Paw Prints to Learning
Teach young people about animal welfare and how they CAN make a difference in animals' lives.
Activity
At-a-Glance
Time:
10 minutes
Materials:
None
Physical Setting:
large room with chairs arranged in 3 sections - stadium style
Youth as Philanthropists
Objectives:
- To have fun learning the word “philanthropy”
- To offer an opportunity for young people to “let off steam” in a workshop
Energizer:
The facilitator arranges the chairs into three separate groupings with an aisle between each. Participants are instructed to sit in the chairs, spacing themselves among the three groups of chairs.
The facilitator explains that the work they will be doing will be about “philanthropy.” Participants are asked what the word means to them and the facilitator writes the responses on newsprint. He/she explains that the activity they are about to do will help them pronounce the word and become very comfortable saying it. He/she reminds them that in school there are a number of cheers to urge the team on. “We will be using a cheer to help us with this word.”
The facilitator tells the first section of chairs that they are “phil”; the second set is “An”, and the third “thropy”. Each section practices its part of the word. At the count of 3, the facilitator points to the first section, who stand and shout their part; the second section, who stand and shout their part; and then the third section stands and shouts.
The facilitator or participant leader can mix the sections up: thropy phil an, etc. Just for fun! After a few minutes, the leader then asks the group to move their chairs together (eliminating the aisles) and at the count of 3, shout out the word, “philanthropy.” Have the group practice saying the word several times.
Processing:
The facilitator explains that the group will be working together throughout the section to under¬stand philanthropy and philanthropic actions. Many people don’t like to use the word because of the difficulty in pronouncing it. Now that they are comfortable in saying the word, they are ready to begin their philanthropic training.
Option:
Just like the football game cheer, the facilitator might want to include the “wave” as part of the activity. As the participants say their portion of the word, they could stand and move their arms up and down. This version would be especially good after lunch or when the participants are getting tired.
