Youth Transition Toolkit | A Guide for Young People in ...



Social/Recreation Lesson Plan

Activity I: “Sports, Hobbies, and Clubs – Oh My!”

Objectives:

• Youth will explore new ideas for recreational and social activities

• Youth will discuss the benefits of engaging in recreational activities and explore what types of activities they are currently engaged in

Suggested Time Frame: 30-60 minutes

Format: Large group

Materials Needed

1. Projector/white board to track student ideas to questions

2. Guest speaker from Parks and Recreation, recreational therapist, or youth advocate to discuss ideas for recreational and social activities

Vocabulary/Terminology

• Adaptive Sports: Sports played by people with various disabilities, including physical, intellectual, and sensory disabilities. Adaptive sports are usually based on existing sports and are modified to meet the needs of individuals with a disabilities.

• Social networking: harnessing the power of the internet to connect with peers, activities, and recreational options. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Meetup, Google Plus, are all examples of Social networking websites that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Suggested Facilitator Preparatory Activities

• Invite a guest speaker from the local Parks and Recreation department to discuss ideas for recreational activities for individuals with disabilities or a recreational therapist if possible. Look for special programs like “therapeutic recreational services” in your community that include persons with disabilities. You may also want to consider inviting a local “Youth Organizing! Disabled and Proud” volunteer (), an advocate from your local “People First” chapter (), or the systems change advocate at your local independent living center () to talk about disability advocacy.

• Review the Social/Recreation chapter of the Youth Transition Toolkit:

• Read “Adaptive Sports and Recreation” article:

Creating Context: As you begin to transition from high school to college or other training, employment, independent living, and the next phase of your life, it is important to set aside time for yourself; to be able to have fun and unwind from the stresses and challenges of everyday life. Recreational and social activities help you to take your mind off of those stressful everyday activities, giving you a chance to re-energize, clear your mind, and have fun in the process. Today, we’re going to talk about what everyone currently does in their free time, and explore additional ways you can meet new people and try out new activities.

Procedure:

1. Use the “creating context” language above to introduce the activity.

2. As a large group discuss the following questions:

• What type of school activities do you participate in?

• Do you participate in any sports or other athletic activities?

• Are you involved in any social clubs, after school activities, or extracurricular activities?

o Discuss some of these clubs and organizations. What are some of the specific tasks that you enjoy doing?

• Do you enjoy dancing or playing musical instruments?

• Do you like to use social networking websites like Facebook or Twitter? If so, do you ever use them to find out about activities going on or to invite your friends to hang out?

• What else do you like to do for fun?

• Is there anything you would like to do, but feel like you can’t do because of your disability?

o Can anyone think of ways to modify this [hobby, social experience, sport] so that [insert name] can also participate?

3. After approximately 20 minutes of large group discussion, introduce the guest speaker to the class. Guest speaker should present for at least 20 minutes on recreational activities and events that take place in the local community. Allow an additional 10-15 minutes for question and answer period.

4. Alternate activity if you can’t locate a speaker: Have participants check out the Social/Recreation Chapter of the Youth Transition Toolkit, and report back on two new sports, clubs, or other activities they’d like to get involved in.

Closure: Encourage participants to seek out additional ideas for getting involved in their community by visiting the Social/Recreation Chapter of the Youth Transition Toolkit website.

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