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During summer programming, it’s always good to have a couple of activity ideas up your sleeve for the unexpected. Maybe you end up having an age group you hadn’t planned for, or your original plan won’t work because the internet is out, or any number of things that might happen, because we know in Clubs to always, in the words of my favorite summer reality show guilty pleasure, “expect the unexpected!”
Not sure what I mean by high-yield activity? The below ClubX Blog post explains it fully, but basically in order to be considered high-yield, the activity needs to have an intentional link to skill-building or one of the priority outcome areas. What kind of skills? You name it. Math skills, basketball skills, literacy skills, social-emotional skills, critical thinking skills.
Here are five high-yield activity ideas that involve little to no preparation to run with youth throughout the Club:
Texas Hold ‘Em Relay
Target Age Group: 6-12
Materials Needed: Deck of playing cards, flipchart or whiteboard and markers
Skills Reinforced: Math
Divide the group into two teams, draw a line down the center of the white board or flip chart.
Draw a card and write that number in each team’s column. Explain that the first player on Team 1 draws a card and writes that number under the number you wrote. That player then adds the two numbers together (see variations at end for older youth). If the answer is correct, the next person on the team draws a card until a face card is played, which ends their turn. If the answer is incorrect, the answer and number are erased and the other team gets a turn. The first team to reach 100 points wins.
Optional Enhancements:
- For members who have learned multiplication, change the math operation from addition to multiplication.
- For older members, assign each card suit a math function (hearts = addition, spades = subtraction, diamonds = multiplication, clubs = division). This makes for good practice with computing negative and positive numbers.
Breakdancing Moves: How to Do a 12-Step
BGCA’s National Virtual Club is a GREAT resource for lots of high-yield activity ideas. I especially love this series from staff at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties that teaches breakdancing moves.
Dumb Debates
This is one of the most hilarious and fun activities I did with middle schoolers at my Club.
Auto-Bio Poem
Target Age Group: 9-12
Materials Needed: Paper, pens or pencils, colored pencils or markers
Skills Reinforced: Writing, Self-Awareness, Appropriate Self-Disclosure
Members write an 11-line autobiographical (auto-bio) poem. Introduce the idea by explaining the format of the poem and modeling your own example as you go:
- Your first name ……………………………. Nancy
- Three descriptive traits ………………. Honest, caring, curious
- Sibling/Friend of …………………………. Donna
- Who loves (people, ideas) ………… Laughter, learning
- Who feels …………………………………….. Happy when traveling
- Who needs ………………………………….. Sunshine
- Who gives ……………………………………. Friendship, smiles
- Who fears ……………………………………. Hunger, spiders
- Who would like to see ……………… Peace in the world
- Resident of (your city) ………………. Cleveland
- Your last name …………………………… Fisher
Encourage members to use descriptive words and adjectives as part of their auto-bio poems. Instruct them to add color or decorate it as they please. Consider displaying the completed poems.
Kente Cloth from Ghana
MyFuture is another fantastic library of high-yield activity ideas. Activities can be completed independently by youth or as part of group session. I especially love this art activity from the Summer Brain Gain Around the World badge in which youth learn about Kente cloth and make their own pattern with markers or paint.
What are your favorite go-to high-yield activities? How do you stay flexible and fun with programming in your Club? Let us know! Comment below, on the BGCA Youth Development Facebook page, or email ClubXBlog@bgca.org.
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