will be safe. What
do you do?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss each scenario with the class and ask them
what they thought of it and if they would do any-
thing different.
92
The Best Response Game
Topic: Peer Pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify the typical ways peo-
ple use to pressure others, finding responses to those
pressures.
Number of Students:15-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 45 min – 1 hour
Materials: Slips of paper, Pen/pencil, Watch or clock
with a second hand, Paper; Optional: Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk, Prize for the
winning team
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Choose three or five judges and break the rest of
the class into groups of 4 or 5.
2) Tell the class that you’ll read common lines given
to pressure others into something.
3) Teams have 2 minutes to come up with the best re-
sponse to the line and write it on a slip of paper.
4) After two minutes, someone will collect all the
papers.
5) Read them all aloud to the class and give them to
the judges.
6) The judges have 1 minute to judge whose the
best was and announce the winner.
7) Give two points to the winning team and zero to
the rest of the teams.
8) Continue this for the rest of the lines (you can
vary the number by the number of people you
have or how much time you would like to take).
9) After you have read all the lines, count the points.
The team with the most points wins.
Example Lines:
 Everybody is doing it
 If you truly love me, you will do it
 I know you want to, you’re just afraid
 Don’t you trust me?
 Cigarettes aren’t addictive the first time
you try them
 I’ve only have a few drinks, I’m okay to
drive
 If you were my real friend you’d do it.
 You’ve done this before, so what’s the
problem?
 If you don’t drink with me I won’t be your
friend
 If you don’t, someone else will!
 Practice makes perfect.
 Nothing bad happens if you just try a little
bit.
 You don’t think I’m stupid do you?
 But I love you. Don’t you love me?
 Nothing will go wrong, don’t worry.
 Aren’t you curious?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Is it easy to use these responses in real life? Why
or why not?
 What sort of situations would these lines be
used?
Peer Pressure Role Plays #2
Topic: Peer Pressure
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To examine common peer pres-
sure situations, come up with strategies in dealing
with peer pressure, and find strategies students are
comfortable using.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Role play cards
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Create cards with role plays on them pertaining
to various peer pressure situations (see attached
role play sheet).
2) Divide the class into small groups.
3) Give each group a role play card.
4) The groups should meet and talk about the peer
pressure situation and come up with a realistic
reaction or response for the problem.
5) The group should then create a role play showing
the situation and how the young person resists
peer pressure.
6) After each role play, process the situation and re-
sponses with the entire class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Was it realistic?
 Would the resistance demonstrated actually work
in the situation?
 Is this a common situation in our community?
Peer Pressure Role Play Cards
1) A boy goes to a supra with a group of his
friends. The supra was very far into the moun-
tains, so his friend drove them in his car. At
the supra, his friend with the car drank a lot
of wine. When they walk to the car after the
supra, his friend is stumbling and is obviously
drunk. His friend gets into the car and all of
the other friends also get in. The boy knows
that it is very unsafe to drive drunk and does
not want to get into the car. He tells his friend
that someone who is not drunk should not
drive, but the friend insists that he can drive
very well. Perform a role play on what this
boy should do.
2) A group of secondary school students are at a
dance. They are dancing and having a really
good time together. One of the students takes
out some alcohol from under his or her jacket.
He or she starts drinking and tries to get the
others to drink, too. He or she says that there
is more to drink outside and tries to pressure
others to join him or her in drinking. Some
of the students agree. Show how the other(s)
could handle this pressure situation.
3) Some friends are chatting outside. One of
their friends comes up to them and joins
them. After a few minutes, this person takes
out some marijuana and lights it up. He or
she asks the others to join him or her. They
all resist for a while, but then some of the
group also smoke. One refuses to smoke. Now,
the group pressures this person to join them.
Show what the person should do to resist this
peer pressure.
4) A group friends are hanging out near the mar-
ket. They are talking about how board they
are. They really wish they had something to
do. One of them suggests that they go to the
grocery store and steal some chocolate. Some
of the friends agree – excited to do something
on this boring day! As the groups walk to the
store, one of them is really afraid and does
not want to participate in stealing from the
store. Create a role play showing what this
person might do to resist the peer pressure.
5) A group of young men are talking about wom-
en. They are talking also about how they like
going to the prostitutes’ house and brag to
each other about having sex. They are teasing
one young man about the fact that he has not
been to the prostitute and has not had sex.
They tell him that he must go with them next
time to become “a real man”. The boy does
not feel comfortable with going. Create a role
play showing how this boy could handle this
situation assertively.
93
94
Saying No

95
96
How to Say No
Topic: Peer Pressure, Saying No
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students practice strate-
gies for saying no.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Slips of paper, 2 Containers, Blackboard
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students to write a scenario in which they
would feel pressured to behave in a certain way
on a slip of paper.
2) Put all the slips of paper in a container at the
front of the room.
3) Tell the students to brainstorm a list on the black-
board of different ways to say no (for example,
being direct, giving a reason, being funny, chang-
ing the subject, making an excuse, physically
leaving the room/place, putting it off until later,
finding a friend to support you, etc.).
4) Write each of these strategies on slips of paper
and put them in another container.
5) Have a volunteer come to the front of the room
and choose a situation and a strategy. This stu-
dent can choose 2 to 4 other students to help act
out the situation.
6) The volunteer will use the strategy on the slip of
paper to escape from the difficult situation.
7) Leave time for discussion at the end.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What strategies were most effective? Ineffec-
tive?
 Are certain strategies more effective for certain
scenarios?
 What strategies would you be most comfortable
using?
Refusing Food Politely
Topic: Saying No
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To develop students’ refusal
skills.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Optional: Pictures of food or actual food
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Prepare short dialogues about being offered and
refusing food.
2) Have students practice them in pairs.
3) The dialogues should simulate being pressured to
eat a lot of food, unhealthy food or food that is
not wanted.
Examples:
 Would you like more soup?
 Would you like some candy?
 Would you like another slice of cake?
No thanks grandma
4) Teach the kids to gracefully decline food and not
make negative verbal or non-verbal comments
(such as sticking their finger in their mouth with
a gagging motion).
5) Also teach them how to politely respond to ques-
tions such as “You don’t like my cooking?”
6) You can expand and give them different cultural
situations (you are guest, it’s a birthday supra,
you have a guest over, etc.).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Is it difficult for you to refuse food? Why or why not?
 In what situations is it the more difficult to refuse
food? Why?
 Do people pressure you to eat food a lot?
 Do you ever eat more than you wanted to be-
cause someone asked you to?
 How do you feel when are pressured to eat some-
thing you don’t want?
 How does this relate to other pressures (ciga-
rettes, drinking, etc.)?
Saying “No” Nicely
Topic: Saying No
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Develop students’ refusal skills.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: Any age
Time Required: 20-25 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell the students that sometimes you need to
say no when someone makes a suggestion, offers
something or asks you to do something for them.
Of course, saying just “no” can be rude. Here
are some of the most common ways to say “no”
nicely (without being rude).
 Would you like to see a film tonight?
 I’m afraid I can’t go out tonight. I’ve got a
test tomorrow.
 Why don’t we have some Chinese food?
 Sorry, but I don’t particularly like Chinese
food.
 How about taking a nice walk?
 I’d really rather not take a walk this af-
ternoon.
 Would you like to come to the museum
with us?
 Thank you, but it’s not my idea of fun.
97
  Let’s go for a drive.
 Sorry, I’m really not fond of driving for the
fun of it.
 Why don’t you stay the night?
 That’s very kind of you, but I have to get
home.
2) When someone makes an offer, it is polite to first
thank that person and then say no.
3) You can often offer an excuse for not wanting to
do something
4) You don’t have to justify your response of the re-
quest is unreasonable. You can just say “no thank
you”.
5) Have your students work in pairs to practice of-
fering and refusing each other politely.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have you ever had to say no to a friend? Did you
use these methods?
 How can you use these same methods for refusing
something dangerous?
Ways to Refuse
Topic: Saying No
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Children learn that sometimes
we have to say “no” to our friends and that they
can say no and still be cool. They also learn that it is
alright to refuse to smoke.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: Varies
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell your students about 6 ways to say “no” and
mean it (by Lynn Battle):
It is not until we can say “no” that our “yes”
means “yes” and our “no” means “no”. Say-
ing “yes” when you would rather say “no”
gives you stress, which can cause physical
symptoms, such as headaches, shoulder ten-
sion and disturbed sleep. Some people who
find saying “no” difficult are confusing rejec-
tion of a request with personal rejection of
the person making the request. Saying “no”
doesn’t mean that you don’t like a person,
just that you are refusing their current re-
quest, and vice versa. When saying “no”, be
honest, calm and polite. It will help you main-
tain control, and avoid escalating the situa-
tion or alienating the other person. People
are happier to accept an honest “no” than be
faced with indecision and a delayed refusal.
How do you say “no” and mean it?
The direct “no”
When someone asks you to do something you
don’t want to do, just say “no”. No apolo-
98
gizing, be direct and succinct. For example:
if you are asked to join someone for lunch,
and you don’t want to, simply say “No, thank
you”.
The reflecting “no”
Here you acknowledge the content and feeling
of the request, then add the assertive refusal
at the end. For example, “I know you want to
talk to me about talking the annual depart-
ment lunch, but I can’t do lunch today”.
The reasoned “no”
Give a brief and genuine reason for the re-
fusal without opening up further negotiation.
For example “I can’t have lunch with you be-
cause I have a report that needs to be finished
tomorrow”.
The rain check “no”
A way of saying “no” to a specific request
without giving a definite “no”. It’s a prelude
to negotiation, not a rejection of the request.
Only use it if you genuinely want to meet the
request. For example “I can’t have lunch with
you today, but I could make it sometime next
week”.
The enquiring “no”
A way to find out more about a request, to see
if it’s something you want to do. For example
“I can’t have lunch today, but is there any-
thing else you would like to talk to me about,
other than the new proposal?”
The broken record
This can be used when someone continues to
make a request after you have politely de-
clined. Repeat the simple statement of re-
fusal again and again with no explanation. For
example “No I can’t have lunch with you” (Oh
please, it won’t take long) “No, I can’t have
lunch with you” (OH come on, I’ll pay) “No, I
can’t have lunch with you”.
2) Ask students to prepare dialogues of their own
and present them to the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the easiest ways to say no? The most
difficult?
 When would you most likely use each refusal?
 Have you ever been in a situation where someone
made a request you didn’t want to do?
 How did you react when the person make the re-
quest?
 Can you use these ways of saying no in more seri-
ous situations? How?
Ways to Refuse Substance Abuse
Topic: Saying no
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To look critically at the kinds of
negative peer pressures they are under at this age,
to recognize some of the ways which they internalize
peer pressure, to learn bout the harmful consequenc-
es of alcohol and other drug use, to see how innocent
actions can often lead to serious consequences, and
to learn some ways to resist negative peer pressure.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: Varies
Materials: optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Lead a discussion on ways to overcome peer pres-
sure
Discussion Prompts
Saying “no” to your friends can be very hard
sometimes. You may be afraid of what they’ll
think if you don’t go along with them. Here
are some good ways to say “no” and still be
cool:
 Say what the problem is (that’s mean,
that’s illegal, etc)
 Say that its’ not cool to do that
 Say what the consequences are
 Suggest something else to do instead
 If your friends insist on doing it anyways,
leave. But leave the door open for them to
change their minds and join you.
Sometimes you can make it easier on your-
self by preparing. Here are things you can do
ahead of time:
 Think ahead and try to anticipate possible
problems
 Think about your friends’ characteristics
and what they do that you don’t like
 Decide in advance what you intend to you
 Think of some good methods to handle
certain problems, or how to avoid prob-
lems all together
Discussion Questions
1) Agree or disagree: it’s better to go along with
the crowd than to make your own choices.
What do you agree or disagree?
2) What is peer pressure? What does it have to
do with making choices?
3) In what ways has peer pressure changed as
you’ve gotten older?
4) Does peer pressure sometimes affect the way
you or your friends make choices? How?
5) One made the point that peer pressure is
nothing unless you fall into it, and you can
choose not to do that. Do you agree with him?
Why or why not?
6) How do you decide whether or not it’s okay to
follow the majority? When is it okay? When is
it not okay?
7) How does it make you feel when you do
something that you know you shouldn’t have
done?
8) What makes it hard to say “no” to a friend?
9) What are the benefits of knowing how to say
“no”?
10) Someone said that when you’re under the
influence of alcohol, the alcohol starts doing
your thinking for you. What did he mean by
that? Do you agree? Why or why not?
11) Someone said that alcohol makes you say and
do things you wouldn’t if you were sober.
Do you think that’s true? If it is true, what’s
wrong with it? Have you ever seen that hap-
pen to anyone before?
12) Someone said that when you’re under the in-
fluence of alcohol, you’re a hazard to your-
self and others. What did he mean by that?
Do you agree? Have you ever known anyone to
get hurt, or to hurt someone else when intoxi-
cated?
13) Do you think movies and television make alco-
hol use look attractive or unattractive? Does
that influence you in any way? Do you agree
with the way the portray drinking? What
changes would you make?
14) Do you know anybody who has ever benefited
from smoking, drinking alcohol, or using other
drugs?
Saying No to Alcohol
& Other Drugs
Topic: Saying No
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To provide students with a sys-
tem for saying no to friends who want to do some-
thing unhealthy
Number of Students: 5-25
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1–1.5 hours
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Write a list of common excuses on the board.
2) Have students determine their weakness.
3) Ask them to think of other excuses that aren’t in
the list and analyze those as well.
Excuses
 Just one (or, a little won’t hurt)
 I can control myself, so this once won’t
matter
 Everybody’s doing it
 I don’t want to be left out
 I deserve this, just this once
 I feel stressed out. This will help me relax
 If I don’t do this, they’ll think I am a…
 If I don’t do this, they might not like me
 If I don’t do this, they might get mad at
me
 I’m too young for this to hurt me
4) Help the class make a list of positive thoughts
they can review to increase their sense of self-
worth and help them to say “no” when needed
99
 5) Make a list and hang it on the wall as a constant Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
reminder
6) Make up several hypothetical situations and have  What situations where the most difficult? Why?
the kids do role plays in which they practice say-  What methods of saying no did you use?
ing “NO”  What methods of saying no worked the best?
Examples: Didn’t work at all?
 Have you been in any similar situations? What did
 Your friends want you to lie to your par-
you do?
ents about where you are going because if
they knew they wouldn’t let you go.
 Several of your friends are planning to
cheat on a big test and they want you to
be part of it.

100
 Peer
Mediation
and
Conflict
Management

101
102
Mediation – What is it?
Topic: Character Building, Mediation
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn how to resolve conflicts
by use of a third party and generate understanding of
teamwork and problem solving
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 12-17
Time Required: 90 minutes
Materials: Cards with different scenarios that might
happen at school (see below)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Brainstorm about what mediation is and when
it can be used (for example: two students have
been hassling each other for a month, calling
each other names and spreading rumors. The
situation has escalated to the point where it is
disruptive for teachers and other students. A
teacher refers them to the mediation coordina-
tor who asks them both in and asks if they want
to try mediation. They both agree and a meeting
is scheduled.).
Mediation: attempt to make two opponents
agree
Mediator or Mediation Coordinator: a person
who tries to help two opponents agree
2) Define mediation. Mediation is: a voluntary pro-
cess where a neutral third party helps the dis-
putants (those in conflict) discuss their problems
rationally, share their beliefs, feelings and con-
cerns, come to a better understanding of each
other, and develop their own solution to their
problem. It brings two people (or groups) to-
gether in a safe and structured environment, and
helps them stay focused to find the solution that
meets their needs.
3) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
4) Have each group choose a card with a scenario at
random.
5) Have the groups act out that scenario in a short
skit about how to solve that scenario with media-
tion.
6) Leave time for discussion after each skit and talk
about the scenario with the class and how each
group solved the problem with mediation, and
other possible ways to solve it with mediation.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can you think of situations in your life where a
mediator would have helped you?
 Can you think of a time where you have used
someone as a mediator?
 What are the characteristics of a good mediator?
Example Scenario Cards
1) Giorgi kicks his friend Vasha’s soccer ball into
the street during a game of soccer and the
ball is run over by a car and ruined. This is
Giorgi’s only ball and gets very angry. He will
not talk to Vasha.
2) Lali invited Nino to her birthday supra. Nino’s
other friend Dali also invited her to a supra on
the same night. Nino is trying to decide and
both Lali and Dali are angry that she is think-
ing about going to the other’s supra.
3) Tamari is always last to be picked for any
games that her friends play. One of her
friends, Nana, seems to talk the rest of her
friends into picking Tamari last. Tamari is very
sad and doesn’t know why Nana would be un-
kind to her.
4) Jaba loves khachapuri and just bought a
new piece from the café. Another boy, Giga,
bumps into Jaba and Jaba drops his khachapu-
ri on the ground. Jaba gets very angry and hits
Giga.
5) Taco has liked a boy, Anri, for a long time. She
has been to shy to tell him, or anybody else.
One day, Taco hears that her friend Julieta
likes Anri and Anri likes her back. Taco is very
hurt and won’t talk to Julieta. Julieta doesn’t
know why.
6) Bacho has been very unkind to Luka for sev-
eral years. Bacho’s father has been fighting
with Luka’s father for a long time, tells his
son that Luka is a bad boy. One day Bacho and
Luka get into a fight and Luka breaks Bacho’s
nose.
Conflict Management Match
Topic: Conflict Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Identify personal management
styles and develop awareness of strategies used with
each conflict management style.
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Handouts of names and descriptions (one
for each group); Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/
flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
2) Give each group a handout (or write it all on the
board).
3) Have the group match the personal management
styles with the description.
4) When each group is done go over the answers as
a class.
Shark – Competing – assertive and uncoopera-
tive
Teddy Bear – Accommodating – unassertive
and cooperative
103
 Turtle – Avoiding – unassertive and uncoopera-
tive
Owl – Collaborating – both assertive and coop-
erative
Fox – Compromising – intermediate in both as-
sertiveness and cooperativeness
Descriptions:
- An individual pursues his or her own concerns
at others’ expense. This is a power oriented
mode in which one uses whatever power
seems appropriate to win ones own position
- This is the opposite of competing – an individ-
ual neglects his/her own concerns to satisfy
the concerns of the other person. There is an
element of self-sacrifice in this mode
- When a person does not pursue only his/her
own concerns or those of the other person and
instead both persons work together to find a
solution that will fully satisfy their concerns.
It includes identifying the underlying concerns
of the two individuals and finding an alterna-
tive which meets both sets of concerns.
- The objective of compromise is to find some
expedient, mutually acceptable solution
which partially satisfies both parties. It fall
sin the middle group between competing and
accommodating. Compromise gives up more
than competing, but is less that accommodat-
ing.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 This should be used in conjunction with other
conflict management activities
Conflict Management -
Brainstorming
Topic: Character building, Conflict Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify personal manage-
ment style(s) and develop awareness of strategies
used with each conflict management style
Number of Students: 4-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Pens/
pencils, Paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of four or five and
give each group paper and pens/pencils.
2) Using the personal management styles in the last
activity (shark, teddy bear etc.), have the groups
brainstorm when each style would be beneficial
to use. Examples are:
Fox – When to use compromise:
 When the goals are moderately important
and not worth the use of more assertive
modes.
104
 When people of equal stature are equally
committed.
 To reach temporary settlement on com-
plex issues.
 To reach expedient solutions on important
issues.
 As a back-up mode when competition and
collaboration doesn’t work.
Owl – When to use collaboration:
 When other’s lives are involved.
 When you don’t want to have full respon-
sibility.
 When there is a high level of trust.
 When you want to gain commitment from
others.
 When you need to work through hard feel-
ings, animosity, etc.
 The best decisions are made by collabora-
tion!
Turtle – When to use avoiding behavior:
 When the stakes aren’t that high and you
don’t have anything to lose – “when the
issue is trivial”.
 When you don’t have time to deal with it.
 When the context isn’t suitable to ad-
dress the issue – “it isn’t the right time
or place”.
 When more important issues are pressing.
 When you see no chance of getting your
concerns met.
 When you would have to deal with an an-
gry, hot-headed person.
 When you are unprepared, taken by sur-
prise and you need time to think an col-
lect information.
 When you are too emotionally involved
and need to step back so others around
you can solve the conflict more success-
fully.
Teddy Bear – When to use accommodating behav-
ior:
 When the issue as important to you as it is
to the other person.
 When you discover that you are wrong.
 When continued competition would be
detrimental – “you know you can’t win.”
 When preserving harmony without disrup-
tion is most important.
Shark – When to use competitive behavior:
 When you know you are right.
 When you need a quick decision.
 When you meet an aggressive person and
you and you need to stand up for your own
rights.
Peer Mediation
Topic: Character Building, Mediation
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students identify sources
of conflict in their school and techniques for mediat-
ing such situations
Number of Students:4-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
 Time Required: 45 min – 1 hour
Materials: Prepared dispute examples
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Brainstorm as a class about the sources of conflict
in your schools.
2) Ask these questions:
 Who is a peer?
 What is mediation?
 What are the most common conflicts at
your school? Are they physical or verbal,
what are they about, between whom,
etc.?
 What are some good rules for a peer media-
tion session? (i.e. they’re not allowed to get
out of their seats, no cursing, raising their
voices, or physical contact with each other,
each person must have uninterrupted time to
tell their side of the story, anything said in the
mediation session is completely confidential)
3) Divide the class into groups of four: two to role-play
a dispute, one to mediate and one to observe.
4) Assign a dispute to each group for them to act out
(examples: One student has heard that another
student has been spreading rumors about them
through the school gossip. A student confronts a
friend after discovering that this friend ahs been
secretly dating his/her ex-girlfriend/boyfriend).
5) The two in conflict act out their problem and then
the mediator uses mediation techniques/rules to
bring them to a peaceful resolution.
6) The observer leads a discussion about what hap-
pened, how well the problem was solved, and
how things might have been done differently.
7) Have them discuss their feelings about each
stage, then switch roles.
8) After groups have completed the assigned role
play, direct students to suggest other confronta-
tions to role play and choose one to complete an
additional role play.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk to the class about the role plays and ask
for any questions, comments, or suggestions for
change (adding on to what the group said).
Conflict Resolution
Topic: Conflict Management
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For students to identify the ways
they deal with conflict and to release their anger
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Brainstorm as a class. Provide questions about
how to deal with conflicts with friends and family
and how they would feel in certain situations.
Questions
 What are some common ways people deal
with conflict in their lives? (avoid the
problem, holding in your feelings until you
explode, ignoring people, confronting oth-
ers aggressively, complaining about people
behind their backs, venting to someone
else, expressing frustration physically-
such as punching a wall, etc.)
 How do you find a release for your anger?
(playing sports, listening to music, writing
out their feelings, playing and writing mu-
sic, talking to an objective person, etc.)
2) After you finish brainstorming do the activity
3) Put the words “I feel,” “when,” and “because”
on the blackboard as a visual cue to students.
4) Starting with yourself, go around the class and
ask each student to express an “I” message of
their own about a problem in their lives.
5) If a student has trouble thinking of one, present
a situation to them, such as a friend who has just
cancelled plans with them to spend time with her
boyfriend.
Example : I feel sad when my friend does
not call me when she says she will because it
makes me think she does not like me.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have you ever had strong feelings in a conflict,
but did not express them to the other person?
Why/why not?
 What happens when you try to hide feelings from
others? From yourself?
 Why is expressing feelings helpful during a conflict?
Peer Relations
Topic: Peer relations, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For the students to discuss and
understand how “cliques” at their school can cause
problems
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: One index card (or piece of paper) for
each student
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Lead the students in a discussion on the types,
causes and affects of “cliques” at their school
through a series of questions:
Questions
Talk about the existence of “cliques” and
social hierarchies in their school. How can
“cliques” cause problems for teens?
 Unified school events like dances don’t
work because of vastly different music
styles and tastes.
 Students feel they have to avoid other stu-
dents.
105
  Students feel they don’t have the same
rights as others – for example, being de-
nied a space at the bathroom mirror or
water fountain.
 Students who don’t fit into a particular
group can end up feeling very lonely and
alienated.
Are there clearly drawn lines between
“cliques” at your school? What can you say
about them? (try to get students to talk as
honestly as they can – they might be afraid to
talk about other people).
What are the advantages to being in a
“clique”, or mostly unchangeable group of
friends? What are the disadvantages?
How are different students stereotyped in
school?
Ask students to give examples of how the
media, especially TV, creates stereotypes
about teens, such as “fat people are the class
clowns”, “athletes are the stupid bullies.”
2) Pass out index cards (or paper) to the class.
3) Ask the students to anonymously write down the
one thing they would like other students to know
about them.
4) Collect the cards and read them to the class,
then discuss the findings: for instance if several
students mentioned the same thing.
5) Point out that even if students are very different
they can still have something in common.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you feel as if you have been stereotyped?
 Do you ever feel like part of a clique?
 Do you ever feel left out of certain cliques?
Dealing With Problems in Groups
Topic: Conflict management, Teamwork
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will list potential prob-
lems that might occur in a group and identify strate-
gies to cope with problems that arise in groups.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mark-
ers or chalk, Problem scenario cards (next page)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class prepare the scenarios on sepa-
rate cards.
2) Introduce the Topic: to your class. Explain that
they are going to do a short exercise to look at
the kinds of problems that might come up in
small group discussions and ways to deal with
those problems
3) Split the class into groups or pairs.
4) Give each group/pair a problem card.
106
5) They should read the situation, discuss it, and re-
port back to the group:
 What might be the effect of this behavior
on the whole group?
 What are strategies for dealing with this
behavior
6) Have all the groups report back.
7) Discuss each situation and possible ways to ap-
proach the problem.
8) Come to an agreement with the group about how
to handle the issue.
9) After all the groups have presented, ask everyone
to help summarize the strategies.
10) Write them on the board so that you can refer to
them later. Some ideas might be:
 Create “ground rules” for the group during
the first session and refer to them when
there is a problem.
 If here are disruptions, politely remind
the group that there is a task or problem
to solve and a time limit.
 Talk privately to the person causing the
problem. Try to find out what is at the
root of the problem. Review the basic
group rules and how the person’s behavior
is negatively affecting the group. Request
his or her support and cooperation for the
next time the group meets.
 Respond to those who interrupt by saying,
“Excuse me. Just a reminder that every-
one in the group has a right to speak with-
out being interrupted.” Or “Excuse me,
please let ….. finish before speaking.”
 If the behavior is so disturbing that it can-
not be ignored, address it in the group.
Criticize what is being said or done (not
the person responsible for the disruption).
Point out how the behavior blocks the
groups from functioning well.
 At the end of a group session, lead a dis-
cussion about how the group is doing. Try
to do this in such a way that feelings are
not hurt.
11) Brainstorm a list of suggested rules. Some sugges-
tions are:
 Everyone will be given an opportunity to
talk.
 Everyone will participate fully and freely.
 Everyone has a right to “pass” (to decide
not to discuss something personal).
 Only one person talks at a time, no inter-
rupting others.
 No insults or negative comments.
 Keep on the Topic:, no side discussions or
other Topics.
 Be on time, maintain punctuality.
 “What you hear stays here”. Information
revealed in the session should be confi-
dential.
Problem Scenario Cards
 The small group has been together for a few days
now and it is quite clear that Giorgi dominates
the others. He talks most of the time and when
others say something, he does not pay attention.
  Natia has been very quiet during the first group
meeting. However, suddenly she becomes very
critical of the other group members. She makes
rude remarks to one person in particular but also
objects to opinions expressed by the rest of the
group
 Giga is a little older than the others in the group.
He tells people in his group what to do and how
to do it. No one has objected to what he is doing,
but you can tell they are not happy about the
situation.
 Tea often interrupts others in the group. She also
puts others down by calling their ideas stupid or
dumb. The rest of the group is getting angry with
her because of her behavior.
 Lasha is not really interested in the group meet-
ings. When he attends, he acts bored and does
not contribute. At other times, he tires to talk
to someone in the group about something com-
pletely off the Topic:. If others do not join him,
he becomes loud and disruptive.
 The boys in the group always talk first, answer
questions first, and dominate the discussions. The
girls always seem to wait for the boys to speak
first – even if they obviously know the answers.
Hand Push
Topic: Conflict Resolution
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate different meth-
ods of conflict resolution and how people react to
each other.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to form two lines, facing each
other.
2) Each participant touches palms with the partici-
pant facing him or her in the other line.
3) Call one line “Line One” and the other “Line
Two”.
4) Ask all the participants in Line One to start push-
ing against the person in Line Two, using only
their palms.
5) People in Line Two can respond in any way they
like.
6) After 30 seconds or so, ask everyone to stop and
to change roles.
7) This time Line Two members should push against
Line One members and Line One members will
respond any way they like.
8) After another 30 seconds, ask everyone to sit
down in a big circle.
9) Ask people how they felt doing this exercise.
10) Did they respond by pushing back or by giving in
or what?
11) How does this exercise relate to real life experi-
ences or conflicts?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 (Suggested above)
107
108
General Health,
First Aid and
Safety

109
110
Healthy Living Mobile  Hand the mobiles in the classroom, or tell them
to hang it in their room to remind them of what a
Topic: General Health healthy lifestyle is
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To help students be aware of healthy Suggested Mobile Shapes
lifestyles and what goes into living a healthy life.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-15
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Sticks/coat hangers (two sticks or one
coat hanger), Yarn or string, Thick paper, Markers,
Scissors (one for each group), Pens, Something to
make a hole in the paper; Optional: Wire coat hang-
ers (work better, but expensive), Hole punch, Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart, Other decorations to
make it pretty

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) Ask the class what they think is a healthy life-

style.
2) Ask the class what things they think go into living
a healthy life (you may use a blackboard/white-
board/flipchart to write the class’ ideas on).
3) Divide the class into groups of 4-5.
4) Tell each group to brainstorm a list of things that
go into living a healthy life (encourage them to
be specific). This should take approximately ten
minutes.
5) Give each group two sheets of thick paper and a
pair of scissors.
6) Tell the groups to cut out a heart and write every-
one’s names in the group on the heart.
7) Then tell the groups to choose six of the parts of a
healthy life from their list (give them 10 minutes).
8) Tell the groups they must cut out different shapes
(they can be all one shape or all different shapes,
its up to them) and write the six parts they chose
on the shapes (give them 6-10 minutes). If you
have enough time you can have them decorate
Defining Health
the shapes. Topic: General health
9) Give each group two sticks or coat hanger, seven
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
pieces of string/yarn, and instruct them to put a
from this activity?): Students will be able to under-
hole at the top of each shape, tie a string onto it
stand that health is made up of four main categories
and tie it to the stick/coat hanger (give them 10
and give examples from each category
minutes for this).
Number of Students: 5-30
10) After each group has completed their mobile,
have them present what they have to the class. Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
11) Ask each group what they put on their mobile, Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
why they put it on (did they chose the most im- Materials: Poster or blackboard divided into 4 parts,
portant according to the lesson, what they see as Pictures of various activities, foods, people, symbols,
important in their life, etc), and why each one is etc. Colored pencils, Half sheets of white paper
a part of a healthy life.
12) Allow for questions from the class and discussion Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
time at the end
13) Review what a healthy lifestyle is and why it is 1) Divide the poster/blackboard into four sections
important and label the four sections of the poster/board:
physical, psychological, social, spiritual.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics: 2) Warm up: pass out pieces of paper to students
and have them draw a “healthy person” (the can
 List activities that the class does that attributes work in pairs). Encourage them to think about
to a healthy lifestyle where a healthy person would be and what they
 Ask the class to list at least five things they could would be doing.
add to their lives to be more healthy 3) Share pictures and have them explain why the
 Keep a healthy lifestyle journal person is healthy.

111
 4) Reveal poster/board and introduce the four cat-
egories of health, citing examples from the pic-
tures drawn by the students.
5) Distribute pictures (or have them draw their own)
and have the class try to determine which category
each picture goes in. Some pictures go in more than
one category. This shows health is interrelated
6) Examples of what would be included in each
group:
Physical
 exercise
 diet
 rest
 nutrition
Psychological
Sickness and Accidents
 emotion
 identity
 feelings
 confidence
Social
 friendships
 family
 relationships
 school
Spiritual
 faith
 purpose
 prayer, meditation
 morality ethics
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have each student share an example of one thing
they do that is healthy and one thing they do that
is unhealthy.
Action Health Posters
Topic: General Health, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to list
health problems and describe actions they can take
to solve and/or prevent them.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
Time Required: 50 – 60 minutes
Materials: Pens, Paint or markers, Poster board or paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5
2) Each group will be responsible for a health prob-
lem (for example, colds, diarrhea, HIV/AIDS etc)
Age, Weight and Measurement
3) Brainstorm heath problems the students know
about. Ask them about what they think their fam-
ilies have had in the past year.
4) Assign each group a health problem and tell them
they are to make a poster about the problem
5) They should include a picture of what a person
with the problem looks like, what a child can do
to help prevent the disease or how to take care
of someone with the problem, and what a group
112
of children can do to prevent disease or take care
of someone with the problem.
Example: Cavities: one student can brush
his/her teeth after eating, rinse out his/her
mouth or massage his gums, eat an apple, eat
plenty of dairy
6) Have each group present them to the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have the students take some of the actions they
have listed/drawn.
 Hang the posters in the school/community.
Topic: General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): Students will be able to understand com-
mon health problems and common accidents.
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: 6-15
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: First aid kit (band-aids, sling, etc), Flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of three or four.
2) Assign each group a sickness or an accident (cold,
fever, diarrhea, headache, tooth ache, stomach-
ache, cuts, burns, broken bones etc).
3) Give five minutes to think of a quick role play.
4) Have each group perform in front of the class.
5) Have the whole class ask, “What’s the matter?”
6) The role play says “I have a stomachache” or
whatever illness they are demonstrating.
7) Have students decide if they should go to the
health center, doctor or hospital.
8) Have the students use the first aid kit or come
up with their own pretend medicine to help the
people in the role play.
9) The class can be divided into two parts, one play-
ing the doctor, and one being the patient.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What were the problems you came up with?
 What were the solutions?
 Who do you call if it is a serious problem?
 How would you get to a hospital?
 What would be your actions during an emergency?
Topic: General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to state
their ages, measure, and state their weights as well
as measure and state their heights
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: 6-17
Time Required: 1 hour
 Materials: Centimeter stick or tape, Scale, Paper, butcher paper. The group would then draw the
Pens/pencils various organs where they belong.

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

1) Have each student tell his/her age and write it  Ask students what they think each organ does.
down on their piece of paper.  Ask students why they think each organ is important.
2) Weigh each student and have the student write it down.  Explain the function and importance of each or-
3) Measure each student and have the student write gan to the class.
it down in centimeters.  For older students you can talk about what things
4) Ask the students their ages. hurt each organ (smoking hurts lungs etc).
5) Have two or three students come up to the front
of the room. Body Organ Sheet
6) Ask their ages. Who is older?
7) Ask the students their weights. Who weighs more?
(be sensitive on this one)
8) Ask the students their heights. Who is taller, tallest?
9) Make age, height and weight graphs for the classroom.

Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

 Discuss how students can keep track of their

height on a large board at home.
 Keep a growth chart in the classroom and check
height every couple of months.
 Discuss how weight doesn’t necessarily mean
your fat (muscle weighs more than fat!).
 Discuss how being skinny doesn’t necessarily
mean you are healthy.

Human Body
Topic: General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will identify the loca-
tion of the body’s major organs.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 5-15
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Body organ sheet, Flipchart paper, Glue,
scissors and crayons/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the lesson, draw an outline of a large body
on flipchart paper.
2) Make copies of the body organ sheets for each
student so that each student will have a small
outline of a body and each organ.
3) You can cut out the organs before class if there
are no scissors available to the class.
4) Divide the students into cooperative groups of four.
5) Use the flipchart to discuss the proper location of
each organ.
6) Students can then cut out and paste each organ
in the appropriate location on their personal body
outline. Group members should help each other
with the placement.
7) Students may color the puzzle for display.
8) A possible variation for this lesson would be to
have student groups draw full-size body outlines
of each other (or of one member of the group) on
Healthy Bones
Topic: General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will identify two ways
to build and maintain strong, healthy bones.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, A rusty nut and bolt, A
non-rusty nut and bolt; Optional: A visual of the skel-
etal system (or hand outs)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class, draw a refrigerator on the flip-
chart paper and draw various foods inside the re-
frigerator.
2) Compare a rusty nut and bolt to what might hap-
pen to a person’s bones when they age.
3) While discussing the skeletal system, use the two
sets of nuts and bolts to illustrate the importance
of exercise to your bones, especially joints.
4) Have a volunteer try to undo the rusty nut from its bolt.

113
 5) Explain that this rust has built up over time from
little use. The joints between our bones can also
become weak from inactivity. A rusty bolt like this
Desirable Weight Range?
will probably break off rather than turn out of the
nut as it should. So too, the bones in our body have
a greater chance of becoming brittle and breaking
without sufficient exercise over the years.
6) Use the clean nut and bolt with a second volunteer.
7) Allow the class to see how easily the nut comes
unscrewed. Explain that, like this well-oiled nut
and bolt assembly, properly maintained bones
will serve a body well throughout a lifetime.
8) Ask students to name different types of exercise
that they may do on a regular basis.
9) Explain that another important element in build-
ing and maintaining strong, healthy bones is diet.
Calcium is an important mineral that our bodies
need for proper growth and health. Our bones are
made of calcium just as our teeth are.
10) Ask if anyone knows which food group is filled
with foods rich in calcium (dairy).
11) Ask what some dairy foods are (milk, yogurt,
cheese, curds, ice cream).
12) Have students (one at a time) come to the flip-
chart paper and circle the foods in the refrigera-
tor that are rich in calcium.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you know any other foods that aren’t dairy
products that have calcium?
 Remind students that if you exercise the muscles
around the bone and joints, the muscles and
joints won’t have to take so much wear and tear
Bone Chart and Information
What is Your
Topic: Adult health, general health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to state
their current weight, height, and desirable weight
range for optimal health
Number of Students: 1-25
Age Range of Students: Adults
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Yard/meter stick, Scale, Weight range
chart, Paper strip marked off in centimeters for mea-
suring wrist; Optional: Calculator, Paper to record
personal information
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Try to make sure the group is comfortable with
each other before this activity (try a fun ice
breaker). Explain what the lesson will be about.
2) Weigh each person, without shoes and/or heavy
sweaters.
3) Have students write down the information on
their paper (optional).
4) Measure height in feet and inches without shoes
(have students record – optional).
5) Determine what size body a person has. This is
done by dividing their height in centimeter by
their wrist circumference in centimeters. Wrist
measure should be taken just past the wrist bone,
hand side.
6) Have students record this information (optional).
7) Compare the ratio to the following chart to de-
termine body frame size.

Sex Small Medium Large

Men >10.4 9.6-10.4 >9.6

Women >10.9 9.9-10.9 >9.9

8) Use the three measurements to find the desirable

weight range on the chart.

Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

 Discuss healthy weight and risk factors to being

over/under weight.
 You could discuss diabetes after this lesson.
 Talk about ways to bring down/up your weight in
a healthy way.

Men

Height Small Medium Large

1.55 m 55.79-58.51 57.15-61.69 60.33-65.77

1.57 m 56.70-59.42 58.06-62.60 61.23-67.13
1.60 m 57.61-60.33 58.97-63.50 62.14-68.49
1.63 m 58.51-61.23 59.87-64.86 63.05-70.31
1.65 m 59.42-62.14 60.78-66.22 63.69-72.12
1.68 m 60.33-63.50 62.14-67.59 65.32-73.94
1.70 m 61.23-64.86 63.50-68.95 66.68-75.75

114
 1.73 m 62.14-66.22 64.86-70.31 68.04-79.38 8) Try to make it uneven, taking one or none from
one and all five from another.
1.75 m 63.05-67.59 66.22-71.67 69.40-79.38
9) Have the members process what they lost and ask
1.79 m 63.96-68.95 67.59-73.03 70.76-81.19
them some questions:
1.80 m 65.32-70.31 68.95-74.84 72.12-83.01  How did they feel about the injustice of
1.83 m 66.68-72.12 70.31-76.66 73.94-84.82 the selection process?
1.85 m 68.04-73.94 72.12-78.47 75.75-87.09  How did you feel when your rights were
taken away?
1.88 m 69.40-75.75 73.48-80.29 77.56-89.36
1.90 m 71.21-77.56 75.30-82.55 79.83-91.63
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

Women  What are human rights?

 What are human rights of your country?
Height Small Medium Large  Do human rights change because of culture? If so,
how?
1.45 m 44.91-48.99 48.08-53.52 52.16-58.06
 What would you do if your human rights were
1.47 m 45.36-49.90 48.99-54.43 53.07-59.42
taken away from you?
1.50 m 45.81-58.99 49.90-55.79 53.98-60.78
 Do you think it is acceptable to have rights re-
1.52 m 46.72-52.16 50.80-57.15 54.88-62.14 stricted? Why or why not?
1.55 m 47.63-53.52 52.16-58.51 56.70-63.50  What rights should never be taken away, no mat-
1.58 m 48.99-54.88 53.52-59.87 58.06-65.32 ter what the circumstances?
1.60 m 50.35-56.25 54.88-61.23 59.42-67.13
1.63 m 51.71-57.61 56.25-62.60 60.78-68.95 First Aid Rescue Relay
1.68 m 54.43-60.33 58.97-65.32 63.50-72.57
Topic: First Aid, Safety
1.70 m 55.79-61.69 60.33-66.68 64.86-74.39
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
1.73 m 57.15-63.05 61.69-68.04 66.22-75.75
from this activity?): Students will be able to demon-
1.75 m 58.51-64.41 63.05-69.40 67.59-77.11 strate first aid techniques and explain when to use
1.78 m 59.87-65.77 64.41-70.76 68.95-78.47 them.
1.80 m 61.23-67.13 65.77-71.12 70.31-79.83 Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1–1.5 hours
Losing Our Rights (Human Rights)
Materials: Local first aid equipment: Pillows, Rags,
Topic: General Health, Emotional Health, Character Blankets, Strips of cloth, Signs, labeling each sta-
Building tion, Directions for each station, Someone with prior
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain knowledge of first aid!
from this activity?): To discover what human rights
are and their importance, as well as the personal Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
meanings they have for each student.
Number of Students: 10-30 1) Demonstrate and explain all techniques.
Age Range of Students: 15 and up 2) Divide students into teams of 4 to 5.
3) Have the teams practice on each other.
Time Required: 30 - 40 minutes
4) Have students find their own materials once they
Materials: Slips of paper, Blackboard/whiteboard/
have divided into groups or provide materials
flipchart; Optional: Handout of international rights
ahead of time.
5) One person on each team is the patient.
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): 6) The others on the team carry out the relay, going
from station to station.
1) Ask the class what the term “human rights”
means to them. 7) Designate station locations ahead of time – they
should be at least 15 feet apart.
2) Ask students what human rights do they have?
8) The station sequence is as follows:
3) Brainstorm with the class what they consider to
 Station One – Team member 1 carries the
be basic human rights for all people regardless of
patient to Station 2 using the fireman
race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or health
carry
status? (Some of these Topics might be excluded
 Station Two – Team member 2 applies a
if the class is not ready to discuss such touchy
triangle splint, then team members 1 &
Topics).
2 carry the patient to Station 3 using the
4) Give each participant five small pieces of paper.
two person carry
5) Have students write down five rights that are im-  Station Three – Team member 3 creates
portant to them, one on each piece of paper. an arm sling, then team members 1, 2 &
6) Have students hold up the papers like a hand of 3 carry the patient to Station 3 using the
cards. three person carry
7) Walk around the room and randomly take away  Station Four – Team member 4 applies a
slips of paper. pressure dressing to the patient’s arm.

115
 Team members 1,2,3 and 4 roll the patient
onto a blanket to the finish line
9) The first team to complete all the tasks correctly
and cross the finish line wins.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk about which situations to use these tech-
niques (have them give examples).
Home Fire Escape Plan
Topic: Safety, Fire Safety
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students design their
own fire escape plan for their home
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Large piece of paper or poster board,
Markers/pens, Rulers, Example fire escape plan of
your own house; Optional: Prepared list of things to
consider for the plan
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students if they have ever seen or heard of a
house fire.
2) Ask students if they can think of any ways these
fires start.
3) Explain to students that fires are deadly and un-
less you know a good plan ahead of time, you may
panic and get stuck.
4) Introduce the idea of a fire escape plan.
5) Show the class an example of your house’s fire
escape plan.
6) Hand each student a large piece of paper.
7) Explain to students that they must make a fire
escape plan for their own house.
8) Tell them a few things to consider:
 Where are all the exits of the house?
 Where are all the bedrooms? Which floor
are they on?
 Where are the possible sources of a house
fire? (Remember that electrical outlets
can be a source too!)
 Where is the bathroom? Sources of water?
Is there a bathtub? (explain that getting in
a bath full of water may be a last resort)
 If the fire is between you and the door, is
there another way to get out?
 Can the windows open from your room?
Can you reach the ground without getting
hurt?
 Do you need any additional items for your
plan (for example, a fire ladder in your
room)
 Where will your family meet after they get
out? (explain that accounting for everyone
is very important)
10) Have students take their poster home and make a
fire plan for their house.
11) Have them bring them to the next class and show
them.
116
12) Allow class to make any constructive comments
about their plan.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What is a possible fire escape plan for your
school/work?
 Encourage your students to discuss their fire es-
cape plan with their family members.
Example Fire Escape Plan
First things first
Decide right now what situations you are willing to
help in and which you are not.
Communicable diseases:
 Air-Borne disease, such as the flue and
common cold
 Blood-Borne disease, such as HIV and Hep-
atitis B; These are transmitted through
body fluids, most commonly blood. Latex
gloves can help to protect your hands, but
you can still become infected through mu-
cus membranes such as eyes and mouth.
EMERGENCY ACTION STEPS
1) Check the Scene
 Is the scene safe for you?
 What happened?
 How many victims are there?
 Can bystanders help?
 Do not move victims unless necessary.
2) Check the Victim. Is the victim conscious or un-
conscious? Tap the victim on the shoulder and
shout “Are you OK?”
3) If the victim is UNCONSCIOUS shout for help and
have someone call an ambulance. Make sure to
point to someone in particular or no one will take
the responsibility.
 The exact location or address of the emer-
gency?
 Phone number calling from?
 What happened?
  How many need help?
 Condition of the victim?
 What is being done?
 Caller should hang up last
 Check for sever bleeding (check person
from head to toe)
 Four things to check (Known in English as
the ABCs)
A - Airway
1) Check to see if airway is clear
B - Breathing
1) Look, listen, and feel for breathing for about
5 seconds.
2) If victim is not breathing or you can’t tell, po-
sition on back while supporting the head and
neck.
3) Tilt head back and lift chin to open airway.
For child or infant, do not tilt the head back
as far.
4) Look, listen, and feel for breathing for about
5 seconds.
5) Give 2 slow breaths if not breathing.
C - Circulation
1) Check for pulse for about 5 to 10 seconds:
2) Adult or Child - At the side of the neck (Car-
diac)
3) Infant- Inside upper arm between shoulder and
elbow
4) Continue with rescue breathing or CPR or con-
trol bleeding as necessary.
5) If victim is CONSCIOUS, CHECK for conditions
that need care or become life threatening.
6) Talk to victim and bystanders
1. Introduce yourself.
2. Get permission to give care.
3. Ask the following, questions:
 What happened?
 Do you have allergies?
 Are you taking any medications?
 Do you have any pain?
B. CHECK victim from head to toe.
 Victim should not move any part that
hurts.
 Look for a medical alert tag on the victims
wrist or neck.
 Look for changes in the victim’s breath-
ing.
 Notice how the skin looks and feels.
 Look over the body:
- Examine the scalp, face, ears, nose,
and mouth.
- Check the shoulders, chest, and abdo-
men.
- Check fingers, hands, and arms
- Check hips and legs.
C. CALL the hospital if the victim needs medical
care.
D. If there are no signs of injury, have the victim
rest until ready to stand.
Common Problems and Solutions
Allergies
 Caused by the immune system ‘jumping at
shadows” (mistaking a harmless thing for
danger)
 Can be caused by a number of things
Solutions: Give antihistamine right away to
help slow/stop the process. Loosen clothes.
Bleeding
 Causes may be a simple scratch to a deep
internal problem.
 Remember that the amount of bleeding
does not always mean a bad injury.
Solutions:
- Elevate the injury above the heart (if
no suspected bone break)
- Use pressure.
- Use many dressings. Layer, Layer, Lay-
er. If one layer gets soaked, apply an-
other.
- Wash hands immediately afterward.
Breaks & sprains
 Causes include broken bones, tendons
(connect bone to muscle) or ligaments
(connect bone to bone) torn or stretched
or a combination of the two.
 Bones can heal completely and become
stronger than ever after a break. Tendons
and ligaments never fully heal.
Solutions: Splinting (only when it is necessary
to move the victim.)
Burns
 Caused by a combination of excessive heat
for an excessive time.
 The sun takes an hour or more, a frying
pan only a second.
Solutions:
- Stop the burning. Cool the burn imme-
diately for up to 10 minutes under cold
running water. Never use ice.
- Apply a clean, absorbent, loose dressing.
- Don’t touch it.
- Never pop a burn blister
Cold (frostbite)
 Causes differ depending on the symp-
toms.
 Frostbite is caused by the body shutting
down blood flow to an extremity and let-
ting it freeze.
Solutions:
- If it happened fast, heat quickly, if
freezing was slow, heat slow.
- Never rub frostbite
- Warm frostbitten parts in warm (50 C)
water
- Apply soft bandages to frostbitten ar-
eas when dry
Hypothermia
 Hypothermia is the entire body failing to
deal with cold temperatures.
 It can be very dangerous
Solutions:
- Remove wet cloths
- Move the victim to a warm place
117
 - Put on warm cloths! Blankets
- Be gentle; never apply direct heat
(heating pad, etc.) to the skin.
Heat
 Caused by the body being unable to deal
with the hot environment. There are two
kinds of heat problems.
 Heat exhaustion - Signals: Headache, nau-
sea, dizziness heavy sweating, dilated pu-
pils
 Heat stroke - Signals: Read, hot, or dry
skin, changes in consciousness, rapid,
weak pulse, rapid, shallow breathing
Solutions:
- Get victim out of the heat.
- Place victim on back with feet elevat-
ed.
- Loosen tight clothing.
- Remove sweat-soaked clothing
- Apply cool, wet cloths to skin.
- Fan the victim
118
- If victim is conscious, give 4 oz. of cool
water to drink every 15 minutes.
- Call hospital if patient looses con-
sciousness.
- Keep victim lying down and continue
to cool
- Place ice or cold packs on victim~ s
wrists, ankles, ground, in each armpit
and on neck.
- Check Breathing and pulse.
Shock
 Caused by the body trying to bring blood
pressure up while loosing the blood vol-
ume to do so.
 Caused by serious trauma
 Can be very dangerous
Solutions:
- Lay the victim down.
- Keep the victim as calm and comfort-
able as possible.
- Baby the victim.
- Elevate lower extremities above the heart.
- Continually check pulse and breathing.
General
Hygiene

119
120
Communicable Diseases
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will identify five behav-
iors that help spread communicable diseases.
Number of Students:
Age Range of Students:
Time Required: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Copies of the story, Blackboard/white-
board/flipchart; Optional: Copies of questions
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Story: Natia was slow getting up this morn-
ing. The night before, she stayed up past her
bedtime, and now she was still very tired.
She was so sleepy that she didn’t even no-
tice that she had drunk kampoti (juice) out
of her brother’s glass; neither did he. How-
ever, when Natia sneezed without covering
her mouth, everyone at the breakfast table
had harsh words for her. She felt bad, but she
had been day-dreaming about being back in
her bed. While on her way to school, Natia’s
nose began to run as it had for the last two
days. She wiped her hand across her nose and
sniffed in deeply. She remembered that today
the speaker from the zoo was coming to her
class with some special animals. Natia was
excited about this. The speaker from the zoo
brought a small monkey for the students to in-
spect. Natia was so interested in the monkey
and the speaker’s talk, she didn’t realize she
had her little pinky finger in her mouth the
entire time. When lunch time came, Natia
was so hungry. She didn’t wash her hands be-
cause she wanted to be the first in line. She
traded her khachapuri for her friend’s sausage
and bread. (Each friend had already taken
one bite.) Again at lunch, Natia wiped her
runny nose with the back of her hand. She be-
gan to cough. She wasn’t feeling very well.
Questions
1) Name five things that Natia did that might have
passed her germs to someone else.
2) Who else might have gotten sick because of the
germs Natia was spreading?
3) What was one thing Natia probably didn’t get
enough of to help her stay well?
The habits that should be reinforced are: not sharing
another’s eating or drinking utensils; not sneezing/
coughing upon others without covering your mouth;
using tissue to blow one’s nose; regular hand wash-
ing; and keeping one’s hands out of one’s mouth.
Read the dilemma aloud to the class and have each
student follow along silently. After reading the story,
try to answer the questions either individually or as a
class. Discuss each answer.
Answers to Questions
1. She drank from her brother’s glass, sneezed on
her family, wiped her runny nose with her hand,
stuck her finger in her mouth, did not wash her
hands before lunch and shared her lunch.
2. her brother, her entire family, her classmates at
school and especially those who ate with her
3. Natia did not get enough sleep.
Modified from “Primary Health & Safety Curricu-
lum” by Max Fischer
Hygiene Musical Chairs
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will have fun while
learning ways to keep from passing germs.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and under (if in a silly mood)
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Chairs (one for each student minus one)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Make a large circle with chairs, one less chair
than the number of students.
2) This is very similar to regular “musical chairs”,
except with no music.
3) Have students walk in a circle around the chairs.
4) The teacher calls out the following actions:
 Wash your hands
 Wash your face
 Wash your hair
 Take a shower
 Brush your teeth
 Wash your clothes
 Anything else that is considered good hy-
giene
5) When the action is called, the students do the
action while walking around the chairs.
6) When the teacher calls out “dirty”, the students
must run and find a chair to sit on the student
left standing becomes the leader calling out the
actions.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss why these actions are important and
when you should do each of them. Do some of
them together right there at school.
Stay Away Flies!
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to explain
how flies spread germs and disease.
Number of Students: 5-15
Age Range of Students 7-17
Time Required: 45 min.
Materials: Clay/potato/cork, Toothpicks, Paper
121
 Bright paint, Container for bright paint (cut off bot-
tle), Picture of plate of real food
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Model a fake fly out of clay/potato/cork, tooth-
picks, and paper wings (see next page for dia-
gram). – You may want to let your students all
create their own flies.
2) Fill a container with bright paint.
3) Explain to the students that the paint is feces, dirt
or germs and the plate of food is their dinner.
4) Have each student dip the fly in the paint and
walk it on the food.
5) After each student has done this the paint should
be visible.
6) Ask the students if they would like to eat feces or
garbage.
7) If the paint represents feces or garbage, would
they eat the food with the paint all over it?.
8) Relate this to how flies carry diarrhea and how
covering food is more of a prevention.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss how students can keep their food clean at
home and other places.
Water Belly
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to explain
the importance of water for the body, the dangers of
diarrhea and demonstrate how to avoid diarrhea and
dehydration.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Container (plastic bag, hollowed out
gourd, cup, water bottle or anything that holds wa-
ter and can represent a person), Instrument to make
a hole in the container, Water, Water scoop or cup for
pouring, Plug for hole in the container, Marker
122
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) This is very health specific. You may want to dis-
cuss/teach the basics of diarrhea and dehydra-
tion before this activity.
2) Draw a face on the container.
3) Make a hole in the container’s bottom (there
should already by one in the top).
4) Plug the hole, and fill the container with water.
This represents a healthy body
5) Pull out the plug to show what happens during
diarrhea.
6) Discuss what happens when there isn’t enough
water in the body.
7) Explain that diarrhea is water leaking out of your
body, just like water leaking out of the hole in
the bottle.
8) Follow with a discussion of diarrhea and why liv-
ing things need water to live and be healthy.
9) Emphasize that every child needs a glass of water
for every loose stool passed by drawing a line on
the container.
10) Fill the container with water to the line then let
one cup of water out.
11) Explain this is what happens when a loose stool is
passed (does the body have enough water? What
must you do to make the body healthy again?).
12) Plug the container again and refill the one cup to
explain this is what is needed to make the body
healthy again.
* You can also show this by squeezing an orange out
and explaining that a normal orange is a healthy body
and a squeezed orange is a body after diarrhea
* You also can demonstrate the importance of water
to the body by watering one plant while not watering
the other
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss ways in which you can get diarrhea.
 Think about what will happen if your body gets
no water.
Keeping Water Safe
Topic: General Hygiene, General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to explain
how water can be contaminated by bacteria and be
able to show three or more ways to keep water clean
and safe at home or at school.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: White powder (or something that won’t
dissolve in water), Large water storage container,
Water scoop, Drinking cup
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain that the powder represents feces and germs.
 2) Sprinkle the powder in two or three areas on the
ground near the large water.
3) Place the drinking cup and water scoop on the
ground. Be sure there is some powder next to the
cup and the scoop.
4) Walk through the powder and approach the large
container to fetch some drinking water.
5) Get plenty of powder on your feet and into the
scoop and drinking cup.
6) Dip the scoop into the barrel and pour the water
into the cup.
7) Ask who would like to drink the water and why or
why not.
8) Discuss where the germs came from, what is
wrong with drinking the powdered water and
ways to prevent this problem (keep water cov-
ered, keep the dipper off the ground, use a dip-
per with a handle, never let the dipper float in
the tub, keep the area surrounding the water
clean, wash hands before using the water, wash
the drinking cup before using the water, wash the
drinking cup before using it, clean out the tub
weekly, etc.).
9) Ask for their input before lecturing them on these
sanitation tips.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have the group examine the water supply at
school or in the village/city and have them come
up with ideas for solving any problems found.
Touch Contamination
Topic: General Hygiene, General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will discover important
reason for washing their hands on a regular basis.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour (plus days for the mold to
grow)
Materials: Loaf of bread (don’t touch it with your
bare hands), Two zip-loc sandwich bags, Water, Mea-
suring tablespoon, Anti-bacterial hand soap, Marker
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Mold is grown from spores. Spores are tiny bodies
that settle on damp food, swell, and reproduce. Dif-
ferent molds have different spores which produce
varying colors. The very air we breathe is rich in
numerous dust and mold spores. Our body’s natu-
ral defenses, such as nose hairs and earwax, work
to trap such airborne invaders. However, students
need to realize that they can decrease the amount
ingested by washing their hands regularly.
1) Two to four days in advance of the lesson, remove
a slice of bread from a fresh loaf. With this first
slice your hands should NOT be clean (they should
represent hands that are rarely washed, ask some
students to do the same on the same piece).
2) Place the contaminated slice into one of the zip-
loc bags.
3) Before sealing it, add two tablespoon of water to
the bag.
4) Mark the bag unwashed (damp food encourages
the growth of mold).
5) At this point, thoroughly wash your hands (pref-
erably using anti-bacterial soap). Whether this is
a teacher led demonstration or a group activity,
it would be timely to do this around lunch time.
6) Remove the slice of bread, taking care to avoid
contact with the contaminated surfaces.
7) Place directly into the second sandwich bag.
8) Once again add two tablespoons of water. Mark as
“washed”.
9) Ask the class “What is the only difference be-
tween these two bags?”
10) Place both bags in a relatively warm, dark area
for the next three to four days.
11) To demonstrate the importance of washing hands,
remove the two bags for inspection by the stu-
dents.
12) The washed bag should have little to no mold on
it, while the unwashed bag should hold an array
of molds. Different colors of mold may even have
taken root.
13) Discuss what helped the mold grow on the once
slice of bread (the existence of mold spores,
darkness, moisture).
14) Ask, “Where did the spores come from?” (off of
the dirty hands and surfaces).
15) Explain that the water represents our body’s per-
spiration (liquid waste that comes through our
skin). Germs and dirt can collect more easily on
the surface of our skin if the perspiration is not
removed through regular and careful washing.
16) Explain to the class, “Did you know that you had
picked up that many germs on your hands during
just a normal day of touching things?”
17) Have students take out a piece of paper and list
all the things they have touched since the last
time they washed their hands (the list probably
won’t be complete, but it will get them thinking
about the frequency with which they handle ob-
jects without washing hands).
18) Close with a final question: “How can we en-
sure that germs and dirt do not invade our bod-
ies?” (Wash our bodies and hands regularly and
throughout the day).
Women’s Beauty Day Lesson
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To promote general hygiene to
women (teeth, hair, skin).
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Big poster paper or blackboard, Slips of
paper (colored is best), Pen
123
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Make slips of paper that have health “clues” (col-
ored are better). The slips should have the fol-
lowing clues:
For beautiful teeth
 rinse mouth with water
 brush three times a day
 calcium is good (dairy)
 sugar is damaging
 crunchy fruits and veggies help
 floss
 coffee and tea stain them (cigarettes too)
For beautiful skin
 wash with mild soap or just water
 moisturize with crème
 drink water to flush toxins
 exercise (pumps blood, thus brings nutri-
ents to the skin)
 sun in moderation (Vitamin D)
For beautiful hair
 massage scalp (massage is also good for
skin, so this can be discussed)
 thinning can be caused by stress
 protein is good for it (meat or mention
pro-v shampoo)
 mayonnaise, eggs and beer are helpful
2) Divide the group into teams (also works individu-
ally).
3) Spread the slips of paper face down on the ta-
ble.
4) Have a team pick a paper and read it aloud.
5) Let them decide which category the “clue” ap-
plies (hair, skin, or teeth).
6) The other team or participants can debate.
7) The teacher asks for a final answer and also for a
defense of that answer.
8) The teacher tells the correct answer and the
slip of paper is taped to a big poster divided into
three categories (or board).
9) Explain the most “magic” ingredient for all three
categories: WATER!.
10) Put water picture up and explain that water re-
places lost fluid, flushes toxins and is an essential
part of all body tissue (we are over 80% water!)
Have them guess what percent.
Shake My Hand
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To stress the importance of
washing hands and to have fun!
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Vaseline or vegetable oil, Coffee crystals
or dirt, A place to wash hands
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to students that everyone’s skin has natu-
ral oils.
124
2) Put Vaseline or vegetable oil on the hands of all
the students.
3) Put coffee crystals or dirt on the hands of a few
students.
4) Explain that the coffee represents germs that can
make you sick.
5) Have the dirty students shake hands with the
others, and those students shake hands with yet
other students.
6) Discuss how germs pass from contact.
7) Next have some of the students wash their hands
with water only, and some students wash with
soap and water.
8) Discuss why using soap is better than using water
only.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Is there soap available at your school/work?
 How many times do you touch objects throughout
the day?
 How many times do you think you should wash
your hands?
 When are the most important times to wash
hands?
Dehydration Drink
Topic: General Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show students how to make a
drink to hydrate themselves.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Liter of water, Salt, Sugar; Optional: Small
cups for students
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the students the importance of keeping
hydrated (what happens if we don’t have enough
water, how many days can we live without wa-
ter?).
2) Explain symptoms of dehydration (headache, diz-
ziness, dry mouth, etc).
3) Show students how to make a dehydration drink
in case of emergencies (when they are experienc-
ing extreme dehydration).
4) Have a liter of water in a bottle or other safe
container.
5) Add 2 pinches of salt.
6) Add 2 small handfuls of sugar.
7) Mix well.
8) Have students all try some of the water (you can
use small cups).
9) Have students write down the recipe and bring
home.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 When would be a time when you would need to
use this drink?
The Spread of Lice
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how lice can
spread from one child to another.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15-20 minutes
Materials: Clay, cork, potato, Toothpicks, White pow-
der; Optional: Combs, Hats
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Make a model louse by using clay, cork or potato
and toothpicks.
2) Explain to students what lice are and how easily
they can spread.
3) Dip the model lice into white powder.
4) Dance the model around the students’ head to
demonstrate how it spreads eggs.
5) Discuss how lice jump from one head to another.
6) Have the model dance around combs and hats
(make sure you get a lot of powder on them).
7) Use the combs and hats on the students to dem-
onstrate how it can spread by using other peo-
ple’s combs and hats.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Can lice spread easily?
 Where are you most likely to get lice?
 What are some things you can do to prevent
lice?
 What do lice do to you?
 What can you do to get ride of lice?
Fly Tag
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate to students how
flies can carry disease.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 6-17
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Large space to run around in
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Choose one student to be “it”.
2) Explain to the students that the “it” student rep-
resents a fly carrying germs.
3) Tell the students that the fly will chase everyone
and to try to get away from the fly.
4) If the fly tags a person, that person must sit down
and count to 100 because he/she can become
“sick”.
5) Vary this activity by having all tagged students be
“it” at the same time as the original fly.
6) This shows how quickly germs can spread.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are ways to prevent flies from bringing dis-
ease?
 What can we do to stop the spread of germs from
flies?
Sickness Attack
Topic: General Health, General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to explain
how colds and fevers can be transmitted quickly
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-15
Time Required: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Bag, Piece of paper for every student
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Mark only one piece of paper in the bag “sick”.
Leave the others blank.
2) Each student draws one slip of paper. They can’t
tell others what is written on the paper.
3) Explain that the person with the sick paper with
spread the disease by winking at others during
the game. This person must be in the inner circle
during the game.
4) Players form and inner and outer circle, the cir-
cles walk in opposite directions.
5) The “sick” person begins winking trying not to be
noticed.
6) When someone is winked at he/she falls down
onto the floor and moves out of the way, trying to
touch others when falling.
7) Whoever is touched must fall and get “sick” too.
8) This illustrates contagious spread of disease.
* Note: This can be used to express specific diseases.
If you use it for HIV/AIDS be sure to emphasize that
this is an analogy… don’t let your students think that
touching a person with HIV/AIDS will give him/her
the disease
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss types of diseases that are contagious. Ex-
plain and have the students think of examples of
the ways contagious diseases can be spread, by
physical contact, contact with body fluids direct-
ly or on objects, by sneezing and coughing.
 Discuss how long it took for everyone to get sick
in the game, and that real diseases can spread
that quickly and easily too. Have students suggest
ways to prevent catching contagious diseases.
Don’t Sneeze at Me!
Topic: General Hygiene
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to explain
how coughing and sneezing spread germs and how
two ways to prevent this.
Number of Students: 5-30
125
 Age Range of Students: 5-15 7) Ask the students how they can prevent spreading
Time Required: 20 minutes the germs this way (wash their hands before eat-
Materials: Spray bottle, Water ing, after going to the bathroom etc, and cover-
ing their mouth/nose when they sneeze or cough
and washing their hands afterwards).
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) Fill the spray bottle with water. * Note: This can be a fun activity when the weather is
2) Hold it up to your face, facing away from you. hot. Students will enjoy a nice cool spray!
3) Pretend to sneeze or cough.
4) While you’re doing this, spray the bottle either Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
on the board or on the kids (might be fun on a hot
day).  What kind of diseases can be transmitted this
way?
5) Discuss how sneezing and coughing can spread
germs.  Suggest coughing or sneezing into your sleeve if
you can’t wash your hands right away
6) Explain that the water represents germs, which
make you sick.

126
Dental Health

127
128
Dirty Teeth Experiment
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate the importance
of brushing teeth and avoiding eating bad foods (also
to discuss what are good and bad foods for teeth).
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Handout with mixed bad and good foods,
Hard boiled eggs (one for each group), Spoons (one
for each group), Plastic cups (one for each group),
Dark colored soda (like coke), Toothbrushes (you can
have students bring their own), Toothpaste
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask students if they have ever been to a dentist.
Ask them “What do dentists do?” and “Why do we
go to a dentist?”
2) Hold up the hard boiled egg. Tell them that the
egg represents their teeth now, nice and white.
3) Hold up the dark colored soda. Tell them the soda
represents bad food for your teeth.
4) Ask students what they think are bad and good
foods for their teeth.
5) Divide the class into groups of three or four.
6) Give each student a plastic cup with dark colored
soda, a spoon and a hardboiled egg (be careful
with the eggs!).
7) Tell each student to put the egg into the cup of
soda and put it aside (maybe have them put it in
a part of the room away from the desks so they
don’t fool with it).
8) Hand out worksheet with bad and good foods on
it. Have students circle the good foods. Check
and discuss answers.
9) Have students bring back their cups and check
on their egg to see what color it is (it should be
brown).
10) Ask students what happened to their egg.
11) Tell students this is like what happens to your
teeth when you eat bad food.
12) Give each group a toothbrush or toothpaste (or
have them bring their own) and tell them to brush
their egg.
13) Explain them the right way to brush their teeth
(in small circles, many times, etc.).
14) Explain how many times a day you should brush
your teeth.
15) Ask the students these questions: What did the
egg look like before it was in the soda? What did
it look like after it was in soda? What did the egg
look like after you brushed it? How many times
a day do you think you should brush your teeth?
Why is brushing teeth important?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask students how many times they brush their
teeth, maybe talk about cavities, talk about long
term effects of not brushing teeth well.
 Good or Bad Foods?
 Bread  Beef
 Candy  Juice
 Chicken  Cake
 Carrots  Tangerines
 Soup  Lettuce
 Chocolate  Cheese
 Coke  Apples
 Celery  Yogurt
 Beets
Tooth Decay Experiment
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will learn about what
causes tooth decay.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour at beginning and 10 min every
day for several days (or another hour after several
days)
Materials: Paper plates (or regular plates), Crackers
Clear containers/jars for each group, Vinegar, Egg
for each group, Paper with drawing of egg, Pencils,
Jar labels, Tape; Optional: Worksheet with parts of
the tooth, Mirrors
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each student a plate and a cracker.
2) Have them chew the cracker, spit it out and ob-
serve what they see, talk about it as a class.
3) Give each student another cracker and put vin-
egar on the cracker.
4) Ask students what they see.
5) Explain that saliva has acids much like the vin-
egar that dissolves the food.
6) Divide the class into groups of three or four.
7) Give each group a paper with an egg drawing, a
clear jar/container and an egg.
8) Explain that the egg shell is made up of calcium
similar to the enamel on teeth.
9) Have the students carefully put the egg in the
jar/container.
10) Pour a little bit of vinegar into the jar, enough to
cover half the egg.
11) Have group label their containers and put them
aside.
12) The next week (or several consecutive days), have
the groups check on their egg and note changes in
their egg drawing (if there are holes, have them
draw the holes).
13) Have groups also take notes on the changes of
their egg.
14) Discuss how this is what happens to our teeth if
we don’t take care of them and brush them twice
a day.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Before or after the activity you could go over with
your class the parts of the teeth and have the stu-
dents label them on a worksheet. You could also
have each student look at their own teeth with
129
 a mirror and make observations and take notes.
Explain that back molars are more at risk because
of grinding food and gum chewing.
Our Egg
Toothpaste Recipe
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show students how to make
their own toothpaste.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Camphor (or mint) for taste, Bicarbonate
soda, Salt, Toothbrushes for students (have them
bring their own)
Brush Your Teeth Song
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to students the importance of using
toothpaste (like soap for teeth).
2) Explain that sometimes toothpaste isn’t available
or expensive, but you can still make your own
toothpaste.
3) Mix together:
 1 part camphor (or mint) to taste
 1 part bicarbonate soda
 2 parts salt
4) Wet the toothbrush (first demonstrate), dip and
brush away.
5) Have students make their own and use.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are the benefits of brushing your teeth?
 How many times should you brush a day?
 What happens if you don’t brush your teeth?
 What are the best ways to brush your teeth (cir-
cular motion)?
130
Good and Bad Foods
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to identify
foods that destroy their teeth and gums.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 5-15
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Pictures of food (healthy and unhealthy)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to students that some foods are bad for
their teeth and some are good.
2) Tell students what bad foods do and what good
foods do.
3) Hold up various pictures of foods.
4) Have the students say if they are “good” or “bad”
foods for teeth.
5) Discuss any answers they aren’t sure about.
6) Ask the students what kinds of food are good for
their teeth (vegetables, fruits, water).
7) If they have trouble generalizing, show them a
pile of good food pictures.
8) Maybe even put all fruits together.
9) Follow up by brushing your teeth with the stu-
dents after lunch.
10) Have students select only good foods to eat that
day.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 The lesson can also lead into a lesson about food
groups.
 What foods do you eat regularly that are good for
your teeth?
 What foods do you eat regularly that are bad for
your teeth?
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn a song in English about
brushing your teeth.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 5-15
Time Required: 5-15 minutes
Materials: Optional: Printed lyrics
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Sing this fun song to the tune of “Row, row, row
your boat”
Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth
Brush, brush, brush your teeth
Brush them twice a day
Brush them up and brush them down
They’ll stay clean that way!
 2) You can make this harder by doing it in rounds!
3) You can also do the actions with the singing.
4) Have older students teach it to younger ones or
perform for younger ones.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk about why you need to brush twice a day.
 Talk about what happens when you don’t brush-
ing well.
 Show students how to properly brush their
teeth.
Teeth and Gums Game
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To explain that healthy gums hold
teeth in place, brushing teeth protects the teeth and
gums, and that sweets and junk food destroy teeth.
Number of Students: 16-30
Age Range of Students: 5-12
Time Required: 20-30 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have students line up in teams of eight to ten.
2) Tell them they represent teeth.
3) Tell the students to join hands. When they hold
hands their arms and hands are just like gums
protecting the teeth and holding them in place.
4) Choose one student to represent a toothbrush.
He/she must protect the teeth and gums.
5) Choose one student to be the candy. He/she
wants to break through the gums and destroy the
teeth.
6) Play the game with the candy student trying to
break through the arms of the healthy (in a nice
way) gums.
7) The toothbrush student tries to stop the candy
from doing this.
8) If the candy succeeds in breaking the gum line,
then he/she can grab on of the teeth at the break
and be another candy.
9) Both candies now try to break through the gums.
10) Stop the game as the toothbrush brushes away
that candy or as the gums break. Ask the students
what they represent and what their actions rep-
resent.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Review the functions of teeth and gums.
 Demonstrate how candy destroys teeth with an-
other activity or review this concept.
 Follow up the game with brushing teeth after
lunch that day.
 Have students take some responsibility for dai-
ly tooth brushing. They might select people to
check their teeth after brushing, someone to lead
the daily brushing, etc.
Teeth Brushing Experiment
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To list different methods for
cleaning teeth, explain the importance of brushing
teeth three times a day, and when to brush their
teeth (after meals).
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 50-60 minutes
Materials: Chocolate or other sticky and dark colored
sweets (9 or 10 candies), Flashlight, 2-3 bottles of
drinking water, Fibrous food (apple, etc), At least
one toothbrush, Toothpaste, 4 drinking cups (one
for each volunteer student), soap for hand washing
before the experiment, paper, colored markers or
crayons
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Select four student volunteers who have clean
teeth and as few cavities as possible.
2) Break the remaining students into four groups,
one group for each volunteer.
3) Students in the group must shine the flashlight
into their volunteer’s mouth and draw a picture
of what they see.
4) Label the picture in Georgian “before eating
sweets.”
5) After the drawing, have all four volunteers stand
up front and let all the students file by and look
into their mouths. Tell them to remember what
they see.
6) Each of the volunteers now must eat two sticky,
dark colored sweets. The sweets need to be vis-
ible on teeth after eating.
7) Students in each group shine the flashlight into
the volunteer’s mouth and again draw what they
see. Label in Georgian “after eating sweets.”
8) Again, line up the students to look into all the
volunteers’ mouths and remember what they see
9) Assign each of the four volunteers to clean his/
her mouth differently: Student 1) does nothing,
student 2) rinses his/her mouth with water, stu-
dent 3) brushes his/her teeth and gums, student
4) eats apple (or other fibrous food).
10) The teacher guides students through guessing
whose mouth will be the cleanest and why (do
not give answers!).
11) Students in each group examine their volunteer’s
mouth and draw it. Label the picture in Georgian
with the action the volunteer took after eating
the candy. Line up to look in all the volunteers
mouths again.
12) Have each group present their pictures and dis-
cuss whose mouth was cleanest, second cleanest
and so on.
13) Explain why even eating fibrous foods and rinsing
with water are better than nothing.
14) Put the pictures up in the classroom and encour-
age students to brush their teeth.
131
Teeth Brushing Relay
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn to brush teeth correctly.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: 6-15
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Blackboard, Toothbrush for all students
(have them bring their own), Demonstration set of
teeth (cow jaw bone works well) and toothbrush; Op-
tional: Prize for winning team
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide into teams of no more than six.
What Acid Does to Teeth
2) The first person from each team goes to the front
facing his team.
3) He/she shows the first step of teeth brushing (top
teeth, outside).
4) The teacher watches and assigns points to each
team: 1 point for brushing in the correct loca-
tion, 1 point for brushing correctly (rotating the
brush at the gum line, holding brush at a 45 de-
gree angle).
5) Write the points on the board.
6) Repeat for each person on the team (top teeth,
inside; bottom teeth, outside; bottom teeth, in-
side; molars; tongue).
7) Keep points along the way and be sure to point
out what is correct and incorrect about each stu-
dent’s technique, or ask the students to tell you.
8) The team with the most points wins.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss why it is important to brush teeth, when
to brush them and what would happen if students
never brushed and all their teeth feel out.
 How would they talk? Eat? Look? Fell? (if they’re
hungry and malnourished from not eating?)
 Have each student write down something that
will help him/her remember to brush his/her
teeth after every meal and before bed.
Dental Pictionary
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students familiar with
dental vocabulary.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Slips of paper, Blackboard; Optional: Priz-
es for winning team
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Write on slips of a paper different dental vocabu-
lary words.
2) Have students come to the board and choose a
slip of paper at random.
132
3) Have the student look at the word and draw it on
the board.
4) The other students must guess the word he/she is
drawing.
5) Divide the class into two teams.
6) Have two students come up to the board.
7) Which team guesses first gets a point.
8) Play several rounds until everyone gets a
chance.
9) Whoever has the most points, wins!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Use this activity at the end of a dental lecture.
Topic: Dental health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show students what acid,
acidic foods and/or saliva (mild acid) will do to
teeth.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 7-17
Time Required: 30 minutes in class, three days of
waiting
Materials: Teeth from an animal (cow, sheep, etc),
Chicken bones (if there is no teeth), Soda (like coke),
ugar water, Milk, Water, Salt water, 5 clear cups or
jars, Paper, Pens, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Pour the soda, sugar water, milk, water and salt
water into the five separate clear cups or jars.
2) Label each one with a piece of paper taped on
the cup/jar.
3) Divide the class into groups of five.
4) Give each group a tooth (or chicken bone) and
have them draw and take notes of their tooth.
5) Put each groups tooth into one of the cups. Have
the groups label their cup
6) Put the cups aside for three days.
7) After three days have the students get into five
groups.
8) Have each group take a cup and draw and make
notes about what they see.
9) Have each group present their observations to
the class.
10) Discuss what happened with the class. Which
tooth looked the worse? Which tooth looked the
best? What liquid was the worst for teeth? Which
was the best? What does this tell you about acid
and what it does to teeth?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Explain that brushing can fight what acid does to
teeth.
 Show how to brush the right way.
 Explain that not brushing can make your teeth
look like the teeth in the worst cups.
Growing Oral Bacteria
Topic: Dental Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show how germs can grow in
your mouth and the importance of brushing.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 7-17
Time Required: 30 minutes in class, a couple days of
waiting
Materials: Gelatin, Toothpicks, White tape (to write
on), Plastic to cover gelatin with, Tape, Plates or
plastic cups for each student
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Experiment at home to work out any problems
before you do this in class.
2) Give each student a toothpick and tell them to
clean their teeth with it.
3) Give each student a cup with gelatin in it (you
can also do this in groups if you don’t have a lot
of materials).
4) Have them wipe their toothpicks in the gelatin.
5) Label the toothpicks with white tape and a pen.
6) Put the toothpicks in the gelatin.
7) Cover and seal the cups/plates with plastic and
tape.
8) Set aside for three days.
9) After three days have students (or groups) draw
and take notes.
10) Have them share with the class what they found.
11) Discuss how this relates to the bacteria in your
mouth.
12) Use a control gelatin as something to compare
to.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What did you see in your cup/plate?
 If that’s the same bacteria in your mouth, what
do you think happens when you don’t brush your
teeth?
 Would you like to see what you saw in the gelatin
in your mouth? Why or why not?
 Discuss disease that can happen when there is too
much bacteria in your mouth
133
134
Nutrition
and
Consumer
Health

135
136
The Food Pyramid Materials: Food labels (brought by you or by students,
should be enough for several for each student), Pens,
Paper

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) Go over the six basic dietary requirements for

maintaining a healthy diet: Carbohydrates, pro-
tein, fat, vitamins, mineral, water.
2) Explain how much of each category is too little or
too much to eat.
3) Give each student several food labels.
4) Explain to the students what each part of the la-
bel means. Explain to the students about portions
and recommended daily amounts.
5) Have students record all the ingredients on the
label.
6) Have students then record the other information
(what of the six requirements does it have? What
extras does it carry? How much?).
7) Have students compare/contrast what is in
Serving Sizes the label compared to what the recommended
amounts for each category are.
Meat: 8) Discuss with the class which foods were the
 1 egg healthiest and which were the least healthy.
 1 cup of cooked meat Why?

Milk/Dairy: Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

 1 cup milk
 Discuss what kind of labeling was used to attract
 Matchbox size piece of cheese
the customer. What were they trying to empha-
 1 cup yogurt
size? Was there any nutrition value that the box
was trying to sell (example: low in fat, low in
Fruit: sodium, high in vitamins, etc.) Were there any
 ½ cup jam foods that surprised the students and were more
 1 apple or less healthy than they thought?
 1 cup juice
 ½ cup berries
Grocery Store Field Trip
Vegetables: Topic: Nutrition, Consumer Health/Awareness
 ½ cup carrots Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
 1 cup cabbage from this activity?): To learn how to shop responsibly
 1 big scoop beans at a grocery store (get the food they need without
 ½ cup cucumber spending a lot).
Number of Students: 5-30
Bread: Age Range of Students: 10-17
 ½ potato Time Required: 2 hours and 30 min follow up the
 ½ cup macaroni next day (plus time allowed for transportation to
 ½ cup rice the store)
 ½ piece of cake Materials: One teacher for every group of five stu-
 ½ potato pie (paroshkey) dents, Transportation to store, Shopping List, Pen/
 1 slice bread pencil; Optional: Camera (pictures are fun), Calcula-
 1 biscuit tors, Flip chart paper, Markers

Food Labels Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) The week before doing this activity, be sure to

Topic: Nutrition, Consumer Health
inform your students what you will be doing. Lo-
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
cate an appropriate store and also make sure to
from this activity?): To help students read and recog-
talk to the store owner to inform them about this
nize food labels so they can make healthy decisions
activity.
when buying food.
2) Divide the class into groups of three to five.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour

137
 3) Give each student a list of groceries they must
find out about (try to make each list different), a
pencil, paper, and calculator (optional).
4) Tell students that in their groups they much
find this information about each item: different
brands/options, prices of each, ingredients (if
available), quantity of each item and how much
they would need to feed a family of four (they get
to decide on this, see what they come up with).
5) Have students turn in their lists and information
at the end of the time and go back to school.
6) For the next class prepare questions for the stu-
dents about the information the students found
7) At the next class hand back the information gath-
ered by each group and let them have ten min-
utes to discuss and recap what they found (per-
haps the questions you provided).
8) Have each group present their trip to the class.
9) You can also have them write down their list and
make a poster to present to the class about what
items they were able to buy.
10) Another option is to tell the students to make a
shopping list that meets the food group require-
ments for a family of four with only a certain
amount of money. Challenge the students to
make decision about which foods are the healthi-
est to buy on a low budget
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss what problems the students came up
with while trying to write down the information.
Talk about what kinds of foods are more expen-
sive and what are cheaper (candies and sweets
are more expensive than flour and eggs, for ex-
ample). Which brands cost the most? How did
the size compared to the price? Is it more dif-
ficult to eat healthy food when on a low budget?
What kinds of foods seemed like a good deal but
weren’t very healthy?
Food Pyramid Posters
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To introduce the food pyramid
and the concept of a balanced diet.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Poster board (or flipchart paper) for each
group of four, Colored makers or pencils, A prepared
example of a food pyramid (with categories, not the
foods themselves); Optional: Blackboard/flipchart/
whiteboard, Magazine pictures of food (enough for
several foods in each category for each group), Glue,
Rulers al: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class what their favorite food is (you can
write these down on the board if you have one).
2) Take a small poll as to who likes vegetables in the
class (you can also write this on the board).
138
3) Explain to everyone why vegetables are impor-
tant: high in vitamins, fiber, what happens to the
body when you don’t eat enough).
4) Introduce the food pyramid (you should have a
poster with the food pyramid prepared, but don’t
write down specific foods, just the categories).
5) Explain each group and what the nutrients are in
each group.
6) Give a definition of what a balanced diet is: a
diet that has enough but not too much from each
group of the food pyramid.
7) Divide the class into groups of four.
8) Explain that each group must make a food pyra-
mid and draw and label different foods within
each category of the food pyramid (for example,
fish, beans, chicken and beef all go into the
mean/protein area). Students can put any foods
they can think of into the appropriate categories
9) Give the students a poster board and markers and
give them at least 10-20 minutes to complete the
task.
10) After everyone is done, have each group present
their chart to the class.
11) Leave time for discussion after each group’s
presentation. Were there any foods put into the
wrong categories? Did some foods cover more
than one category?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Expand on why vegetables are important accord-
ing to the age of the class. You could also expand
on a healthy diet and explain further what hap-
pens when you do not have a healthy diet. You can
explain the connection between healthy eating
and athletic performance. You can give examples
of diseases or other negative effects that occur
when you do not eat healthy foods. Be creative;
apply it to the student’s real lives! Discuss which
categories most of your diet should consist of.
Are there some foods that the students eat more
of than they should? Encourage the students to
discuss their own dietary habits
Balanced Meal
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students the concept of
a “balanced meal.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Drawings of food (or magazine cut outs),
Plastic bags, Paper to take notes, Pencils, The food
pyramid (found at beginning of the chapter); Option-
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Prepare your drawings (or magazine cut outs) of
food. Sort the pictures into “meals”. Each meal
can consist of an assortment of food. Some meals
should be balanced and others not. Then sort
each meal into plastic bags. Each bag contain-
 ing either the pictures of a balanced meal or an
unbalanced one.
2) Start off by asking the students what their favor-
ite meal is.
3) Explain the six food groups and show students the
food pyramid.
4) Introduced the idea of a balanced meal: a meal
that has enough and not too much of each food
group.
5) Divide the class into groups of 4-5.
6) Give each group a bag with a one meal inside it.
7) Tell students to decide if it is or is not a balanced
meal.
8) Ask them to keep track on paper how much food
from each category is in the meal.
9) When everyone is done, ask them to present what
they have and why they think it is or is not a bal-
anced meal.
10) Discuss each groups answer as a class.
11) Ask the class how what they could add or take
away from the unbalanced meal to make it more
balanced.
12) Discuss the meals as a class. Are some meals
“more balanced” than others?
Food Journal
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss easy ways to make a balanced meal.
 Ask students to bring each part of a balanced
meal and have a meal as a class.
 Discuss more about benefits of a balanced meal.
 Discuss what could happen if you don’t have bal-
anced meal.
 Ask students to keep a journal of the meals they
eat at home: Which ones are balanced? What
could they do to make the ones that are unbal-
anced more balanced? Encourage your students
to share this information with their families.
Food Pyramid Foods
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn to group foods by nutri-
tional value.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8 – 15
Time Required: 30 min – 1 hour
Materials: A large food pyramid poster (or drawn on a
blackboard), Paper, Pens, Tape, Pictures of food (you
can draw them yourself or cut them out of maga-
zines); Optional: Sticky notes
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Prepare pieces of paper with different pictures of
food (at least 5 for each group).
2) Introduce food groups and the food pyramid to
the class.
3) Describe each food group and its nutritional val-
ue.
4) Explain the nutrients that each food has.
5) Split the class into groups of 4-5.
6) Give each group at least 5 different “pieces of
food.”
7) Tell the groups to decide as a group which foods
fall under which category from the pyramid (this
may take longer with younger children).
8) After all the groups are done, have the groups
tape their foods into their respective categories
on the large food pyramid.
9) Afterwards, have a discussion about the choices
the groups made in categorizing their foods.
10) Ask the class if they disagree with any of the
placements.
11) Discuss as a class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss with your class the specific nutrients of
each food and what it does to your body.
 Discuss problems that may arise if the food pyra-
mid is ignored.
 Ask them to create a meal or supra that includes
the recommended daily allowance of food from
each category.
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To teach students to monitor
their food intake and about the importance of a bal-
anced diet.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 week outside class, 30 min in-class
Materials: Food chart in test booklet or notebook, Pen-
cils; Optional: Blackboard, Pre-made food pyramid
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the students what they usually have for each
meal.
2) Introduce the concept of a balanced meal using
the recommended daily servings from the food
pyramid.
3) Instruct the students to keep track of what
they eat for each meal in a food journal for one
week.
4) At the next lesson review what a balanced meal
is.
5) Ask the students to look at their list.
6) Divide the class into groups of 4-5.
7) As a group have the groups answer these ques-
tions about their lists:
 What meals were balanced?
 What meals were not balanced?
 What do you think was your more balanced
meal? Your most unbalanced meal?
 What could you add to make your meals
more balanced?
 What could you eat less of to make your
meals more balanced?
8) Discuss the answers as a class.
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 Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have them design a meal plan using their journals
and the concept of a balanced meal.
 Talk about how balanced meals change with age/
weight etc.
 The class could also do this activity again for a
longer period of time and this time try to eat
more balanced meals. Afterwards you can review
if any changes were seen during the periods of
eating balanced meals. Did they feel healthier?
More alert? Less hungry?
Food Pyramid Dictionary Look-up
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To familiarize students with the
six food groups and to introduce the food pyramid.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 7 – 13
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Dictionaries (one for each group), Poster
of Food Pyramid, Blackboard/flipchart/whiteboard,
Pen, Notebooks, Several food products (maybe 4 or
5); Optional: More food products, Pictures of food
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hold up a candy bar and an apple and ask stu-
dents which do they think is better and healthier
for their bodies.
2) Ask the students if they ever think about what
they are putting in their bodies before they eat
something.
3) Explain that in order to be healthy children they
should be eating more of certain foods and less of
others.
4) List the six categories shown on the food pyramid
(5 food groups: grains, protein, dairy, fruits, vegeta-
bles; and sweets/fats -- use sparingly) on the board.
5) Divide the class into groups of five.
6) Give each group a dictionary.
7) Assign each group one of the categories from the
food pyramid.
8) Ask groups to get a dictionary and look up each
food group. The definitions of the food groups
will then be put on the board.
9) Provide many examples of foods in each food
group and explain why they are in that food
group.
10) Display the food pyramid poster in the front of
the room.
11) Explain to the class the purpose of the food pyr-
amid and tell how many servings of each food
should be eaten.
12) Hold up more examples and ask what food groups
they should be in, either asking if they are in a
certain group or asking what group they should be
in and why. (For example: hold up bread and ask if
it is in the protein group and why or why not.)
13) Restate the definitions of the food groups and ask
the children what they think should be added to
the definition and why.
140
14) The students will then write each definition with
2 examples in their notebooks.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have the class get into groups and give them pic-
tures of food. According to the definitions, have
them place the foods into the correct categories.
Newspaper/Magazine Menu
Topic: Nutrition, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students create their
own healthy menu.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Newspapers or magazines with food ad-
vertisements, Poster board/flipchart or large paper,
Markers, Glue, Scissors; Optional: Colored markers,
Other decorative things
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Discuss the concept of food affecting the body
(“you are what you eat”). Ask students if they
think this is true and what this means.
2) Ask the students what they think junk food is and
why some foods are considered junk food.
3) Ask the students what they think are healthy
foods to eat.
4) Divide class into groups of four or five students.
5) Give each group newspapers and magazines that
have food advertisements in them, scissors, glue,
markers and a poster board.
6) Tell the groups that they must search through
the paper and cut out pictures of healthy food.
Then they must create a menu for a healthy food
restaurant with the pictures they found (give the
students at least 20 minutes for this).
7) Tell each group they must come up with a com-
mercial for their restaurant (give them 10-15
minutes for this).
8) After the groups are done have them present
their commercial to the class.
9) After each group has presented, ask them ques-
tions like: Why did you chose those foods? What
makes those foods healthy? Do you eat these
foods at home? Do you see these foods at a res-
taurant? Encourage each group to ask questions.
10) Ask the class: Would you go to this restaurant?
Would people buy healthy food? What would you
order?
11) Review healthy foods quickly as a recap.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Go to a real restaurant and ask for their menu.
Ask students to list the healthy foods and the not
healthy foods available. Have them report back
to you in class. Encourage your students to keep
a food journal and track their food choices for a
week.
Hunger Quilt
Topic: Nutrition, Community, Hunger Awareness, Art
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To bring awareness to the prob-
lem of hunger.
Number of Students: 15-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Paper squares (3x3), Colored pens/pen-
cils, Snacks, chocolate etc, An example quilt square
on paper, Glue, Large piece of paper (maybe sev-
eral); Optional: Hunger statistics in Georgia; Other
mediums (glitter, stickers, etc)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand to each student selection of snacks or choc-
olate and tell them they MUST not eat it.
2) Open up your own snack or candy bar and start to
eat it in front of them.
3) Remind students not to eat anything.
4) After a couple minutes tell the students they are
allowed to eat their snacks.
5) Ask the students what it felt like to want food
and see someone else having it.
6) Explain how much worse it is for people who go
hungry everyday.
7) If possible, give information about local and na-
tional hunger issues.
8) Discuss with class what they think of hunger, how
they think they can help and why they think it is
a problem.
9) Give each student a square of paper and colored
pens/pencils.
10) Tell the students that they must create a square
for a “hunger quilt”. Tell them they can draw any-
thing or use words to express anything describing
the problem of hunger.
11) Give them example Topics such as: hungry chil-
dren, what hunger does, why people go hungry, why
hunger is bad, what we can do to help, what hungry
people need, etc.
12) Give them at least 20 minutes to complete this
task.
13) After they are done, show kids how to make their
paper like cloth: crumple up the paper over and
over again, rub it against the desk and rub it to-
gether until it’s soft (be careful not to rip it!).
14) When each student is done have them hand in
their squares.
15) Glue/tape squares together or glue squares to a
very large piece of paper to make a quilt! Hang it
on your classroom wall to remind students of the
issue.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have parents come in to look at the work, display
Name That Food!
it at school or community center. Have a hunger
drive and collect food to give to people in need.
Encourage your students to come up with ways
they can combat hunger in their town.
Food Pyramid Booklet
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about the food pyramid.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8 – 15
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Small note paper, Construction paper or
other colored paper, Something to make holes with,
Yarn, Scissors, Glue, Food Pyramid poster or sheets,
Magazines/newspapers with food in it, Pens; Option-
al: Ribbon, Card stock paper, Colored makers, Food
pyramids to cut and paste
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Introduce the food pyramid and the six food
groups in it.
2) Explain how many servings and what kind of food
goes into each food group.
3) Give each student a piece of colored paper or
construction paper, six pieces of notebook paper,
and a long piece of yarn.
4) Hand out the scissors, glue and magazines/news-
papers.
5) Tell the students to fold the colored paper in half.
6) Tell the students to put the six pages into the
folded paper to make a small booklet.
7) Tell the students to poke two holes on the folded
age, through all the paper.
8) Have them pull the yarn through and tie it so they
are all connected.
9) Tell the students to head each page of the note-
book paper with a food group.
10) Have the students draw (or glue on cut out ver-
sions of) the food pyramid on the front page.
11) Tell students to cut out pictures of food from the
magazines/newspapers and paste them in the
appropriate category (remind them to ask you if
they aren’t sure).
12) This should take about 20 – 30 minutes for them
to complete.
13) Tell them they should bring them home and share
them with their family.
14) They can color and decorate them more if they
have time.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students compare their booklets with each
other and discuss the foods they most often each.
Have your students use this booklet to record in
each category which foods they eat during a few
days. Then they can go back and see if certain cat-
egories aren’t being met the way they should be.
Topic: Nutrition, English
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): A fun way to practice the food
groups and which foods belong in them
Number of Students: 5-30
141
 Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Pens, Paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain the 6 food groups and give some examples
of what foods are in each group.
2) Pick one category from the six food groups.
3) Pick any letter from the alphabet (probably best
to choose a commonly used one).
4) Tell students they have one minute to write down
as many foods in that group that starts with that
letter. For example: “grains and B” students may
write – bread, bagels, brownies, buttermilk pan-
cakes, baguette, and so on.
5) After one minute is up have the students count
the items on their lists.
6) Who ever has the most items on their list wins
that round.
7) You can also play this in groups, which might be
more fun.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk more about the food pyramid. Play Piction-
ary, but only with foods from one food group. Or
play where a food is drawn and the team must
shout out what group it belongs to.
Healthy Food Menu
Topic: Nutrition, Art, Team Building
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To learn about healthy food choices and
making balanced meal choices from local menus
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Menus, Paper, Pens, Markers; Optional:
Colored pens/pencils, Food Pyramid visual
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Read several menus from local restaurants (you
will have to either get the menus or write them
down if they don’t have one you can take) or
make up your own menus.
2) Ask the students whether those meals sounded
healthy, why and why not?
3) Divide the class into groups of three students.
4) Discuss with the students the food pyramid and
each of its categories.
5) Discuss with class a few ideas of healthy foods
they might want to see on a menu when they go
out to eat.
6) Tell each group of students to come up with a
creative name for their restaurant (Give them a
few minutes for this.
7) Tell the students that they must design the cover
of a menu for their own restaurant.
8) Tell the students that they must come up with at
least two meals and/or desserts that include items
142
from each of the groups on the Food Pyramid (they
should have at least 20 minutes for this).
9) When all the groups are finish, have each group
present their restaurant.
10) Discuss the restaurants afterwards. If possible
hang the menus around the room.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss the properties of each healthy food and
what it does to your body. Go out to a real restau-
rant and see if they can identify the foods that
are healthiest. Plan a “healthy food” party and
buy only healthy snacks. Have students practice
cooking a healthy meal.
Healthy Food Cookbook
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about healthy foods.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 30 minutes (students also do work
at home)
Materials: Pens, Paper, Copying ability, Construc-
tion paper/colored paper, Stapler/staples; Optional:
Computer to type out recipes
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) At the end of a class discuss what makes foods healthy.
2) Ask students what their favorite healthy foods are.
3) Tell students that they must find a recipe for a
healthy food and write it at home.
4) Tell the students to inform you of what meals
they will be writing the recipes for so you don’t
have any duplicates. (You may want to give them
a couple days to figure it out and then tell you).
5) Have the students bring in their recipes nicely
written.
6) They must include why the food is healthy at the
bottom! For older students you can have them
write down the nutrients.
7) You can also ask them to illustrate around the
recipe.
8) Collect the recipes from the students.
9) Make copies of all the recipes for each student.
10) Use the construction paper to make a colorful
cover.
11) Staple together (very easy) to make a book.
12) Give each student a book.
13) Students can also make them for friends and fam-
ily.
14) You can type out the recipes before you copy
them if possible.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students cook their food at home and bring
to class for a healthy food supra!
Food Pyramid Matching Game
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get students familiar with the
food pyramids and which foods go in which category.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Envelops, 2 sets of Index cards/slips of pa-
per (marked so as to distinguish them from each oth-
er i.e. different colors), Pens, Makers, Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, 2 paper or plastic bags, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Draw the food pyramid on the chalkboard, label-
ing each space with the proper food group name
and the number of servings needed each day from
each group.
2) Tape an empty envelope onto each area of the
pyramid.
3) Take your two groups of index cards. From the
first group, on each index card, write a food item.
Repeat these on the second set of cards (each set
of cards should contain the same list of foods).
4) Put each set of index cards into 2 separate paper
bags and place the paper bags in front of the room.
5) Divide the class into 2 teams.
6) Line up each team in single file.
7) When you say go the first person in each line goes
to the paper bag and draws an index card with a
name of a food. He/she then should go up to the
chalkboard and sticks the card into the correspond-
ing envelope in one of the food groups. Once the
first person is done, the second person in line does
the same thing. This should continue until one team
uses all their index cards. This team then earns 15
points. The other team earns 10 points.
8) Check the envelopes to be sure that the foods
were placed in the correct food group. Each team
should get 2 points for each properly placed food
item (this is why the two sets of cards must be
different). But an incorrectly placed card will re-
sult in the team losing 2 points.
9) While doing this you should be reviewing the infor-
mation about each food group with the students.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss the importance of the food groups and what
they do to your body. Keep this chart and use it
again later, but this time have the students write
on cards what they ate for lunch or dinner and then
put the foods into the different groups. See which
groups have the most cards. Does it match the rec-
ommended daily servings for each group?
Veggie Party
Topic: Nutrition, Cooking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about vegetables and
healthy snacks.
Number of Students: 15-30
Age Range of Students: 14-17
Time Required: 1 hour (plus 10-15 minutes in previ-
ous class)
Materials: Plastic bags, Markers, Knives, Pens, Paper;
Optional: Plates, Posters, Salad dressing/dips, Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of four or five.
2) Several days prior to the party the students must
choose one group member to bring each type of
vegetable or different plant part. Plant parts are:
flowers (such as broccoli, cauliflower), fruit (to-
mato, cucumber, peppers, peas, etc.), leaf (let-
tuce, cabbage, spinach, greens), stem (celery,
chives, or sprouts), or root/bulb (carrot, onion,
garlic, radish, etc.). Remind the “fruit” bringers
that their food should be vegetables that are the
fruit of the plant (bananas, peaches, etc. are not
appropriate).
3) Everyone brings their vegetables. Each student’s
contribution is put in a bag with their name on it.
4) Classify each item first, by having everyone who
brought a bulb/root bring it to the table and dis-
cuss characteristics of a root/bulb, determine
if all items fit this category. Do the same with
each plant section (stems, leaves, flowers, and
fruits).
5) Ask the students to develop a different way to
classify the vegetables. They should consult as
a group and decide what new characteristic will
be used as a basis for grouping the “veggies”.
Groups then share their system of classification
with the class and demonstrate by regrouping the
vegetables (size, color, shape, weight, taste, tex-
ture, peeled or unpeeled, etc.).
6) Each student then takes their veggie and pre-
pares it.
7) Everyone shares with the class and you have your
veggie party!
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk about what the students grow in their gar-
dens or at school and classify the plants. Do this
activity but with all parts of the food pyramid
(i.e. have different groups bring in foods from
different parts of the food pyramid and then have
your party with even more food!)
Snack Selection
Topic: Nutrition, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students practice mak-
ing decisions, to learn to make decisions about nutri-
tious snacks.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 15 - 30 minutes
Materials: Pictures of various foods
143
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Arrange a group of food pictures on the table.
2) Have each member select a nutritious snack.
3) Have each person tell why they selected that par-
ticular snack.
4) Ask the following questions:
 What were some of your choices?
 What did your snack choice contribute to
your health? (vitamins, calcium, energy
Vitamin A Game
etc)
 Was it a good decision?
 Did you decide on your snack because a
friend liked it or because you did?
5) Next have each student select five food that they
might keep at home for snacks.
6) Have each student tell why he/she chose these
foods.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How do you think your mother/father chooses the
food they make for your family each day?
 What is a balanced meal?
 What is a balanced diet?
The Food Game
Topic: Nutrition, Communication
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice the six food groups
and to promote communication and teamwork.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 15-20 minutes
Materials: Pens, Paper, Prepared cards with food
names on them
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Prepare cards or pieces of paper with food names
written on them.
2) Write the 6 categories of the food pyramid on 6
pieces of paper (one on each). Hang these papers
in different parts of the room.
3) Assign a leader for each round of the game.
4) The leader gives each person a food card randomly.
5) Students are not allowed to show each other their
cards or to speak.
6) Students must try to form six food groups accord-
ing to their food card (there might not be any in
one group, but that’s okay).
7) To form these groups, students must mime the
food on their card to the other students and they
should guess which food group it belongs to.
When the students have guessed where they go,
the student stands near the sign with the food
group category that corresponds to the food on
their card.
8) The leader monitors so no one speaks.
9) After they have formed their groups, the leader
has each groups say the food names in it aloud to
see if they are correct.
10) After each round, change the leader.
144
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How difficult is it for the leader to organize and
monitor the groups?
 What is the purpose of not allowing any talking
in this activity?
 How did everyone communicate without using words?
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): Students will be able to identify
vitamin A rich foods and rank local foods based on
their Vitamin A content.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Blackboard or paper to keep score, Pic-
tures of various foods (drawn or cut out)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Cut out pictures of food from magazines or news-
papers.
2) Before class look up the Vitamin A content of
each food you have cut in a resource manual, and
write the number on the back of a picture of each
food. All foods should contain some vitamin A. In-
clude foods that vary in Vitamin A content (both
good and poor sources of Vitamin A). Or rank the
foods using a 1-10 scale with foods highest in Vi-
tamin A receiving a 10. Write these numbers on
the back of the pictures instead.
3) Place all the food card pictures side up.
4) Divide the class into teams of five.
5) Explain that the cards contain foods with Vita-
min A, though not all of the foods have the same
amount of vitamin A. Tell them that each food
card has the amount of vitamin A written on the
back. Show them a few examples.
6) The first team starts by selecting the one food
card they think represents the best sources of Vi-
tamin A. After the pick up the card, they should
turn it over to see the number. Award the team
this amount of points.
7) The teams take turns picking cards which they
think represent the best source of Vitamin A
among the cards left until all the cards are cho-
sen. A different team member should pick the
card each time.
8) The team with the highest score wins.
9) After the game is over, have the students rank all
the food cards in order of the highest to lowest
Vitamin A content.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Discuss which foods are locally available and how
they are typically eaten.
 Encourage students to eat Vitamin A rich foods
with oils and fats for better absorption.
 Discuss what Vitamin A does to the body and why
it is important.
Nutrition Musical Chairs 2) Put all the pictures face down into the numbered
sections (one in each box) on the poster. Mix up
Topic: Nutrition the pairs.
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain 3) Divide all of the students into two or three
from this activity?): To classify foods into the six food teams.
groups. 4) Play concentration. The first team selects two
Number of Students: 10-15 pocket numbers. The teacher reveals the pic-
Age Range of Students: 6-17 tures in these two boxes for 10 seconds and re-
turns them to the pockets face down.
Time Required: 30 minutes
5) Students should try to remember which pictures
Materials: Chairs for each students (minus one); Op-
are in which boxes.
tional: Pictures of food
6) Teams alternately select pairs of pictures. They
can repeat boxes if they want.
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): 7) The object is to get a match (i.e. a healthy eye
and a dry eye with bitot’s spots).
1) Assign a food to each student (and if possible give
8) If one team picks a match, the pair remains in
them each a picture of the food which has been
the boxes, picture side out. Award the team one
assigned to them). Each food should distinctly
point for this (optional: the team must state
belong to one food group.
the micro nutrient deficiency causing the health
2) Have the students make a circle with their chairs
problem in this pair for an extra point. Another
with one of the students standing in the middle.
point is awarded for naming a food rich in this
3) Have the student in the middle call out the name micro nutrient).
of one food group.
9) Stop when all the pairs are matched.
4) The students assigned a food in that food group
10) Make a chart listing the micro nutrients, symp-
get up and switch seats quickly.
toms of their deficiencies, and two or three foods
5) The student who sits down last does not get a seat. which can help prevent the micro nutrient defi-
He/she ends up being the next person in the middle. ciency.
6) Repeat this several times.
7) Students can hold up pictures of the food they
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
are assigned to help them better understand.
 Have students check each other for these various
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics: health problems, weighting and measuring them-
selves, looking at eyes and fingernails etc.
 Emphasize that a good, healthy meal contains all  Then have each student write down what he or
the food groups. she will eat to solve his/her health problem.
 Have the students list the food groups in their
meals at home.
List of Micro-Nutrients and Deficiencies
 Have students build a meal with all five food
groups in it.
Deficiency / treatment
Symptom
/ cause
Nutritional Concentration
Bitot’s spots - foamy vitamin A
Topic: Nutrition patches on conjunctiva
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
Blurred vision vitamins B2, B6, panto-
from this activity?): To identify symptoms of various
thenic acid
nutrition-related health problems and list the nutri-
ent that treats each problem. Bulging eyes vitamin E, nicotinamide,
Number of Students: 10-30 iodine
Age Range of Students: 7-17 Color-blindness vitamin A
Time Required: 30 minutes
Conjunctivitis vitamins A, B2, C (B6,
Materials: 1 pair of pictures for each health prob-
zinc)
lem, Picture of the health problem, Picture of some-
one without the health problem, Poster with enough Dark spots in front of the vitamins B6, C, zinc (liver
numbered sections/boxes to hold all the picture eyes problems)
cards; Optional: Tape
Dry, hard eyeballs (xe- vitamin A
rophthalmia)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Itching, burning, watery, vitamin B2
1) Create pictures to describe the health prob- sandy eyes
lems that are associated with vitamin deficien- Blisters vitamin E
cies. Choose the ones that are most pertinent to
your age group and region. Each pair of pictures Brown discoloration vitamin B12
should include an image of health and an image around small joints
representing a symptom of deficiency.

145
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Deficiency / treatment
Symptom
/ cause 1) After a brief discussion of the five food groups,
show the students how eating from the five
Keratosis, horny, goose- vitamin A internally & good groups helps fight disease and makes them
pimple-like skin externally strong.
Lemon-yellow skin vitamin B12 2) Pass out cards with the individual food groups
– fat/oils, carbohydrates, protein, vegetables/
Oily skin, white-heads vitamin B2 fruits, and dairy.
Prickly-heat rash vitamin C 3) Draw a line on the ground. The teacher’s side of
the rope represents sickness.
Red-brown or dark-red Manganese 4) Tell the students you are Mr. Sickness. If they get
spots pulled across the line, it shows they are sick and
Rosacea (redness of part vitamin B2 weak.
of face) 5) Pick a small student (one you can beat in a one-
on-one tug of war).
Coarse, brittle hair Zinc
6) Tell the other kids “This student has not eaten
Dandruff vitamins B2, B6, zinc, yet” Ask the student how he/she feels “Are you
magnesium, biotin hungry? Tired? Sick?”
7) Play tug of war and easily beat the student.
Dry hair vitamin A, zinc
8) Tell the students that eating correctly from the
Hangnails vitamin C, folic acid, food groups builds a stronger body. The student
proteins should call out all five food groups one by one.
Nails opaque, white zinc, vitamin B6 9) The students with the five food group cards
spots/bands join the student and play tug of war against the
teacher.
Oily hair vitamin B2 10) This time the students should kick your butt and
Cracked lips & corners of vitamins B2, B6, folic acid show you that eating right; eating from all the
the mouth (cheilosis) five food groups, makes you strong and helps you
prevent sickness.
Distended, purplish-blue vitamin B2 (circulation
veins under the tongue poor, congested)
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
Halitosis (bad breath) vitamin B6, zinc,
magnesium, propolis,  Classify foods into the five food groups.
chlorophyll (cleansing,  Ask students what they ate that day or the pre-
intestinal sanitation) vious day. Did they eat food from all five food
Mouth ulcers, canker folic acid, vitamin B6, groups?
zinc (alkalize, allergy  Analyze a meal one of the students ate recently.
test)  Plan example meals which supply all five food
Purplish or magenta vitamin B2
groups.
tongue or lips, also veins
under the tongue
Food Pyramid Lesson
Tongue red at tip or niacin (vitamin B6)
edges; severe deficiency: Topic: Nutrition
whole tongue scarlet red, Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
sore from this activity?): To become familiar with the
Tongue shiny, smooth, vitamin B12, folic acid food pyramid. To identify those food groups which
beefy; early sign: straw- you need to obtain the majority of their daily nutri-
berry-red tip/sides tional needs. To identify the food group from which
you need the least amount of daily servings.
White patches on tongue vitamin B2 and other B
Number of Students:
vitamins (allergy)
Age Range of Students: 6-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Nutrition Tug-o-War Materials: A poster of the food pyramid, Pictures of
normal meals, Pictures of various foods (representing
Topic: Nutrition all the food groups in the pyramid), Four different
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain colors of markers
from this activity?): To explain why you must eat
food from all five food groups every day.
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Number of Students: 10-15
Age Range of Students: 5 – 13 1) Show the food pyramid to the class. Explain
Time Required: 20 minutes that our food needs are similar to a food pyra-
Materials: Rope for tug of war, Five word cards (one mid (ask the class if a pyramid can balance on
for each group) its tip). On a daily basis, we need more of cer-

146
 tain types of foods than of others. In fact, with
some food types we need very little. If you relied
too much on the foods at the top of the pyramid,
your health would “tip” or have a good chance of
letting you down just as the pyramid falls down
stood on its top.
2) Explain the food groups. Give examples and the
approximate number of daily servings required
(note: the number of servings may vary depend-
ing on individual requirements of age, size and
amount of activity).
3) Outline each level of the pyramid with a different
colored marker. This is vital in helping younger
students make a transfer from a concrete idea to
the abstract food pyramid.
4) Display the food pictures one at a time to the
class. Ask students where on the pyramid each
would fit. Some may fit in two categories.
5) Show the class pictures of normal meals (have
handouts prepared before).
6) Then have the students tape these pictures to the
food pyramid.
7) Discuss whether this normal meal provides a bal-
anced meal. What is lacking?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students analyze their last meal and discuss
what they can add/subtract to make it more bal-
anced.
 Have students play foods into an empty food
pyramid.
 Name all the food groups listen on the food pyra-
mid and give the suggested number of servings.
 Name your favorite food in each of the food
groups.
 From which food group should you eat the most?
 From which food group should you eat the least?
Why?
Serving Sizes
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To be able to tell how much of a
serving is too much and what is too little
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 6-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Pens/pencils, Paper, Slips of paper, Hand-
out showing serving sizes for common foods (found at
the beginning of the chapter)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class, draw a picture or write down
foods on both sides of the pieces of paper (the
serving sizes for common foods can be found on
the corresponding handout). On one side write
the correct daily serving. On the other side write
an incorrect amount.
2) Pass out blank paper to the students.
3) Ask them to draw their favorite foods on the pa-
per.
4) Tell the students to show and talk about what
they drew to the class.
5) Talk about serving size and describe the appropri-
ate serving sides for different parts of the food
pyramid. Ask them how they know that they have
eaten the “right” amount of food. Talk about
the importance of serving sizes in maintaining a
healthy diet.
6) Spread out the slips of paper with the foods that
you’ve already prepared.
7) Explain to the class that one side is the correct
serving size and the other is not.
8) One at a time or in teams, have the students de-
cide which is the correct serving size and which
category it fits into on the food pyramid.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask the students what they eat in a typical day.
 Have them keep a food diary for one day and
bring it to class to discuss.
 Explain how the contents of food also affect
health.
 Reveal the vitamin/mineral chart and explain
that these foods are rich in vitamins and minerals
are best for overall health.
 Have them make a healthy menu.
Food Dominos
Topic: Nutrition
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify and match foods from
the same food groups.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 9-15
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: The “Food Dominoes” sheets (for each
group of students); Optional: Scissors, Laminator
(for greater durability)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class cut out the dominoes. If they are
older and have scissors, they can do this on their
own. (You can laminate if you have the ability to
do so.)
2) Divide the class into group of 3 or 4. This game is
played like regular dominos.
3) Each domino has two set parts, each part repre-
senting a separate food group. Five dominos are
doubles in which foods of the same food group
appear on both sides. The double “multi-food”
domino is always put aside as the starter for the
game. The remaining dominoes are shuffled or
missed and turned facedown.
4) Each player picks out five dominoes and turns
them face up in front of him/her.
5) After the double multi-food domino has been
placed in the center of the player area, the first
player may place one of his/her dominoes to one
end of the double domino if the picture matches.
147
 6) The second player may try to match the double
domino or the food end on the other end of the
second domino played.
7) The play continues with the third and fourth players.
8) Only one domino can be played at each turn.
9) Dominos are played lengthwise instead of at right
angles. The only exception to this rule is in the
case of doubles (both ends represent the same
food group) where right angles are permitted.
Dominos (please write the food group in Georgian on the other side)
148
10) A double is always played crosswise to the end it
matches. This creates two directions in which the
dominoes may be played.
11) If a player cannot make a match, he/she must
draw from the remaining facedown dominoes un-
til he/she is able to play. If he/she draws the last
remaining domino and is still unable to play, he/
she must pass and try again on the next turn.
12) The first player to use all his/her dominos wins. Or,
if no further plays can be made. The player with
the least number of dominos left wins the game.
149
Awareness of Fat Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

Topic: Nutrition  Discuss a recent meal or everyday foods to decide

Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain what is fatty and if they need to cut back on any
from this activity?): To identify foods with excessive of those foods. Ask the students what foods they
amounts of fat, learning about combating obesity didn’t think were fatty but are.
and its associated ills by recognizing the common
foods that contribute to obesity. Nutrition Bingo
Number of Students: 5-20
Age Range of Students: 12-17 Topic: Nutrition
Time Required: 1 hour Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
Materials: A pat of butter, A roll of wax paper, Cop- from this activity?): To practice general knowledge
ies of the food collage worksheet, An assortment of nutrition and have fun!
of fatty and non-fatty foods (salami, mayonnaise, Number of Students: 5-30
khachapuri, apple, orange), Facial tissues; Optional: Age Range of Students: 6-17
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Bingo cards, Pieces of paper or other bingo
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions): markers

1) Make a copy of the food collage worksheet for

Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
each student.
2) Bring in food items or ask class to bring them. 1) Make bingo sheets for each student by putting nu-
3) Explain to the students that fat is required in our trition vocabulary words into a grid.
daily lives in very limited amounts. Too much fat 2) Call out the definition of each word.
can lead to excessive weight gain and, over a pro- 3) Have students find the word on their sheet and
longed period of time, to a number of diseases put a marker on it.
due to being overweight (heart disease being on
4) Make sure you keep track of which definitions you read.
of the most common). Very often we can recog-
5) When someone gets a line across, down or diago-
nize fatty foods just by their feel and texture.
nal, they must call BINGO.
Usually fatty foods will leave clues about what
they are made from. Explain to students that 6) Have the student read off all the words in the line.
these clues can be used to search out fatty foods 7) If he/she is right, they are the winner.
before we eat too much. 8) You can play this game many times and with any
4) Display the various food samples so that all the kind of words.
students can easily observe them. Suggested vocabulary:
5) While holding each food individually, ask the class  vitamins
to raise their hands if they feel the food is consid-  minerals
ered fatty, record the survey results on the board  protein
(if available).  grow
6) Tear off a sheet of wax paper.  energy
7) Drag one end of the butter across the wax paper.  habit
8) Have the students observe the butter leaves a  fat (the substance)
greasy trail on the wax paper. You may have one  carbohydrates
or two students touch the butter trail to verify  salt
the fact (students wipe off their greasy fingers
with the tissue). Discuss the point that butter is
made up totally of fat.
Peanut Butter Recipe
9) Have students work as “grease detectives” in Topic: Nutrition, Cooking
teams of two or four.
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
10) Equip teams with a sheet wax paper, tissues and from this activity?): To learn to make peanut butter
small portions of assorted food items. (a yummy and healthy snack).
11) Allow the teams to investigate the potential trail
Number of Students: 1-30
of grease for each food, recording their results.
Age Range of Students: All ages
12) When you are done with research, compare the
results with the initial class survey. Time Required: 20 minutes
13) You may manage this activity as a demonstration Materials: 1 lb. unshelled peanuts, ½ cup margarine
depending on the level of students. or oil , Mortar (or something to grind peanuts in),
Salt; Optional: Bread, Plates, Spoons, Butter knives,
14) Distribute copies of the worksheet and have stu-
Jelly, Celery
dents mark an X on all foods they believe to be
fatty. Use the results of this activity and prior
knowledge to help them make judgments. Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

1) Get out all the ingredients for your peanut butter.

2) Explain the nutritional value of peanut butter
(protein!).

150
Food Collage Worksheet

151
 3) Explain that it is a fun and popular American food.
4) Put the 1 lb. of unshelled peanuts and ½ cup of
margarine or oil into a mortar.
5) Crush the peanuts and margarine/oil until smooth.
6) Add a little salt for taste (you can also add sugar).
7) You can give each student a taste with a spoon
(different spoons) and either put it on bread, cel-
ery, or make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you like peanut butter?
 What food group does peanut butter belong to?
 What other American foods would you like to try?
 Why is protein important?
Food Group Envelopes
Topic: Nutrition, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For students to practice their
knowledge about food groups.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 7-17
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: Five envelopes, Pens, Paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the students what the food groups are.
2) Write the names of each food group on a separate
envelope.
3) Hand out paper to each student.
4) Have each student draw a different food (tell
them to be creative). Try not to have them re-
peat foods too much.
5) When they are done tell them to think about
what food group they belong to.
6) Have each student come up, on at a time, and
put their food into the envelop they think their
food belongs to.
7) Open each envelope and show the foods to the class.
8) Ask the students if it is correct or not – if it isn’t,
ask where it belongs.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why are the food groups important to know about?
 Ask the students which food groups they eat from
the most.
 Discuss the reasons for having different daily
servings for different groups.
Menu Planning
Topic: Nutrition, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To plan a nutrition meal based
on good decision making.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8 – 17
Time Required: 20 minutes
152
Materials: Pens/pencils, Paper; Optional: Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart, Poster board, Colored
markers/pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the class into groups of three or four.
2) Give each group paper and a pen (or poster board).
3) Have each group plan one day’s menu for a family
member.
4) Have them consider the steps of making a good
decision in their decision making about the menu.
5) Here are example steps:
 What is the problem?
 What are some solutions?
 Where can we get information?
 What are our choices?
 What will each choice cost us (in time,
money, energy)?
 What are our limitations (time, effort,
personal resources)?
 What will the consequences of each choice be?
 What will you do?
 How will you do it?
 Was it a good decision? Why? Why not?
7) Have each group present their menus to the
class.
8) Discuss the following:
 What foods were chosen?
 Are there foods chosen from each food
group?
 Why did you choose these foods?
 Are here a variety of colors, textures?
 How much might it cost?
 Was it a good decision? Why or why not?
9) You can also have the students illustrate their
menus if you have the time and resources.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What other things can you use the same decision
making steps on in your daily life?
Health Advertisements
Topic: Consumer Awareness/Health
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To analyze health advertise-
ments to determine how they attract buyers and
what students should be aware of.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 13-17
Time Required: 1 hr
Materials: Several health ads for magazines or news-
papers, Questions worksheet, Pencils, Chalkboard/
whiteboard/flip chart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Talk about different methods advertisers use to
get people to buy their product (creating a need/
desire, working on different emotions).
2) Divide into groups of three or four.
3) Give each group several advertisements and each
student a question worksheet.
4) Explain that they must look at each add and fill
out the work sheet (answer the questions)
5) After everyone is done have them present their
advertisements and results to the class.
6) Have the class discuss what they found if they
have any opinions that differ and/or are the
same.
7) Ask students how this changes their ideas of ad-
vertisements they see and what they gained from
the lesson.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask students how they would advertise such prod-
ucts, if they would change anything etc.

Student Worksheet

Questions to Evaluate Consumer Health Advertisements

1. What product is being sold? ...............................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

2. What is the purpose of the ad? ...........................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

3. Who should buy this product? ............................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

4. What psychological approach is used to increase sales of this product, i.e., heighten emotions like fear or
love, satisfy present needs, promise quick cure or results, create a need or desire? ...........................
.................................................................................................................................

5. How reliable is the source of the ad for health information? .......................................................

.................................................................................................................................

6. Which statements about the product are true? . ......................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

7. What important information is missing? ................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

8. What are the product ingredients? ......................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

9. What are the health benefits of the product, if any? .................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

10. Are there any negative or side effects for consumers to consider? ................................................
.................................................................................................................................

11. What is the credibility of the product manufacturer? ................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

12. How were the product’s features enhanced to improve its appeal to you (e.g., use of an attractive spokes-
person or athlete, make-up, food styling, special photographic techniques)? ...................................
.................................................................................................................................

13. How would you change the advertisement to benefit consumers? .................................................
.................................................................................................................................

153
Advertisement Methods
Topic: Consumer Health/Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make students aware of meth-
ods used by advertisements.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 13-17
Time Required: 1hr
Materials: Magazine ads (at least two for each group),
Worksheet, Pens/pencils, Blackboard/whiteboard/
flipchart, Example ad; Optional: Flipchart paper,
Markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Students are given a vocabulary of relevant terms
- basic message, visual image, medium, catchy
words, testimonial, bandwagon, positive appeal,
negative appeal, product character, product slo-
gan, product comparison, and repetition.
2) Make sure they understand the terms (use an ex-
ample ad and as a class point out the techniques
use).
3) Divide class into groups of three or four.
4) Give each group several magazine advertise-
ments.
5) Have the group talk about the advertisements
and fill out the work sheet about the advertise-
ment.
6) Have each group present their findings to the
class.
7) Discuss each group’s findings as a class.
Magazine Ads
Name: ...................................................
Date: ....................................................
Teacher: . ...............................................
Brand Name and Product:.............................
Medium: .................................................
Basic Message: .........................................
Visual Image: ...........................................
Catchy Words: ..........................................
Technique Used and Why: ............................
Technique Used and Why: ............................
Warning! Dangerous Products!
Technique Used and Why: ............................
Persuasion Rating (1 - 5):.............................
(1 = Yawn. 5 = I’m sold on this product!)
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Talk about the negative and positive effects of
these types of approaches to advertising. Dis-
cuss television commercials and apply the same
terms.
154
TV Talk
Topic: Consumer Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To make a commercial for a
healthy product and demonstrate reasons why the
product is healthy.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Large cardboard box, Wire coat hanger
and/or tinfoil, Scissors, Markers; Optional: Paint,
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class or with your class on another day,
make a fake TV set with a cardboard box and
coat hangers and/or tinfoil. You can paint it if
you want.
2) Make sure that the front and the back is cut out.
3) During class, ask students to come up with a list
of healthy products.
4) Write them on the board if you have one avail-
able.
5) Tell the students to divide into pairs.
6) Ask the pairs to choose on of the healthy products
thought of by the class.
7) They must create a small commercial advertising
that healthy product.
8) In the commercial they must cover the following:
 What is the product?
 What kind of product is it?
 What do you use it for?
 Why is it a healthy product?
 Why would someone want to buy this
product?
9) Give the pairs at least 10 – 15 minutes to create
their commercial.
10) After everyone is finished, have each pair come to the
“TV” and perform their commercial to the class.
11) After each commercial, ask the class the same
questions the commercial was supposed to answer.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How often do you see commercials for healthy
products? Why do you think that is?
Topic: Decision Making, Substance Abuse
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To look at warning labels on dan-
gerous products.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 30 – 35 minutes in class, several days
out of class
Materials: Poster board/large paper for each group
+ one, Markers, Notebook, Pen/pencil, Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/markers; Optional:
Magazines, Scissors, Glue, Paper
 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Previous to this activity, ask students to find
three “warning labels” on household products.
Have them write down what the labels say and
bring them to class.
2) Warning labels can be found on cigarettes, alco-
hol, cleaning supplies, medicine etc.
3) Before class make a poster with the word “WARN-
ING” in large letters.
4) Ask the students to read their warning labels.
5) Write examples of warning labels on the board.
6) Ask the class why these products have warning
labels.
7) Ask the class if warning labels are a good idea. Why
or why not? Write down their reason on the board.
8) Ask the class if there are any other products that
don’t have warning labels that should have them
(be creative!).
9) Split the class into groups of 4 or 5.
10) Give each group poster board/large paper and
markers.
11) Tell the students they must now think of a prod-
uct that needs a warning label and make a warn-
ing label for that product (cannot be a product
that already has a warning label).
12) Give them 10 – 15 minutes.
13) Have the groups present their warning labels to
Smart Shopper Sweep
the class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you think warning labels say enough? Why or
why not?
 What products do you think need the most warn-
ing labels? Why?
Advertiser for the Day
Topic: Consumer Health, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss making decisions to
use good products by creating advertisements for
healthy products.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and under
Time Required: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Materials: Poster board/large paper (for each group),
Markers, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Chalk/
markers; Optional: Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask your students to think of healthy products
and write their suggestions on the board. Exam-
ples might be:
 Health foods or snacks
 Exercising equipment
 Educational toys
 Books
 Clothing
 Vacations
2) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
3) Give each group poster board/large paper and
markers.
4) Assign each group a product or product category.
5) Tell the groups to make an advertisement for
their product, advertising all the reasons one
may need that product.
6) Give the groups about 15 minutes for this.
7) After everyone has finished, have groups present
their product and try to “sell” it to the class.
8) After each presentation, ask the class questions
about the advertisement:
 Was it “eye catching”?
 Were people in the advertisement enjoy-
ing the product?
 What were the reasons for using this product?
 Are they any other reasons you can think of?
 Was everything in the advertisement true?
9) If you have room, tape the posters on the walls
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are some differences between advertise-
ments for healthy and unhealthy products?
 Do advertisements for unhealthy products tell
the truth? Why or why not?
Topic: Consumer Health, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To discuss the difference be-
tween healthy and unhealthy products and decide
which products belong in which group.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8- 13
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Two signs – Healthy and Unhealthy, Empty
product packages (as many as you can collect); Op-
tional: 2 baskets/boxes, Blackboard/whiteboard/
flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) A week before the class, ask students to collect
as many empty packages of different products as
they can and bring them to the next class. Differ-
ent products may include:
 Food cans
 Detergent
 Cigarette packages
 Shampoo
 Candy wrappers
 Milk containers
 Juice boxes
 Cereal boxes
 Tomato paste jars
 Cookie boxes
 Soda bottles
 Water bottles
2) Ask the students to bring their packages up to the
front of the room and put them on a table.
3) Ask students what the difference between a
healthy and an unhealthy product.
4) If you have a board, write these ideas down.
155
 5) Bring out two signs, “healthy” and “unhealthy”
and put them on another table at different ends
(if you have baskets or boxes, put those on each
side of the table).
6) Ask students to come up one at a time and place
a product in the place they think it belongs.
7) There may be some tricky ones (like detergent or
other cleaning materials), so let there be room
for debate.
8) When all the products are placed, ask the class if
they agree with where they are.
9) Discuss any disagreements.
10) Review the difference between healthy and un-
healthy products.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why would you want to choose healthy products
and not unhealthy products?
 What kind of harm could unhealthy products do?
 What are the positives of healthy products?
 Could some products be both healthy and unhealthy?
Ad Court
Topic: Consumer Awareness, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To raise awareness about differ-
ent types of healthy and unhealthy products adver-
tised in magazines.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 and under
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Magazines, Scissors, Blackboard/white-
board/flipchart, Chalk/markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to your students that advertisements on
TV and signs in magazines are there because the
156
advertiser wants their money. Most of the time,
advertisers offer good products. Sometimes, the
products are unhealthy or bad.
2) Ask the students to get into pairs.
3) Lay out piles of old magazines around the room.
4) Have students cut out magazine advertisements.
(e.g. food, medicine, toys, clothing, cigarettes,
alcohol, etc.)
5) After everyone has finished, tell them to bring their
advertisements to the front of the classroom.
6) Tell the class they are going to judge the adver-
tisements.
7) Hold the advertisements up for everyone to see
and have the class vote on whether an item is
healthy or unhealthy.
8) Have two students at the chalkboard keep a count
of advertisements in each group.
9) You can also come up with your own categories to in-
spire discussion. (e.g. Necessities vs. Luxuries, etc.)
10) You could also discuss particular advertisements
in more detail. For example:
 Does the ad tell the whole truth about the
product?
 Could the product hurt your health in any
way?
 Does the ad tell any bad things about the
product?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you think there should be laws about what ad-
vertisements can and cannot say?
 What type of people do you think these ads try
to reach?
 Why do you think they try to reach this type of
audience?
 Are there also positive ways you can use adver-
tisements? What are some examples?
Fitness

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158
Cardiovascular Fitness Plan
Topic: Fitness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate the importance
of cardiovascular activity to children and to help
them design their own fitness plan.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1– 2 hours
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Markers,
Flip-chart paper, Scratch paper for each group, Day-
by-day weekly schedule guides, An example schedule
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Talk to students about their favorite sportsmen and
how exercise plays an important role (5-10 minutes).
2) Introduce the concept of “cardiovascular activ-
ity” and explain the benefits. For example:
 It increases muscular strength.
 It increases endurance.
 It clarifies your mental processes.
 It improves your quality of life.
 It can even extend your life.
3) As a group, define and discuss cardiovascular activity.
“It is exercise that strengthens the heart by regularly
Weekly Schedule
Day Monday Tuesday Wednessay
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
inducing the heart to beat harder and faster; doctors
recommend people exercise at least 3 times a week
for 20 minutes at minimum each time.”
4) Divide the class into groups of three or four and
have them brainstorm different ideas for cardio-
vascular exercise regimens (check on them to
make sure they are correct).
5) Have each group record their ideas on a piece of
flip chart paper.
6) When they are done, have each group present
their ideas to the class.
7) Hand out week-by-week schedule sheets.
8) Have the students choose one of the activities for
their daily schedule.
9) Encourage the students to organize themselves to
participate in group activities, like soccer.
10) Encourage the students to take home the sched-
ules and follow them.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have the students return with their schedules af-
ter a few weeks with checkmarks for every time
they were able to do the daily activity. Discuss in
class the ease/difficulty of making the activity a
part of their daily schedule. Adjust if necessary.
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
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Strengthening Your Heart
Topic: Fitness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain from
this activity?): To learn to take your own pulse, explain
how exercise strengthens the heart, and understand
that smoking and laziness weaken the heart.
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Prior knowledge of how to take a pulse
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Teach the students how to take their pulse, feel-
ing for the carotid artery or radial pulse. This will
take some time. Demonstrate how to find it.
2) Once the students can feel their pulse, ask them
if their heart beat is fast or slow. You can also ask
them to count the beats per second. Explain to
them that their heartbeat is at a normal resting
rate, so it should be steady.
3) Explain that the heart is a muscle so when stu-
dents exercise their heart, it becomes stronger.
4) Explain that their hearts are as big as their fists
and pump blood through their bodies. Discuss the
importance of a strong heart.
5) Have the students open and close their fists to
represent their hearts, clenching slowly at first,
then increasingly faster to simulate the heart
when exercising.
6) Have the students exercise (doing jumping jacks,
run in place, etc) then take their pulses again.
7) Have them model their hearts with their fists
again. They should be clenching their fists fairly
quickly now.
8) Now have the students model what happens after
smoking and laziness by making a weak fist and
opening and closing it very, very quickly. Com-
ment that the stronger the heart is, the less and
slower it has to work.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students come up with exercise and activity
that helps make the heart strong.
 Talk about heart disease with older students.
Exercise Circuit Training
Topic: Fitness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To be able to complete all ex-
ercise circuit activities, take your own pulse, and
explain that exercise strengthens the heart and the
leg, arm and stomach muscles.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Prior knowledge of how to take a pulse
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Teach the students how to take their pulses.
160
2) Divide the students into groups of 4-5.
3) Put each group at a station:
 Jumping jacks – Station 1
 Running in place – Station2
 Hopping on one leg – Station 3
 Push ups – Station 4
 Sit-ups – Station 5
4) Go through each station and demonstrate the ac-
tivity.
5) Instruct the students to do an activity at for one
minute and then switch stations.
6) Continue rotating until everyone has gone through
all of the stations.
7) After each exercise, the students should monitor
and record their pulse rate.
8) Explain that the heart pumps blood throughout
the body. When a person takes their pulse, it is
the pumping of the blood that they are feeling.
A person can exercise their heart by engaging in
cardiovascular activity. A quickening pulse is evi-
dence of the heart working hard.
9) You should stretch before and after this activity.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What kind of activities can you do at home to make
your heart stronger? At school? After school?
Types of Exercise
Topic: Fitness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To describe different types of
exercise and how they help the body.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Poster, Markers, Slips of paper; Optional:
Blackboard/flipchart/whiteboard, Tape
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide the poster (before class) into different
sections, each section representing the three
types of exercise: cardio, strength building, and
flexibility.
2) Ask the students to give examples of each type
of exercise from daily life (sweeping, carrying
water, pulling weeds, laundry, etc) Act out the
dialing activities to enforce your point.
Cardio – relates to the heart and the pulse, ex-
ercise regimen meant to strengthen the heart
and endurance
Strength building – Muscles put on the bones. If
this action is repeated, the body adds miner-
als where the bone is pulled and that part of
the body is strengthened
Flexibility – the ability to move, to stretch and
to relax
3) Have the students find their pulse. Demonstrate
the effects of cardio exercise by doing twenty
jumping jacks and then feeling the pulse again.
4) Explain the reasons behind soreness. This “pain”
is often associated with coming down with a
cold.
5) Cut small strips of paper that describe the ben-
efits of exercise and lay them face down on the
table.
6) Divide the papers between the students at ran-
dom.
7) Have the students apply them to the appropriate
section of the poster. Examples:
 strengthens the heart and lungs (cardio)
 increases energy (cardio)
 helps you sleep better (cardio)
 burns fat (cardio)
 prevents illness and disease (cardio)
 makes you stronger (strength-building)
 helps you feel happier/decreases stress
(cardio)
 should be done at least 3-4 times/week
(cardio)
 brings oxygen and blood to all parts of the
body (cardio)
 lack of this kind of exercise weakens the
heart (cardio)
 takes waste away more quickly (cardio)
 strengthens bones (strength-building)
 examples are lifting and carrying (strength-
building)
 can aid in digestion (cardio)
 prevents pain (flexibility)
 reduces stiffness and pain (flexibility)
 increases range of motion (flexibility)
 helps with balance and coordination (flex-
ibility)
 part of cooling down and warming up
(flexibility)
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Gender Issues

163
164
Gender Picture Codes  Power
 Cooking
and Role Plays  Love
Topic: Gender Roles  Sports
 Active in church
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
 Religion
from this activity?): To learn and discuss what gender
 Strength
roles are and what are the gender roles in Georgia.
 Pregnancy
Number of Students: 10-30  Money
Age Range of Students: 12 and up  Work
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes  Breast feeding
Materials: Two cards “Female” and “Male”, Tape,  Violence
Gender Cards (see next page), Optional: Box/jar,  Beauty
Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk  Doctor
 Nurse
 Control
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
 Serving others
 Working the garden
1) Make two large cards, “Female” and “Male” before
 Chopping firewood
class. Tape them on opposite walls of the classroom.
 Raising the children
2) Make at least one “gender card” for each student.
 Powerless or helpless
You can have more than that if you would like.
 Driving a vehicle
3) If you have a board, put the phrase “Gender Roles”  Digging graves
down and ask the class to define this term.  Caring for the sick
4) If you do not have a board, discuss the meaning of  Earning money
“gender roles”.  Wearing long hair
5) Give each student at least one gender card.  Smoking
6) Tell them that when you say go, they must put  Drinking alcohol
their card on the wall they think it belongs on, AS  Owning a home
FAST AS THEY CAN!!!  Living alone
7) You can either have them tape the cards up, or  Taking care of animals
just put them in a box or pile.  Politics
8) After everyone has their card in place, ask them
to sit back down.
Gender vs. Sex
9) Read the cards on each side.
10) Ask the group if they agree on all the cards and Topic: Gender Issues
their placing. Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
11) Allow this to spark debate among the class. from this activity?): To learn the difference between
12) You can change the cards if everyone agrees. “gender” and “sex”.
13) The discussion may take a long time. You may al- Number of Students: 5-30
low any amount of time you would like. If they Age Range of Students: 12 and up
are having a hard time talking about it, try to
Time Required: 30-45 minutes
ask additional questions like “Do you know any
friends or family members who don’t fit the roles Materials: Two signs “Female” and “Male”, Gender
given to each sex?” cards (at least one for each student), Blackboard/
whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk; Optional: Pre-
made definition of sex and gender (saves time)
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

 What is a gender stereotype? Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):

 Can you think of any gender stereotypes in Georgia?
1) Before class, tape the three signs, “Female”,
 Are these stereotypes negative or positive?
“Male” and “Both” on opposite walls in the class-
 Why do you think gender roles are made? room, with “Both” on the middle wall.
 Can you think of how gender roles differ in dif- 2) Talk briefly about the term “gender roles” with
ferent cultures? the class.
3) Give each student at least one “gender card”.
Gender Card Suggestions 4) Tell the students that they must read their card and
decide whether it belongs under “Male”, “Female”
 Leadership or in the middle if it’s both, depending on if they
 Education are physically or biologically able to do the task.
 Building a house
5) Make sure they are clear on what physical and
 Intelligence
biological capabilities are before you start.
 Family decisions
 Weak 6) When you say “go” they should put their card
 Stealing where they think it belongs.
 Decision making 7) It may look like this:
 Authority Female: pregnancy, breast feeding

165
 Male: strength, facial hair
Both: marriage, education, leadership
8) After everyone is done, have the students sit
back down.
9) Based on the exercise, ask the group to process
what “sex” and “gender” means.
10) What are the differences between the two terms?
11) Write the definitions of “sex” and “gender” on
the board (or produce pre-made definitions).
12) Emphasize that gender is something influenced
by culture and other outside influences, and sex
is something that is biological.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do girls communicate differently than boys?
 Are girls able to make decisions as much as boys?
 How does this relate to gender roles?
 How are relationships different for boys and girls?
 Are consequences different for boys and girls?
 How do Georgian gender roles differ from those
in other countries?
Gender Picture Role Plays
Topic: Gender Issues
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To describe some gender issues
in the community, their consequences, and identify
possible alternatives to traditional gender roles.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Gender pictures (one for each group),
Paper/pens/pencils; Optional: Props for role plays,
Magazines, Scissors
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class, prepare pictures of a scene with
various gender stereotypes. You can either draw
this or cut pictures out of a magazine.
2) For added time or creativity, you can have stu-
dents look through magazines themselves to look
for a scene.
3) Divide the class into groups of four or five (mix
the genders if you can).
4) Give each group a gender picture.
5) Tell the groups that they must identify the gender
issues at work in the picture as a group.
6) Tell the groups to discuss the situation together:
what are the differences in the roles of men and
women in the scene? What might be some of the
consequences of these roles? What is positive
about them? For whom? Negative? For whom?
7) Tell the groups they must now develop a role play
based on the situation depicted in the picture.
They must act out exactly what is happening in
the picture, or basically bring the image to life.
8) Give the groups at least 10 or 15 minutes to de-
velop their role play.
9) After they are done, have them perform for the
whole class.
166
10) After each role play, lead a discussion on the gen-
der issues portrayed in the role play.
11) Hold up the picture for the whole group to see.
12) Deal with any issues not covered by the group.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What did you think of the ideas discussed today?
 Do you think there is anything in the culture that
needs to be changed to produce healthier lives?
 What would you change?
 Can it be changed? How?
Gender and Culture: Ideal Images
and Personal Destroyers
Topic: Gender Roles, Community Awareness, Self-
Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To list the “ideal images” of gen-
der for their society and identify ways in which those
stereotypes can be limiting or used to pressure a per-
son into behaving a certain way.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Mak-
ers/chalk; Optional: Paper, Pens/paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask the class to break up into small groups of 4 or 5.
2) Tell them they are to discuss what they think is the
“ideal image” of each sex in their community.
3) They can write down their ideas on a piece of paper.
4) After about five or ten minutes, bring the groups
back together and have them tell the rest of the
class what they came up with.
5) Write down the ideas on the board.
6) Allow discussion.
7) Ask the class to go back to their groups.
8) This time have them discuss how easy it is to live
up to the expectations of their community.
9) After about five or ten minutes, have them return
to the class.
10) Discuss as a class and write down their ideas on
the board.
11) Point on the gaps between expectations and reality.
12) Explain that these ideals can sometimes become
personal destroyers. For example, the idea that
women must stay at home may discourage them
from going to university and starting a career.
13) Have the group now think about how some of the
ideals can be personal destroyers.
14) Have them get into their groups again and write
down their ideas.
15) Discuss as a class.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Ask the class to state one ideal image they want
to strive for, and another they consider a per-
sonal destroyer.
Gender Stereotype Pictures
Topic: Gender Issues
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To examine Georgian gender
stereotypes, discuss exceptions to those stereotypes
and to identify negative stereotypes that may need
to be changed.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: 12 and up
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Large paper or flipchart paper for each
group, Makers/pens/colored pencils, Tape, Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart, Makers/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Write down the term “gender stereotype” on the
board.
2) Discuss with the class possible definitions.
3) Divide the class into groups of 3 or for (make sure
there is an even amount of groups).
4) Give each group a large piece of paper and mak-
ers/pens/colored pencils.
5) Tell half the groups they must draw the stereo-
typical Georgian male, and another group to
draw a stereotypical female (if you have a good
number of boys and girls, divide them according
to sex and have the boys draw a women and the
girls draw a man. Also, be sure to have them draw
someone their age. If they older, have them draw
an older person, if they are teens, a teenager.
6) Tell the groups that they must also include as
many stereotypes they can think of in the pic-
ture.
7) After they are done, have the groups switch with
each other, so that now those who drew a woman
have a man picture and those who drew a man
have a woman picture.
8) Tell the groups they must now label all of the
stereotypes they find in the picture.
9) This can take a long time, so be sure to monitor
and encourage them not to go into too much de-
tail.
10) After everyone is done, have each group present
their picture.
11) Write down their ideas on the board as they pres-
ent.
12) After everyone is done presenting, ask the class
to read the list on the board.
13) Ask them to think about what are negative and
positive stereotypes.
14) After a few minutes of thinking, ask them to
share their ideas.
15) Circle those they see as negative and put a star
next to those they think are positive
16) Leave room for discussion.
17) After you are done, ask the class to tell you why
they think the negative ones are negative.
18) Have them get into groups and write down ideas
on how to change three of the negative stereo-
types.
19) Have everyone share and discuss their ideas with
the group.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Are there common gender stereotypes within dif-
ferent cultures? Give some examples.
167
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 Smoking and
Substance Abuse

169
170
Smoking Advertisement Methods
Topic: Smoking, Consumer Awareness
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students recognize meth-
ods used by cigarette companies to bring in buyers,
to help students analyze advertisements and find
faults in the advertisements (cigarettes don’t make
you beautiful).
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 9-17
Time Required: 30 min
Materials: Several cigarette advertisements , Black-
board/whiteboard/flipchart, Markers/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide groups into four or five with large groups.
2) Give each group copy of cigarette advertisement
and sheet with questions: Is the ad colorful? What
is pictured in the ad? What age would like this ad?
What do you think the ad is saying? What do you
think the ad is trying to say about cigarettes?
3) Give students 10 – 15 minutes to discuss the ques-
tions and write down answers.
4) Have each group present their advertisement and
the answers to the questions – write them down
on the board.
5) After each presentation have group add any thoughts
they have, any disagreements or agreements.
6) After all the presentations, talk about what cigarettes
are known to do (bad breath, lung cancer, death,
bad teeth, etc) and write them on the board.
7) Discuss if the advertisements match the facts
about cigarettes.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Regulations on advertisements
 Who advertisements are targeting and who they
should target
 Where advertisements are, how many they are
compared to other advertisements
 Why would advertisements want to target the
young?
Smoking Graphs
Topic: Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn and analyze smoking
statistics, turn numbers into a visual product, bring
awareness to smoking problems.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Statistics on smokers and age in Georgia
or other statistics (in number form), Large pieces of
paper for each group, Rulers for each group, Pencils,
Pens, Markers for each group (one black, one red),
Tape, Example chart; Optional: Glitter, Glue, Stick-
ers, Colored markers/pencils or crayons, Yarn, Other
decorative materials to make the graphs pretty (use
your creative side!!!)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide into groups of four or five.
2) Give each group a large piece of paper, marker,
pencil, ruler and list of statistics.
3) Show example graph and explain how to chart the
information.
4) Have each group make a graph of the statistics
they have (you can also give each group differ-
ent statistics, or make pie charts or other charts
instead).
5) Give each group 20-30 minutes to complete the
task.
6) After they are finished, have the groups tape
their graphs to the wall.
7) Have each group explain their graph and tell what
their graph shows.
8) Have a brief discussion about what the charts ad-
dress and what it means to them.
9) You can also have the charts posted in the school
halls or club room so others can see.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 You can have different graphs and compare infor-
mation, trying to relate the two parts of informa-
tion (more smoking leads to more lung cancer, or
more deaths)
 You can work with your group to make one big
chart to display in school or club
Anti-Smoking Posters
Topic: Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help students express what
they think about smoking and its affects.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 6 – 17
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Poster board (or large paper), Mark-
ers/crayons/colored pencils, Pencils, Pens, Rulers,
Example poster; Optional: Glitter, Glue, Stickers,
Yarn, Other decorative materials (use your creative
side!!!)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Divide into groups of 3 or 4.
2) Have a five minute discussion and ask for adjec-
tives or images they think of when they think of
smoking and its effects.
3) Give each group a poster board, markers, crayons
or colored pencils, pencils, ruler.
4) Show an example poster (maybe one done in the
states, one that you have come across that you
like, or even your own).
5) Allow the rest of the time period (except for 10
minutes at the end) to create a poster express-
ing their thoughts on smoking and the effects it
has (on people and in their lives). Emphasize that
the posters should express to children why not to
smoke.
171
 6) After the groups are done, have each group make
a small presentation of the poster.
7) You can hang posters in the school or have them
take them home if you would like.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Compare/contrast posters to cigarette advertise-
ments.
 Discuss how images affect views (for older
group).
 Maybe have a poster contest in your community
(you can also expand this to other substances and
Topics, such as drugs, alcohol or HIV/AIDS).
Puppet Role Play
Topic: Smoking, How to Say “No”
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students practice situa-
tions where they will encounter smoking offers and
how to say no.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
Time Required: 1 – 1.5 hours
Materials: Paper with people cut outs (one for each
child), Markers/colored pencils/crayons, Sticks (one
for each child), Tape, Scissors, Blackboard/white-
board/flipchart, List of “ways to say no” (one for
each child), List of situations and way to say no(one
for each group); Optional: Yarn (for hair), Glitter,
Other decorative materials
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Hand out “ways to say no” paper.
2) Explain each way to the class.
3) Divide into groups of 4-5.
4) Give each group a list of situations and a way to
say no, people cut outs (one for each member),
sticks (one for each member), makers/colored
pencils/crayons, scissors and tape.
5) Explain to groups how to make their puppet.
6) Explain to groups to read their situation and to
practice acting out the situation and the way to
say no with their puppets.
7) Allow 30 minutes to decorate and practice with
their puppet (make sure they stay on task and
don’t spend all time on the puppets).
8) Have each group present and act out the situa-
tion/way to say no to the class.
9) Have the class try to guess which way to say no
the group used.
10) Have a brief discussion on the ways to say no af-
terwards.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students pick their favorite way to say no.
 Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of each
way to say no.
 Ask if anyone has used any of the ways to say no.
 Have students come up with their own situa-
tions.
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Ways to Say “No”
The Polite Way -
 Do you want a cigarette?
 No thank you. I don’t smoke
Be Funny -
 Do you want a cigarette?
 Yeah right, I’d rather shove a basketball
up my nose
Show Your Knowledge -
 Just try a drag and see what you think
 No thanks. I don’t want to. Just thinking
about breathing in 40 chemicals makes me
sick. It isn’t my idea of a good time.
Echo Technique
 Do you want a smoke?
 No thanks.
 Come on!
 No thanks.
 You aren’t afraid are you?
 No thanks
Leave
 Check it out. I’ve got some smokes. Want
one?
 No thanks, I have to go now.
Too Busy
 Check out. I’ve got some smokes. Want
one?
 (continue what you were doing, or quietly
leave) You can also say, “I’m busy”
Strength in Numbers
 Make friends who have the same opinion
as you. It’s a lot easier to say “no” when
you have friends who agree with you.
Smoking Lungs
Topic: Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To show kids the effects of smok-
ing on the lungs.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10 – 17
Time Required: 30 min
Materials: Empty plastic litter bottle, Cigarette,
Clay/a lot of gum, Nail/knife, Picture of lungs
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Briefly discuss how the lungs work.
2) Have everyone stand back a bit (maybe put on a
scientist act, like Bill Nye the Science Guy or a
mad scientist).
3) Fill bottle partway with water (two inches).
4) Cut a hole at the top of the bottle.
5) Put a cigarette in the mouth of the bottle, and
stick it there with gum or clay.
6) Light the cigarette and pump the bottle like
lungs.
7) Wait until big amount smoke builds up.
8) Ask the class what is happening.
9) Explain that’s how smoke gets into lungs.
10) Watch water to see if the color turns.
11) Have students smell the bottle (ew!).
12) Ask what students think about it and what they
think it says about what smoking does to your
lungs.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What other organs does smoking affect?
 Predict what lungs will look like after years of
smoking
 Show pictures of lungs after many years of smok-
ing and compare them with pictures of healthy
lungs
 Explain cancer
Example Smoking Lungs
Step One:
Step Two:
Ways to Refuse a Cigarette
Smoking Surveys
Topic: Smoking, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To bring awareness to smoking
problems in the community.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 14 -25
Time Required: 30 minutes in class
Materials: Smoking statistics, Paper, Pen, Questions;
Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class, look up smoking statistics for the
world or in other countries.
2) Talk about some smoking statistics in the world or
other countries.
3) Ask students how many people they think smoke
in their village/city.
4) Tell students to conduct a smoking survey in their
community.
5) Make sure to tell them to reassure the survey is
anonymous, and to be sensitive.
6) The next class, have the students calculate all
the results.
7) Ask them what they think this information
means.
8) Ask them if they can think of any community
project or action that would affect the greatest
number of people.
List of Suggested Questions
 Sex (male or female)
 Age
 Do you smoke?
 When did you start smoking?
 Why did you start smoking?
 Do you want to quit? Why/why not?
 Do you think smoking is healthy?
 Did you know that smoking can cause can-
cer and other diseases?
 Do your friends smoke?
 Do other people in your family smoke?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students come up with a community action
plan to decrease the number of people smoking
Topic: Saying No, Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To develop students’ refusal
skills.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 10-17
Time Required: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart; Op-
tional: Markers, Flipchart paper, Handout with ways
to say no
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 Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Explain to the students that peer pressure and pres-
sure to do unhealthy things are heard to cope with.
2) Show them all ways to say no (you can write this
on the board or hand out a paper).
Ways to Say “No”
The Polite Way -
 Do you want a cigarette?
 No thank you. I don’t smoke
Be Funny -
 Do you want a cigarette?
 Yeah right, I’d rather shove a basketball
up my nose
Show Your Knowledge -
 Just try a drag and see what you think
 No thanks. I don’t want to. Just thinking
about breathing in 40 chemicals makes me
sick. It isn’t my idea of a good time.
Echo Technique
 Do you want a smoke?
 No thanks.
 Come on!
 No thanks.
 You aren’t afraid are you?
 No thanks
Leave
 Check it out. I’ve got some smokes. Want one?
 No thanks, I have to go now.
Too Busy
 Check out. I’ve got some smokes. Want one?
 (continue what you were doing, or quietly
leave) You can also say, “I’m busy”
Strength in Numbers
 Make friends who have the same opinion
as you. It’s a lot easier to say “no” when
you have friends who agree with you.
3) Take to students and start by having one try to
Cigarette Tar
persuade the other to smoke.
4) Replace smoking with other relevant issues (drink-
ing, stealing, cheating, fighting)
5) Have kids who are watching critique the role plays
and identify what worked well and what didn’t.
Make sure every student gets a chance to say “no”.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Have students come up with there own ways to
say no if they can.
Why Smoking is Risky
Topic: Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To understand what kinds of
174
stresses and pressures make people smoke and how
to counter those pressures.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Pen/
marker/chalk
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Brainstorm with kids and make a list of reasons
why people smoke. There are many reasons why
people smoke such as stress, peer pressure, and
the desire to lose weight.
2) Once you have done this, counter each reason. That
is, explain why the reason is not such a good reason.
Various reasons and counter-reasons are as follows:
 People smoke because it makes them look
fashionable. (“If you smoke your teeth
will eventually turn yellow and no one
will want to kiss you. That’s not fashion-
able!”)
 People smoke because it relaxes them.
(“Smoking makes it harder to breathe.
This can only add to stress. Also, smoking
causes cancer. That will certainly add to
stress!”)
 People smoke because of peer-pressure
from friends and TV. (“Arm yourself with
facts so that you can explain to your friends
why smoking is bad for your health. Also,
anyone who is really your friend won’t
want you to do something that isn’t good
for you.”)
3) Explain to kids that smoking is expensive. If a per-
son smokes a 300amd pack a day of cigarettes,
they will spend about $200 in a year. You can go
to and from Russia for that kind of money.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What are some ways you could help your friends
stop smoking?
 Should there be new laws to help kids not to
smoke? If so, what laws would you want to see?
Topic: Smoking
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To recognize tar as the sticky,
brown, poisonous substance found in cigarettes.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 8-17
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: An empty squeeze bottle, Two cotton balls,
Cigarette (filter less, if possible), Book of matches or
lighter, A lid from a jar
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before class - Cut the opening in the nozzle of the
squeeze bottle large enough to snugly insert the
end of the cigarette.
2) Unscrew the top and stretch the cotton ball
across the top and around the threads like a fil-
ter. Secure the cotton ball by screwing the cap
back on the bottle.
3) Insert the (filter) end of the cigarette into the
opening of the bottle’s nozzle.
4) After discussing the hazards of smoking with the
class, show the class a clean cotton ball. Explain
that the cotton ball will represent the healthy tis-
sue of a non-smoker’s lungs. Allow the students
to handle, observe, and pass around the cotton
ball.
5) While the cotton ball is being passed around,
bring out the “smoker’s lung” device. Explain
that this will represent a smoker. The cotton ball
inside is the lungs. The smoker will smoke one
cigarette, and then the class will have the op-
Tarred Lungs
portunity to observe the damage to the lungs.
Topic: Smoking
6) Light the cigarette. (Do this demonstration near
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
an open window.) Squeeze and release the bottle
from this activity?): To show students what tar does
in a methodical fashion to draw air into the ciga-
to lungs.
rette and thus “smoke” it. Use the jar lid as a
makeshift ashtray. Number of Students: 5-30
7) After the cigarette has been “smoked” to within Age Range of Students: All ages
about an inch of the bottle nozzle’s opening, put Time Required: 30 minutes
the cigarette out. Allow the remnants of smoke Materials: Cotton balls, Plastic bag, Rubber band,
to escape out the window. Straw
8) Allow students to gather around for purposes of
observation. Unscrew the bottles’ nozzle and re- Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
move the cotton ball (alias “lung tissue”).
9) Ask the students, “How is this cotton ball differ- 1) Put wet cotton balls into a plastic bag and tie it
ent from the other cotton ball that we passed off with a rubber band.
around earlier?” (It has a brown color.) “What do 2) Put a straw through the rubber banded opening in
you think this brown substance is?” (tar) “What the top of the bag. The bag represents the lungs;
damage might tar cause in your lungs?” (lung can- the cotton balls represent the inside of the lungs;
cer, coughing, makes breathing difficult) and the straw represents the throat.
10) Allow students to personally inspect the stained 3) Blow smoke into the bag (or have a teacher do it)
cotton ball. in from of the students what color is the cotton
now? Since the cotton balls represent the inside
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics: of the lungs, how does smoking affect the inside
of the lungs?
 A person who smokes about a pack of cigarettes 4) Discuss the negatives of smoking.
a day ingests nearly a quart of tar into his/her 5) Note: the bag cannot have any holes in it except
lungs during the course of a year. (If possible, where the straw enters.
bring a quart sized container into the classroom
to demonstrate.)
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:

Diagram of Cigarette Tar Project  Discuss the cost of cigarettes and alcohol, and
brainstorm what else could be bought.

175
 Drug Facts

WHAT IS A DRUG?

Here are some common characteristics of a drug.

1. potential for dependence
2. withdrawal symptoms if ceased
3. most develop tolerance
4. altered biological, mental, and behavioral effects
5. adverse health effects
6. sometimes illegal
7. unregulated, and may have dangerous chemicals in them
8. often common and easy to obtain

WHY PEOPLE USE DRUGS:

 peer pressure, desire to be like others, initiation into groups

 escape for troubles
 cannot stop, develop addiction or dependence
 trying to stay awake
 social customs, spiritual tradition
 genetic disposition
 self medication- of mental illness, other problems
 people always use drugs because they believe they get something out of it

COMMON DRUGS

CAFFEINE:

Caffeine is commonly found in coffee, tea, and chocolate. Caffeine is a type of stimulant, in other
words, in increases the heart rate, respiration, the autonomic system, and makes one feel like they
have more energy and are more awake. In small amounts and over short periods of time caffeine does
not have harmful effects, but over many years of drinking coffee it can have considerable health ef-
fects. A normal cup of filtered coffee has from 60 to 90 milligrams of caffeine. Despite its everyday
use by so many people, it is a true drug, therefore it can lead withdrawal symptoms if one suddenly
stops drinking coffee. This is usually noticed with as few as 1 to 3 or more cups per day. Commonly
people experience headaches, sleepiness, and irritability. With higher intake of caffeine, severe
headaches can occur and may persist for up to a week, along with the other symptoms.
Other potential health effects of caffeine and coffee are:
 liver damage
 stomach damage because coffee has a lot of acid
 discoloration of teeth
 dehydration, because coffee speeds up the digestive system and is a diuretic (increased
urine output), thus drinking a lot of coffee and working outside on a hot day is not a good
idea.
 Poor sleep/insomnia
 heart disease due to prolonged increased and unnatural activity
 for men only, the potential of impotence and decreased sperm count
Why do people WANT to drink coffee?”
 keeps them awake
 some people say, “I don’t wake up till I have my first cup of coffee.”
 tastes good
 tradition
 everyone else does it, why not?

176
How much is too much coffee?

As little as 1 to 3 cups of coffee can lead to withdraw symptoms like headaches and poor sleep.
Herbal tea, fresh fruit juice, healthy diet and exercise are great substitutes (naturally leads to in-
crease of energy).

NICOTINE:

Nicotine comes from tobacco. Tobacco originated in America and was only discovered about 400 years
ago. It was used by the Native America People only for spiritual purposes and was considered a very
special and powerful plant. When the Europeans began using the plant, they did not practice the
same caution as the Native Americans and quickly became addicted to it, and realizing they had a
potentially very profitable product, they began to export it to Europe. Now, hundreds of millions of
people are smoking and a global health is being seriously affected.
Cigarettes are about the only form people are exposed to the drug nicotine. Nicotine is, like caf-
feine, a stimulant. The heart rate in increased, loss of appetite, and a sense of relaxation or release
of tension may briefly be felt, until the desire for another cigarette is felt. The harmful effects of
cigarettes have been well documented by scientists for years. Many people think smoking is just a
habit and that they can stop any time they want. In truth, most people can not stop even if they want
to. About 70% to 80 % of people who smoke and have tried to stop, return to smoking in one year. So,
if you are thinking about smoking, you better real it is something you will probably be doing for the
rest of your life, whether you like it or not.

Why do people smoke?

 peer pressure, desire to look cool, or be liberal, free

 family does it
 cannot stop
 they think it helps with stress
 think it helps with weight reduction
 other reasons

Harmful effects caused by chronic cigarette smoking:

 bronchitis, pneumonia and worsened asthma chronic coughing and wheezing

 decreased lung capacity (more effort to breath same amount of air as normal, harder to
do strenuous work)
 lung cancer, and increase incidence of other cancers
 heart disease and strokes
 birth defects in children (if smoking while pregnant of possible exposure by mother to
second hand smoke)
 physical and psychological dependence
 decreased physical fitness
 decreased life span
 discoloration of hands and teeth
 for men, linked to impotence

Effects on non-smokers from second hand smoke can include:

 increased respiratory illnesses to babies up to 18 months of age

 increased chance for middle ear problems in children
 increase coughing and wheezing, worsened asthma in children
 low birth weights and lower survival rates in newborn babies due to smoking during preg-
nancy
 increased rates for cancer if chronically exposed to second hard smoke

Even Cigarettes without nicotine are a health concern because tobacco producers often use hundreds
of chemicals which interact with one another and actually form radiation. If you go to a home where
people smoke, you can take a GIGERCOU7NTER, and it will indicate above average RADIATION in a
person’s home. Imagine what this can do to your self and your children over many years

177
 Alternatives to cigarettes?

 Here are some things to say to “friends” who want you to smoke:
 remind them that being athletic and smoking do not go together
 tell friends that its “cooler” to live longer and not have to hack up brown stuff every morn-
ing or get emphysema
 tell friends that dying early or getting lung cancer is not the best way to demonstrate how
to be a “man”
 tell girlfriends that truly free women do not get addicted to cigarettes

ALCOHOL

Description: Alcohol is the by-product of fermentation. It has been used by people for many thou-
sands of years. The first known beverage intentionally made for alcohol was Mead, or Honey Wine.
For thousands of years alcohol was more difficult to produce and was usually used for official func-
tions and especially religious rituals. As alcohol become easier to produce, more and more people
began to drink it and more problems began to arise. Only in the last century have doctors and scien-
tists understood the serious health problems associated with alcohol. Some ethnic groups have had
exposure to alcohol for thousands of years and their bodies can handle it better, but for other groups
it is fairly new and can affect them very severely.

Why do people drink?

1. Tradition, family does it

2. Peer pressure, expected to
3. Trying to feel good
4. “Denial of problems”
5. Depression, other mental health problems
6. Genetic disposition towards it
7. Others

Alcohol effects on the body include:

 slowing down the activity of the central nervous system

 slower reaction, loss of control over action, erratic behavior
 impaired thinking and judgment
 staggering, disorientation, moodiness, slurred speech, double vision
 vomiting and incontinence
 Unconsciousness, death due to respiratory paralysis
 Cancer of the mouth, esophagus or stomach, due to irritating effect of liquor
 Heart disease- enlarged heart, congestive heart failure
 Liver damage- cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, cancer of the liver
 Ulcers and gastritis
 Damage to adrenal and pituitary glands
 Tolerance, physical and psychological dependence
 Birth defects due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy
 Other Problems
 Can stimulate depression, and mask mental health problems
 Can cause violence, increasing aggression
 Can cause depression, uncontrollable crying
 Maybe seen as shameful activity
 Could become a Problem Drinker or Alcohol Abuser, or Alcohol Dependent (see below)

Alcoholism:

Alcoholism is a disease characterized by the uncontrolled use of alcohol. The causes of alcoholism
may be a combination of genetic, environment, cultural, and psychological factors. ANYONE can be-
come an alcoholic, and alcoholics can recover from the disease but are never cured (in other words,
relapse will always be a risk). It is a serious disease which kills millions of people every year.

178
Possible symptoms of alcoholism:

 greater tolerance
 personality changes
 obvious uncontrolled drinking
 blackouts (cannot remember what happened to them)
 preoccupation with alcohol, drinking alone, shakes, malnutrition, high blood pressure
 depression
 broken blood vessels on nose, appears larger, broken engorged blood vessels in throat,
some alcoholics die when the blood vessels break and they drown in their own blood.

What are Alternatives to Alcohol?

 Spend more time with friends who do not drink.

 Coffee, teas, if you have to.
 If you must drink, drink beverages with less alcohol in them, like beer and wine, but re-
member they have the same potential for health problems and addiction.
 Drinking and being athletic do not go together

Drug Dependence (usually for more serious drugs): Possible signs

Biological-

1. Poor health, injuries

2. Malnutrition and dehydration
3. Restlessness, reflex action, insomnia, or increased sleep and torpor
4. Pin point or dilated pupils
5. Needle marks on arms
6. Development of common drug related disease, such as Hepatitis and AIDS

Behavioral-

1. Drunkenness, drowsiness, irrational behavior, over talkative, or overly silent

2. Overly isolative or socially withdrawn
3. Sharp reduction in school performance
4. Difficulty maintaining job, or other activities
5. Engaging in anti-social behavior such as; theft, violence, drug dealing, and maybe
6. Resulting in prison term
7. Changes in peer groups, friends
8. Daily life revolves around obtaining more drugs, other needs, even food may become secondary
9. Possession of drug paraphernalia, such as needles, pipes, etc.

Mental-

1. obsession on getting more of the drug, getting “high” again

2. personality changes, moodiness, overly aggressive or passive
3. poor judgment, irrational ideas and schemes, ignoring reality

Withdrawal symptoms if drug activity stops-

 excessive sleep
 increased heart rate, poor sleep, sweating, panting
 hallucinations, feeling like skin crawling
 increased blood pressure, stress on body
 headaches
 craving for more
 depression, anxiety, desperation, suicidal feelings or actions
 violent behavior

179
Alcohol Intoxication Simulations
Topic: Alcohol
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To understand the loss of coordi-
nation and bodily control associated with drinking.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: None
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have students divide into small groups.
2) One student volunteers first.
3) Student must extent arms out, away from body,
parallel to shoulders. With one hand at a time,
they must touch their nose. Have them notice
how easy it was.
4) Now, blind fold student.
5) Student must spin around many times. Have some
other students present in a circle around spinning
person to protect them from falling.
6) After a minute or two, stop.
7) With blind fold on, student must repeat nose
touching exercise.
8) Have them note how much more difficult it is.
Another Option
1) Have student walk in straight line.
2) Student spins rapidly for at least 30 seconds,
with students protecting them
3) Then, student must try to walk in a straight line,
with feet placed in a line, end to end.
4) Have students note, before and after.
Yet Another Option
1) Have students write with non-dominant hand.
2) Have them note how difficult it is.
Tell a Friend About It
Other ideas:
Simulate how seriously drinking can affect behaviors
by having students: -
 Talk with their mouths full of marsh mal-
lows (or other food).
 Run through a maze with one eye covered
 Write with their non-dominate hand
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does alcohol seriously affect a person’s be-
havior? Why would someone not be as coordi-
nated if they are under the influence of alcohol?
Why would this be a problem? Can a person safely
drive a car if they have been drinking? Can they
do other activities safely?
180
What is a drug?
Topic: Drugs
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To educate primarily about po-
tential harmful effects of common drugs in their envi-
ronment. The main emphasis is primarily on caffeine,
nicotine, and alcohol, and secondarily about cannabis,
cocaine, hallucinogens, narcotics and inhalants.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 13-18
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Poster board, larger paper, Several sets of
colored markers and/or crayons, Paper, Pens/pencils
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Start with a warm-up activity. A good idea might
be to go around the room and have each student
talk about a time they saw either on TV or in their
own personal life, someone using drugs. How did
it make them feel? Were they worried for the
person? Did drugs look interesting? How did the
person act once they got high?
2) Presentation: What is a drug?
3) Ask class first, and begin to make a list of what char-
acteristics a drug has. How might someone on drugs
feel? What kind of drugs have you heard about?
4) Use given information to supplement the discussion.
5) Ask class what they think about drug use. Are
they perceived as a group of people/individuals
who need special medical treatment? Are they
sick? Why do they think that person uses drugs?
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Small group drawing about why people use drugs:
Form class into small groups of 4-5 students. Ask
students to draw and write about why they be-
lieve people use drugs. Have discussion.
Topic: Drugs, Alcohol, Community
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To write a factual message about
staying drug and alcohol free.
Number of Students: 10-50
Age Range of Students: 10 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Paper or cardboard, Crayons, Pencils,
Pens, Markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Talk to the students about the effects of drugs
and alcohol.
2) Ask the students to write a letter to someone
about this. This person can be someone they
want to stop using drugs and alcohol or a younger
sibling they want to warn about the effects of
drugs and alcohol.
3) Have students draw a picture about drugs and alco-
hol and write a message about drugs and alcohol.
 4) When they are finished with the picture, have
them turn the paper over and address it to the
person of their choice.
5) Deliver it or mail it.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Alter this activity by making a bulletin board or
having a drawing contest for awareness. It may
help to take a health worker along to explain the
effects of drugs and alcohol
Caffeine
Topic: Drugs
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To identify the effects of caf-
feine on the human body.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Several rubber balls or squeeze toys, Paste
pictures of food on a flipchart (a mixture of both caffeine
filled foods/drinks and non-caffeinated foods/drinks)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Distribute the squeeze toys (or balls) to a select group
of students. (The teacher should have one also.)
2) The teacher should explain that the student’s
hands and the squeeze toys will represent their
hearts and the beating action. “Let’s see if we
can get our hearts started. IN, OUT. (Squeeze
toy and release.) IN, OUT.”
3) Continue by showing how the heart reacts while the
body is in various situations. “While we’re resting, our
hearts will bean in an even, relaxed way – IN, OUT; IN,
OUT; IN, OUT. (Have students emulate this with their
squeeze toys.) The heart is not working too hard.
However, when we’re playing hard, our hearts will
be pumping much faster in order to supply our bodies
with oxygen—IN-OUT, IN-OUT, IN-OUT!” (Squeeze and
release the toy more rapidly.) Explain to the class,
“It’s natural for your heart rate to increase when you
exercise hard. It’s also natural for it to increase if
you become nervous, worried or embarrassed. (More
blood is being pumped through they body to relieve
the stress upon it.) Light colored skin makes this in-
ternal process more visible. If you are resting and not
nervous or embarrassed, do you think your heart rate
should be slow or fast?” (slow)
4) “The caffeine in certain foods makes our hearts
pump faster even when we’re at rest—IN-OUT,
IN-OUT, IN-OUT! Do you think that’s a healthy
condition for our hearts?” (no)
5) Have the students mark an X on the flipchart foods
they believe to contain caffeine (chocolate, tea,
cola, coffee).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What kind of products do you drink/eat contain caffeine?
 What are substitutes for product you drink/eat
containing caffeine?
 Is caffeine addictive? Why or why not?
Alcohol and Drug Use Role Play
Topic: Substance Abuse
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To think about and act out why
people chose to drink and/or do drugs.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 13 and up
Time Required: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials: Role play story (one for each group)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Have a discussion with the class why they think
people start doing drugs or drinking alcohol.
2) Split the class into groups of 4 to 5.
3) Give each group a role play card.
4) Tell the groups they must act out this role play
the way they think it would happen.
5) Here is the story:
Lasha’s Story
Lasha, a fifteen year old boy, has been arrest-
ed for breaking into a house and stealing a
television. He was drinking and smoking with
a gang of friends and they decided they need-
ed more money for their alcohol and drugs.
They made a plan to rob a house and sell the
television to get more money for their alcohol
and drugs. The police came after the boys,
but only Lasha got caught.
Act out the scene and then have one person
play a famous reporter on the TV. This charac-
ter will interview Lasha, the fifteen year old
boy arrested for housebreaking. Lasha will an-
swer the questions. Use your knowledge about
why people do drugs and alcohol in your role
play.
Some sample questions:
 “Lasha, you are such a young man and now
you will probably go to jail. Why did you
break into the house in the first place?
 “Why did you start drinking and smok-
ing?”
 “How did the alcohol and drugs make you
feel?”
 “Where did you buy the alcohol and
drugs?”
 “Where did you get the money for it?”
6) Let the groups have at least 10 minutes to play
their role play.
7) Have each group perform the role play.
8) After everyone is done, ask the class what were
some of the answers given by Lasha and why they
think he was doing drugs and drinking.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What kind of person do you think Lasha was?
 Why do you think Lasha was using drugs and get-
ting into trouble?
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 Sexual

Education

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How to Decide about Sex (and make
your decision stick)
Topic: Sexual Education, Decision Making
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To help make decisions about ini-
tiating in sexual activity.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15-17
Time Required: 1.5 hours (or two class periods)
Materials: Information brochures on sex, HIV/AIDS,
STI’s, contraceptives, UNAIDS, UNDP statistics; Op-
tional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Tell your students that if you aren’t already, you prob-
ably will be making decisions about whether or not
you will engage in sexual activity sometime soon.
2) Tell them it will be one of the most important
decisions in their lives.
3) Here are some things you can do to help you make
your decision:
 Seek information from reliable sources.
 Talk to people about your feelings, espe-
cially your family.
 Understand all the consequences (physical
as well as emotional).
 Think about what you will do if you be-
come pregnant.
 Learn about STIs and HIV/AIDS and how to
protect yourself.
 Think about what you want in life.
 Think about the person’s pluses and mi-
nuses and if you really want to have sex
with them.
 Think about your values.
 Don’t rush to have sex if you aren’t ready
– if someone rushes you, then that person
is not the person to have sex with!
4) Ask students, what else can you think of that you
need to know before acting on the decision to
have sex?
5) Ask students, once you’ve made the choice, how do
you stick to your limits? Here are some suggestions:
 Know before hand what you do and don’t
want to do.
 Stop things when you start to feel uncom-
fortable. Never push someone else to do
anything they don’t feel comfortable with.
 Clearly state your feelings.
 Point out the consequences.
 Suggest something else to do.
6) List as many good reasons as possible for not hav-
ing sex at this age.
7) Imagine that you are on a date and your boy/
girlfriend is trying to pressure you into having
sex. What are some of things he or she might say
(make a list)? What are good ways to respond to
these things?
8) Imagine that someone you really like wants to
have sex with you, but you don’t feel ready for it.
Brainstorm ways to say no. Role-play situations.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Agree or disagree: If you are not having sex there
is something wrong with you?
 Boys: How do you feel you have to act when with
a girl so she thinks you’re a man? Girls: How do
you feel you have to act when with a boy so he
thinks you are a woman?
 When it comes to sex, whose responsibility is it to
set the limits? Why?
 Some people think that you haven’t become a
man/woman until you’ve had sex. Do you agree?
Why or why not?
 What are some of the emotional risks of having
sex? Physical?
 How can you tell when you’re being pressured?
 Is it ever acceptable to pressure another person
into having sex with you? Why or why not? Explain.
STI Group Research
Topic: Sexual Education
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To have students learn more
about STIs and actively look into the consequences
and how they are contracted.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15-25
Time Required: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Materials: STI resources (text book/internet/brochures),
Pen, Paper; Optional: Blackboard, Poster board, Markers
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Introduce STIs (sexually transmitted infection) to
the class.
2) Have them guess what that means then give the
definition.
3) Have the class list as many sexually transmitted
infections as they can think of.
4) Add onto the list any major ones they forgot.
5) Then break the class into groups of and have
them research each disease.
6) Their research should include:
 How do you get it?
 What are the symptoms?
 What are the effects? (long and short term)
 What is the treatment(s)?
 Can it be cured?
7) Have students present their findings to the class
(you can have them create informational posters
to present to the class as well).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Does your knowledge of STI’s change your opinion
of when to have sex? How?
 How at risk do you feel for getting STIs? Do the
statistics change your mind?
 Would you feel comfortable asking your partner
to get tested? Why or why not?
 What are good ways to ask your partner to get
tested without hurting his/her feelings?
185
Condom Time Bomb
Topic: Sexual Education
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To get students comfortable with
handling condoms and show how strong they can be.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: 5-10 condoms, Slips of paper with one
questions about condoms written on each slip, Music
(small radio, tape player etc)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the session, write one question on a slip of
paper; fold the paper very small and put it inside
one of the condoms; blow up the condom and tie
it like a balloon.
2) Do this for however many condoms you would like
in the game.
3) Have your participants stand in a circle. Hand one
of the ‘balloons’ to a participant.
4) Explain that you will play some music. Partici-
pants should pass the ‘balloon’ around the circle
any way they like-handing it to the person next to
them, batting it into the air to the next person,
dancing with it, and so on.
STI Match
5) When the music stops (when you turn it off), who-
ever is holding the condom balloon must break it,
take out the question, and answer it.
6) After discussing the correct answer, start the mu-
sic and the entire process again.
7) When the participants find it difficult to break the
condom, make sure you point out how strong it is.
Suggested Questions:
 Are condoms 100 percent effective?
 How many times should you use one condom?
 How should a condom look before it is put on?
 Where can you find free condoms?
 Why is it so important to use condoms?
Condom Races
Topic: Sexual Education
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To practice what students have
learned about using condoms.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 15 – 30 minutes
Materials: Banana (or model), Bunch of condoms for
each team
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) This may be difficult to do seriously with your
students. Make sure they are mature enough to
handle such an activity.
2) Form teams. Each team gets one demonstration
model/banana and a bunch of condoms.
3) The teams stand in line, and when you say, ‘Go!’,
each team must go one-by-one up to the model,
186
correctly put the condom on it, come back to
their team mates and tag the next person who
also goes up and repeats the process.
4) When all members of one team have correctly
put condoms on the models, that team wins.
Another variation:
1) Write all of the steps for putting on a condom on
individual cards.
2) Mix up each set of cards so that they are no longer
in order, and give one set of cards to each team.
3) When you say ‘Go!’ the teams have to race each
other to see which team will put the steps in or-
der the fastest.
4) The team that gets all the steps in the correct
order first wins the races.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you think everyone who uses condoms knows
how to use them?
 What happens if you use a condom incorrectly?
 Why are condoms important?
 Who do you think should learn to use condoms?
Boys? Girls? Both?
Topic: Sexual Education
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about different STIs.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and up
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials: Cards, Signs with different STI names,
Tape; Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Remember this Topic: is SENSITIVE! Do NOT do
this unless you are sure your class will be okay
and comfortable with discussing this Topic:.
2) Before class make signs with names of STIs.
3) Tape up the signs around the classroom on the
walls.
4) Write the proper names next to the scientific
names.
5) Write the symptoms on cards before class.
6) Divide the class into groups of how ever many
STIs are on the wall.
7) Assign each group to an STI.
8) Throw the cards on the floor.
9) Explain that each group must find their symptoms
and tape them under the sign.
10) When everyone is finished, go over the answers
with the class and correct any mistakes.
11) Discuss.
 Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Where do people in Georgia go to get treated
for STIs? Which of these places is the best to get
treated? Why?
 Are people afraid to seek treatment for STIs? Why?
 Why is it important to get treated early for STIs?
Why is it important that your partners get treated?
 How can we tell that they have been expose to an STD
without blaming them or getting hurt ourselves?
4 Common STIs and Symptoms
Gonorrhea
 Yellow-green or white discharge from the
penis or vagina
 Burning sensation or urination
 Symptoms usually 2 to 14 days after ex-
posure
 Possibly no symptoms
 Possible swelling in the area of the tes-
ticles
 Possible sterility if untreated
 Possible blindness in newborns if not
treated with drops in eyes
Syphilis
 Painless sore on the penis or vagina
 Sore appears 10 to 90 days after exposure
 Non-itching rash on body (palms and
soles)
 Hair loss, fever, and chills
 Possible death if untreated
 Possible death or bone deformation in
newborn if mother is not treated early in
pregnancy
Herpes Simplex
 No cure, treatment is medicine called
Acyclovir
 Small painful blisters on genitals or
mouth
 Symptoms may recur when under stress
 Viral infection
 Severe neurological damage or death to
newborns if exposed in birth canal
Cancroids
 Painful sore on penis or vagina
 Sore appears 3 to 5 days after exposure
 Inflammation of lymph gland on the side
 Greatest risk factor for HIV transmission
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HIV/AIDS

189
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The Loss Exercise
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To gain an understanding of the
feelings of loss involved when someone contracts
HIV/AIDS.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 14 and up
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Pens/paper (everyone)
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask participants to completely clear their desks
of everything except a sheet of paper and a pen
or pencil. Tell them to number I to 5 on their
papers. Explain that you are going to read five
statements, and they will respond to those state-
ments on their papers.
2) It is very important to emphasize that no one else
in the room will see their papers: they will not
be collected. They will not be used at any later
time: the papers are their own personal property.
Do this exercise slowly and seriously. Participants
should feel the full impact of this discussion.
3) One by one, read off the statements and tell the
participants to write their responses on their papers.
Reinforce that it will not be shared with others.
4) Write down the name of the personal possession
that you love the most. Maybe it is your house, or a
special item your grandmother gave you, or a book,
or anything else. What one thing that you own
means the most to you? Write that thing on #1.
5) Write down the part of your body that you are
most proud of. Perhaps you really love your eyes,
or you are very proud of your hair, or you enjoy
your ears the most because they help you listen
to music, or you love your voice because it helps
you to sing. Write down the one part of your body
that you are most proud of on #2.
6) Write down the name of the activity you most en-
joy doing. Maybe it is going to a religious event,
or playing football, or dancing, or any other ac-
tivity. What do you most enjoy doing in the whole
world? Write that activity on #3.
7) Write down one secret or very confidential thing
about yourself that no one else in the world or
only one other person knows about. Every one of
us has some secret or very private thing that he
or she does not want others to know about. Write
that personal, private piece of information down
on #4. (Remind the group that no one will see this
sheet but themselves.)
8) Lastly, write down the name of the person whose
love and support means the most to you in the
world. After everyone has finished, explain that
you will now go through the list again. As you go
through each statement, they should imagine
that they are living through what you are saying.
Read the Statements
9) Allow a few silent moments for the participants
to truly feel what you have just said. People are
usually a bit upset and uncomfortable at this
point. Give them some time to think about this.
10) Now, ask participants to describe in one word
or phrase the emotions they are feeling. Write
the words on a blank board or flip chart. Keep
brainstorming until all of the possible ideas are
exhausted. Your list may include: sadness, grief,
feeling like killing myself, hopeless, alone, miser-
able, depressed, angry, blaming others, no rea-
son to continue.
11) Ask participants to take a look at the list that
you have created. Ask them to imagine how these
feelings might relate to testing positive for HIV/
AIDS. Discuss the links between this exercise and
testing positive. Remind the group that they have
placed themselves in the position of a person liv-
ing with HI V/AIDS and allowed themselves to ex-
perience the very powerful emotions that such a
person might be living with every day.
Statements
1. Imagine that something terrible happens that
causes you to lose the material possession
that you love most. Either a theft occurs or
a loss of some kind that takes this thing away
from you completely. You will never again see
the thing listed on #1. Take your pen or pencil
and cross out #1 now.
2. Imagine that an accident or other unfortunate
occurrence causes you to lose the part of your
body that you are proudest of. This part of
your body is gone, and you will never have
it again as long as you live. Cross out #2 now
with your pen or pencil.
3. Imagine that this same accident or unfortu-
nate occurrence makes it impossible for you
to do your favorite activity ever again. You
will never again, in your entire life, be able
to do the activity you wrote on #3. Cross out
#3 with your pen or pencil now.
4. Imagine that because of all of the above situ-
ations, your secret has been exposed. Every-
one now knows what you wrote on #4. It has
become public knowledge: everyone in the
school, town, church, and community knows
about what you wrote on #4. Circle #4 with
your pen or pencil now.
5. Lastly, because of all of these changes (losing
your possession, losing your body part, not be-
ing able to do your favorite activity, and every-
one knowing your secret), the person that you
love most in the world leaves you forever. You
will never again see this person that you love
and who is your most important source of sup-
port. Cross out #5 with your pen or pencil now.
The True/False Game
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): For a workshop or discussion
leader to be able to identify to the level of aware-
ness of their participants while at the same time dis-
seminating accurate HIV/AIDS information.
Number of Students: 5-30
191
 Age Range of Students: 14-18
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Markers, Cardboard/paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Print the words ‘True’ and ‘False’ in large letters
on two sheets of paper. Hang the papers opposite
walls.
2) Clear an open area between the two signs.
3) Ask participants to gather in the center of an open
area. The facilitator reads a statement, and the
participants run to whichever sign they think is cor-
rect. If they think the statement is true, they run to
‘True,’ if they think it is false, they run to ‘False’.
If they are undecided, or think it can be both true
and false, they should remain in the middle.
4) Ask the participants, in turn, to explain or de-
fend why they are at the side they chose. It is
good to ask for explanations from one side, then
the other, as groups will tend to begin a debate
about the correct answer. Only after everyone
who wants to has spoken should the facilitator
give the correct answer more info
5) Emphasize good communication skills and con-
flict resolution by suggesting that each side ‘re-
flect back’ the points of the opposing side before
stating their own opinions.
6) Everyone comes back to the center and the game
begins again with another question.
 Someone with a sexually transmitted disease
has a higher risk of becoming HIV infected.
 The condom has small holes in it which
HIV can pass through.
 HIV can be spread by mosquitoes.
 A baby born to an HIV positive mother will
also get HIV.
 You can tell that someone has HIV by look-
ing at them.
 It is safer to wear two condoms instead of
just one.
 By having more sex, you can ejaculate more
sperms and HIV will get out of the body.
 Married women are less likely to catch HI
V/AIDS than unmarried women.
 If a man uses condoms for more than two
years, he can become infertile.
 A person with TB who also has weight loss
is infected with HIV.
 If a person looks healthy, then he or she
does not have AIDS.
 You may get HIV by drinking from the same
glass that a person with AIDS has used.
 Petroleum jelly is a good lubricant to use
with a condom.
 It is safe to have sex just once without a
condom.
 You may get HIV by eating food prepared
by someone who has HIV or AIDS.
 A person can have a negative test for HIV
and still have HIV.
 You can get HIV from a dog bite.
 Only men can receive free condoms.
 HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
 There is a new drug in America that can
cure AIDS.
192
The Epidemic Game
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To understand of how HIV/AIDS
is passed from one person to another.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 14-18
Time Required: 30 minutes
Materials: Small cards
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Suppose there are 12 people playing the game.
Make 12 small cards: Three will have a red ‘X’
on the card; four will have a ‘C’ on the card; the
other five will have black spots.
2) Every participant should receive one card. They
are not to look at their cards. They should keep
their cards folded in their hands. Tell the par-
ticipants that they should move around the room
and greet three people. They should simply greet
them and remember whom they greeted. They
should not look at anyone’s card.
3) After the greetings, ask everyone to sit down.
Now, have everyone look at their card. On a flip
chart, put a red X. Ask everyone who has a red
X to stand. Inform the group that these people
have HIV. Ask the group to take a good look at the
people standing. Anyone who greeted the people
should also stand up. These people are also in-
fected. Now, tell everyone to take a good look at
everyone standing.
4) Anyone who has greeted those standing must stand
up. All those standing are infected with HIV. Contin-
ue with this until just about everyone is standing.
5) Put a ‘C’ on the flip chart. Ask if anyone has this
symbol on his or her card. Tell these people that
they can sit down. Tell the group that these peo-
ple have used a condom. They are not infected.
Everyone can now sit down.
6) Ask the group what we learn from this game. Put their
answers on the flip chart. Possible answers will be:
 HIV can be transmitted very quickly and easily.
 You cannot tell if someone has HIV.
 Using a condom can reduce your risk of HIV.
 Having contact with one person is the
same as having contact with all the part-
ners of that person.
Ask the people with the red ‘X’ how they felt to dis-
cover they were HIV positive. Ask the people with
the ‘C’ how it felt not be infected at all and to sit
down. It is important to emphasize that this is a sym-
bolic exercise. People cannot transmit HIV by simply
greeting each other. They would have to have sex
(or other contact with bodily fluid). Also, be careful
that this exercise does not set a tone of ‘blaming the
victim.’ Lastly, ask the group how they could have
avoided infection in this game. For example:
They could have refused to play (Abstinence).They
could have insisted on seeing their partners’ cards
(Testing). They could have only greeted one partner
(Risk Reduction: Being Faithful). Remind the group
that they must check the card before being faithful
with that partner (Testing).
Facts and Myths About HIV/AIDS
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To be able to recognize the seri-
ousness of HIV/AIDS in your community.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 2 hours
Materials: Tape, Signs blacked on the wall with the
words “true” and “false”, Bowl with pieces of paper
in it
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class, write on the slips of paper true
and false statements about HIV/AIDS.
The Immune System Match
2) Examples:
True
 While Africa has been more affected by HIV/
AIDS than any other part of the world, HIV/
AIDS rates are rising in many other regions,
including Eastern Europe/Central Asia.
 Although many people do not have ac-
cess to expensive drugs to treat HIV/AIDS,
there are medicines that can slow down
the disease (not cure).
 In Georgia, over 800 cases of HIV/AIDS
have been confirmed, while hundreds
more may go undiagnosed
 There is still no cure for HIV/AIDS.
 Although HIV/AIDS transmission is a risk
for everyone, women and girls are more
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infections than
men and boys.
 The amount of food we have to eat can be
related to the number of people who have
AIDS in our community.
False
 AIDS is a disease that is only found in Africa.
 Since everyone who has AIDS dies, it is
better not to know you have it.
 HIV/AIDS was a disease invented in Russia
to use for bio warfare.
 People in the U.S. have access to medicine
that can cure them of HIV/AIDS.
 No one has HIV/AIDS in Georgia.
 Priests in Georgia have cured HIV/AIDS.
 HIV/AIDS is a disease that only affects pros-
titutes, drug users and/or homosexuals.
 It has recently been proven that HIV does
not cause AIDS.
3) Divide a flipchart/board into two sections and la-
bel them “true” and “false”.
4) Have each student come up and pick a statement
out of the bowl.
5) Have them read the statement and then tape it
under either “true” or “false”.
6) After each student has put up a statement and you
have used all the statements, read each one aloud to
the class and have the class decide if it is correct.
7) After the exercise is over, go over the correct an-
swers (some might be surprising!).
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Do you believe HIV/AIDS has affected our com-
munity? Why or why not? What evidence do you
see of the effects of AIDS in our community? What
other things have you heard about HIV/AIDS in
our community that you think might be untrue?
Do you think that everyone who has had HIV/AIDS
knows that he/she has it? Why or why not? Have
you ever heard someone say that they have heard
of a cure for AIDS? Why do you think someone
might say that if there is no cure? Why do you
think young girls are infected more often than
boys? Which or our life-skills can help protect you
from HIV/AIDS? What can we do to help our com-
munity fight HIV/AIDS?
Topic: General health, HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To describe the functions of at
least five components of the immune system.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: All ages
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
Materials: Handout: Your Immune System, Paper,
Pens/pencils; Optional: Question handout
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class make a copy of the handout for
each group. Write a description of each cell’s func-
tion on separate pieces of paper. You should have a
set of drawings and descriptions for each group.
 The macrophage: Macro = big, Phage =
eater. The Big Eater. This cell east the
invaders or germs (called antigens) and
sends a signal to the captain of your im-
mune system that an invader is present
and that the immune system army needs
to respond.
 The T4 Helper Cell (CD4): Captain of your
immune system. If receives the message
form the macrophage when an invader
(antigen) is present and orders two more
cells (the B cell and the T8 killer cell) to
search for, and destroy, the invader. The
T4 Helper Cell is also the cell that HIV
attacks and destroys. T cells are called
“T” because they mature in the thymus
gland.
 The B Cell: Like a factory. It identifies the
shape of the invader (antigen) and makes
“antibodies” (like keys) which fit the an-
tigen. These antibodies can recognize
immediately future antigens of this kind
and stop them from making you sick in the
future.
 The T8 (CD8)or Cytotoxic or Killer Cell:
Also called by the T4 Helper Cell to attack
the invader and kill it directly.
8) Give out the handout “Your Immune System” to
the class.
9) Go over the handout.
10) Go over the four different cells.
193
 11) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
12) Give each group a set of drawings and descrip-
tions (mixed up).
13) Tell the groups that they must match the descrip-
tion with the drawings.
14) After each group has finished, ask each group to
share what the got for a different answers.
15) When the group gives an answer, have the class
tell you if they got anything different. If they did,
discuss why.
16) Give the real answers and discuss.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is your immune system important?
 What happens if your immune system is not work-
ing properly?
 What kind of things helps keep your immune sys-
tem healthy?
Your Immune System
1) What is our immune system?
 The immune system is the body’s way of
fighting disease. It is very complex and has
more parts that we can discuss today. Un-
derstanding some basic facts about the im-
mune system, however, can help us learn
both how to prevent disease and how to
help slow down disease progression if we
are already infected.
2) Our blood cells are labeled by what two colors?
 White and red
3) What is the major function of red cells?
 Red cells, called erythrocytes, carry oxy-
gen through our system and carry away
carbon dioxide.
4) What is the major function of white blood cells?
 White blood cells, called leukocytes, are
our immune cells. Your immune system is
made up of white cells that protect you
from diseases.
5) What is an antigen?
 An antigen is a foreign invader or germ
that enters our system. It can be a virus,
bacteria, fungus, protozoa, and so forth.
6) What is an antibody?
 An antibody is a response to an invading
antigen. Antibodies are produced by B
cells. They work like “keys”, fighting the
shape of the antigen “locks”. When an an-
tigen enters the system again, it is recog-
nized and attacked by antibodies.
How HIV/AIDS Affect the Immune Sys-
tem - Poster
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about how HIV/AIDS af-
fects the immune system.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 30-45 minutes
194
Materials: Handout “Immune System Drawings”,
Poster board/flipchart paper for each group, Mark-
ers, Tape/Glue
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Make sure the class already knows about, or go
over briefly the job of each kind of white cell.
2) Explain to the group what HIV/AIDS does to the
immune system.
 When HIV enters the system, it is eaten
by the macrophage, but when it gets to
the T4 Cell it invades that cell, the Cap-
tain, and takes it over, later killing it. A
T4 Helper cell damaged by HIV Does not
effectively call out the other forces to
attack the invader, giving HIV a greater
chance to take over more T4 Cells and
multiply the amount of HIV in the body.
The amount of HIV in the body is called
the “viral load”.
 When enough T4 Helper Cells are de-
stroyed, all kinds of other invaders (an-
tigens), like tuberculosis (TB) germs, can
enter without being stopped by the Cap-
tain. When the viral load has risen and the
antibody level has dropped, a person gets
sick with AIDS.
3) Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5.
4) Give each group a handout of the drawings,
marker and flipchart paper.
5) Tell them they must make a poster to demonstrate
to the class the steps that HIV takes to hurt the
immune system using the drawings and markers.
6) Have each group present it to the class once they
are done.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 What would happen if a castle lost all of its walls?
Would it be easier/more difficult for someone un-
invited to come in?
 How can we keep our immune system healthy?
HIV/AIDS and the Immune System
– Role Play
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how HIV invades
the body and affects the immune system.
Number of Students: 6-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Handout “Immune System Drawings”; Op-
tional: Scissors
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Make sure you have a copy of the handout for
each class member.
2) Give the handout to the class and make sure they
all know what the role is for each white blood cell
3) Explain to the class what happens when HIV en-
ters the body:
 When HIV enters the system, it is eaten
by the macrophage, but when it gets to
the T4 Cell it invades that cell, the Cap-
tain, and takes it over, later killing it. A
T4 Helper cell damaged by HIV Does not
effectively call out the other forces to
attack the invader, giving HIV a greater
chance to take over more T4 Cells and
multiply the amount of HIV in the body.
The amount of HIV in the body is called
the “viral load”.
 When enough T4 Helper Cells are de-
stroyed, all kinds of other invaders (an-
tigens), like tuberculosis (TB) germs, can
enter without being stopped by the Cap-
tain. When the viral load has risen and the
antibody level has dropped, a person gets
sick with AIDS.
Your Immune System
6) Divide class into groups of six.
7) Have each group member chose one of the cells
to be.
8) Have the groups go over a role play as to how HIV
affects each of the cells.
9) In front of the class, have each member intro-
duce themselves, holding up their pictures and
explaining what they do.
10) Then have the groups demonstrate to the class
what happens when HIV enters the body.
11) After all the groups are done, review and dis-
cuss.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why is our immune system important?
 What are ways we can keep our immune system
healthy?
195
The Elephants and Lions Game
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn and demonstrate how
HIV affects the immune system.
Number of Students: 15-30
Age Range of Students: 15 and up
Time Required: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Optional: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Ask for one volunteer in the class.
2) Have the volunteer stand in front of the class.
This person is the baby elephant.
3) Ask for six more volunteers. These volunteers are
the adult elephants. Their job is to protect the
baby elephant.
4) Have the adult elephants join hands and form a
circle around the baby elephant.
5) To show the importance of their job, you should try to
pretend to hit the baby elephant. The adult elephants
should quickly close ranks to avoid the attack.
6) The adults should stand very close to the baby
elephant.
7) Ask for four or five more volunteers. These peo-
ple are the lions. Their job will be to attack the
baby elephant – they should try to jab, hit, kick,
and punch (nicely) – whatever they can do to hurt
the baby elephant.
8) When you say “go”, the lions should try to attack
the baby elephant. Let this go on for a few sec-
onds, until the baby elephant is at least closely
touched by the lions.
9) Now, ask the following questions:
 What is the baby elephant? What does the
baby elephant represent? – the human
body/health
 What are the adult elephants? – the immune
system, they protect the body from disease
 What are the lions? – the lions are diseases,
illness and infections attacking the body
12) Give each of the lions a disease name (tuberculo-
sis, malaria, diarrhea, cholera, bird flu etc).
13) Ask them if they were able to kill the body (baby
elephant)? Answer should be no.
14) Tell the class that you are HIV and say “Suppose I
attack the immune system?”
15) Touch all but two of the adult elephants and have
them sit down.
16) Ask the class, “Do you think the baby elephant
will be protected from the lions?”
17) Tell the lions to attack on the word “go”.
18) The lions can easily get to the baby elephant this
time.
19) Summarize the idea HIV has killed the immune
system. The lack of the immune system has made
it possible for other diseases to actually kill the
person rather than just make them sick.
20) Ask the class, “Does HIV kill the person?” The an-
swer is NO! The diseases kill the person.
21) Ask for the difference between HIV and AIDS.
196
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How does this change your perspective of HIV/AIDS?
 How will you tell others this information?
How HIV/AIDS is Transmitted
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn different ways HIV/AIDS
is transmitted.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and up
Time Required: 30 min – 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart, Cards
for each member (see next page), Tape and marker;
Optional: Pens, Paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Before the class make cards for each student with
activities that can and cannot transmit HIV.
2) Explain to the class that HIV can only be trans-
mitted in very specific ways. First you need to be
in direct contact with an infected person’s body
fluids. Then you must have a portal of entry for
HIV to enter your body. These can be a cut, sore
or opening on the skin, or soft tissue called “mu-
cous membrane” located in the vagina, tip of the
penis, anus, mouth, eyes or nose. (Be sure that
your audience is ready to talk about these areas
of the body. If not, maybe just say a definition of
“mucous membrane” and only allude to the parts
that are touchy to discuss).
3) On the board divide the board into two sections,
one side for the fluids that can transmit HIV and
one side for the fluids that can.
4) Ask the class which fluids they think can/cannot
transmit HIV
5) Write their answers on the board
6) Go over each one and tell them if they are cor-
rect or not
Fluids that DO transmit HIV
 blood
 breast milk
 semen and/or vaginal fluid
Fluids that DO NOT transmit HIV
 Saliva
 Tears
 Sweat
7) Go over some common ways HIV is transmitted:
needles, intercourse
8) Go around and tape an activity card to the back
of each person in the class
9) Have members go around and ask “yes” or “no”
questions to try to guess what their activity is
10) Once they have guessed their activity, have them
tape it on their front and continue to assist oth-
ers by answering “yes” or “no” questions.
11) When everyone has guessed, divide the board
into two sections, “Can Transmit HIV” and “Can-
not Transmit HIV”
12) Have the members tape their activity in the cor-
rect column and discuss.
 Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Does this change your perspective of people with
HIV/AIDS? How?
Activities that CAN Transmit HIV
 Vaginal sex
 Direct blood transfusion of untested blood
 Sharing needles
 Contact with blood of an infected person
 Breastfeeding
 Mother to infant during delivery
 Mother to infant during pregnancy
 Exchange of blood
 Contact with semen
 Contact with vaginal fluids
Activities That CANNOT Transmit HIV
 Being near a person with HIV
 Sharing a drinking cup with a person with HIV
 Hugging a person with HIV
 Kissing a person with HIV
 Shaking hands with a person with HIV
 Proper use of condom during sex
The Glove Game
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate ways to protect
yourself from HIV/AIDS.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and up
Time Required: 10 – 15 minutes
Materials: Gloves or plastic bags for each member
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each participant a glove or plastic bag to
place in one hand.
2) Call out different situations that would either re-
quire a use of a barrier or not.
3) Have the participants shake the hand of a neigh-
bor with their gloved hand if it warrants a glove
and with the bare hand if it does not.
4) Sample situations might include:
 When dressing the bleeding wound of a
young student (glove)
 When shaking hands with a person you
know to be sick with AIDS (no glove)
 When cleaning bloody mucus from the
mouth of a patient (glove)
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
Co-Factor Tug-o-War
 Does this change your perspective on people with
HIV/AIDS?
 Would you give someone with HIV/AIDS a hug?
Why or why not?
 Why do you think people are afraid of touching
people with HIV/AIDS?
Disease Progression – Diagram/Time
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To demonstrate how HIV/AIDS
progresses.
Number of Students: 5-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and up
Time Required: 1 hour
Materials: Hand out “Disease Progression” for each
group or person, Markers, Flipchart paper/poster
board, Cards with symptoms (one set per group); Op-
tional: Pens/Pencils, Paper
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
1) Give each member or group the “Disease Progres-
sion” handout.
2) Go over the handout as a class.
3) Give an example diagram and explain it.
4) Divide the class into groups for 4 to 5.
5) Give them a piece of flipchart paper or poster
board and markers.
6) Tell the groups they must make a diagram/time-
line of the procession using the handout.
7) Then give the groups a set of symptom cards.
8) Have them place the cards in the correct place on
the diagram/timeline.
9) Discuss.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 How could a person find out if he/she really had
HIV/AIDS or another disease? What are the symp-
toms of the opportunistic infections? Ask students
to go to local hospitals and find out what treat-
ments/testing they offer.
Disease Progression Diagram
Topic: HIV/AIDS
Purpose of Activity (What should the students gain
from this activity?): To learn about the co-factors
that could make a person already infected with HIV
get sicker faster.
Number of Students: 10-30
Age Range of Students: 17 and up
Time Required: 30 – 45 minutes
197
 Materials: Rope, Blackboard/whiteboard/flipchart
Activities (Detailed Step-By-Step Instructions):
Brainstorm with the class and come up with a list of
co-factors that could make a person already infected
with HIV/AIDS get sicker faster:
 Not eating healthy foods
 Not getting enough rest
 Smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs,
which weaken the immune system
 Getting re-infected with more HIV by hav-
ing sex without a condom with an infected
partner
 Not preventing or treating other diseases
as early as possible, such as TB or STIs
 Felling stressed or anxious, such as when
one feels alone and guilty and has no one
to support him/her
198
1) Bring out a large tug-o-war rope.
2) Have each member call out a co-factor that they
thought of.
3) Help the group think of as many positive things
they can do for their physical, emotional and
spiritual health.
4) Students take their position on the positive or
negative end of the rope and play tug-o-war to
see of the positive behaviors can pull down the
co-factors.
5) Discuss.
Suggested Follow-Up Discussion Topics:
 Why do you think it might be important to find
out early if they are infected with HIV?
 Do they know where they can get tested?