PREPARATION #2:

Walking Through Your Own Life (1 hour)

            This activity is designed to help the participants explore their own assumptions and stereotypes of different stages of life.

Materials needed

·       A room large enough for the whole group to mill around in

·       Paper and pens  to use at the end or their Spiritual Life Journals

·       Pictures of people over the age of sixty-five who are  athletes, performers, and politicians

·       Pictures of active older people in your church community

Activity

1.     Tell the group that you will be inviting them to mill around the room in silence and then you will yell freeze and invite them to act like they did or think they will at different ages until you tell them to freeze once more.

2.     Tell them to begin milling in silence.  Let the milling go on for about thirty seconds.

3.     Yell “freeze”

4.     Say, “I’m going to count to five.  When I reach five, I want all of you to act like you did when you were two years old. 1…2…3…4…5

5.     Let this go on for about one minute and then yell “freeze” (you’ll find you’ll have to yell louder and perhaps a few times to get the attention of the room full of pretend two year olds).

6.     Invite them to mill around the room in silence again.

7.     After about thirty seconds yell “freeze”

8.     Say, “I’m going to count to five.  When I reach five I want all of you to act like you did on your first day of school.  1…2…3…4…5

9.     Let this go on for about one minute and they yell, “freeze”.

10.  Repeat the milling in silence, freezing, becoming an age, and then freezing again for the following ages/stages of life:

·       ten years old

·       7^th grade

·       1^st day of High School

·       High School Graduation

·       a person in their 30’s

·       forty-five years old

·       sixty-five years old

·       seventy-five years old

·       their one hundredth birthday

11.  Invite them to sit down and ask them to take a few moments in silence to write about or draw pictures reflecting on these questions:

·       Which age was the easiest to portray, and why?

·       Which age was the hardest, and why?

·       Who do you know personally that are in their late sixties or early seventies?  Describe them.

·       Who do you know personally that are in their late seventies or older? Describe them.

   Give them five to fifteen minutes to write or draw depending on the age of the group (a shorter time for younger youth, a longer time for older youth).  If you have incorporated Spiritual Life Journals into your program, this would be a good place to use them.

12.  Show them the pictures of athletes, performers, politicians and people in your congregation/community who are very active and are over sixty-five.  Invite them to write or draw their reflections on these people. (about 5 more minutes of writing/drawing)

13.  Go around the circle and invite them to share their observations and insights with the group if they wish.

14. Close with a prayer.

Deepening Faith:  Youth Ministry Resources and Some Miscellaneous Advice

Rev. Lizann Bassham, Front Porch Spirit Press

Copyright © 2001