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Creative physical activities as a tool of youth work

2021-1-PL01-KA153-YOU-0000123852021Mobility of youth workersfinalized
Countries: PL|IT|ES|CZ|PT|SK|EL|LV|HR|CY|MK|SI|LT · Grant: €29,706
Creativity, arts and cultureInclusion of marginalised young peopleQuality and innovation of youth work

Objectives

Nowadays, competition and individualism are commonplace in society. Young people are under pressure to be successful at all costs, while isolation increases due to the level of general trust among people. It is becoming more and more difficult to reach them, so it is very important for us, youth workers, to develop interesting and stimulating activities that will counteract such negative effects on young people aged 13-30. Creative physical activity workshops are a response to such social problems. Creative exercise activities are attractive and stimulating for young people, while conveying the modern values ​​of active citizenship, integrity and cooperation. They also contribute to the positive personal development of participants by building self-esteem, creating more trust and ties between young people and by promoting the integration of young people with fewer opportunities. Our main goal in the project was to teach youth workers the methodology of creative movement activities. Gaining new pedagogical competences that will enable them to: - Diversify your field of activity by learning about the approach to creative physical activity, project management and animation techniques. - Increase the attractiveness and quality of your activities with young people. - Provided them with an innovative and flexible methodology that closely addresses the needs of individuals and meets the needs of young people with fewer opportunities. Creative exercise as a form of non-formal education is an ideal way to teach young people personal and social skills because they are attractive and fun for everyone. Our project aimed to introduce youth workers and young people to positive, healthy activities that encourage collaboration, strengthen self-confidence, develop coordination and perseverance. The effect of engaging in creative physical activity is much more than learning to juggle balls or creating acrobatic pyramids. It's a process that can profoundly transform your vision of yourself and your interactions with others, and guide people towards a constructive and positive lifestyle. More specifically, our team of professional trainers for creative physical activity taught the youth workers involved in the project the basics of various skills, such as: - partner and group acrobatics, - object manipulation, - balance exercises, - creative shaping techniques. The trainers used this knowledge and taught the participants various methods of preparing and carrying out creative physical activity workshops. The effect of the training is that the participants can use creative physical activities in their daily work with young people. After the end of the project, participants committed to sharing new knowledge with their colleagues and initiating multiplayer activities in their own organization. Having qualified staff is a key issue for youth organizations and our partners devote a lot of resources to training their volunteers. Unfortunately, the same resources are being diverted from the youth-only education program. For this reason, we wanted to provide our partners with the opportunity to educate their employees, give them tools to reach different target groups and equip them with skills that are immediately applicable. We wanted to help them implement a new educational program including creative movement activities within their own organization, thus improving their quality and range. It is the responsibility of every youth organization to improve the quality and consistency of non-formal education. The key to this is the ability to work together and network of associations to share good practice. That is why we involved many different countries in our project, so that the partners could build their social capital and develop new projects. We believe that these projects are key to more efficient youth work and therefore key to improving young people's lifestyle, promoting the integration of people from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering young people and strengthening their active citizenship throughout the European Union. In line with the general objectives of the Erasmus + program and the specific objectives of KA1, our project concerned the following issues: - Quality and improvement of youth work. Ensure the improvement of pedagogical skills for youth workers, the sending organization and overall recognition of youth work. - Integration and active participation in society. We wanted to directly and indirectly address issues such as improving social skills for target groups, the health and well-being of young people, active participation of young people, promoting mutual solidarity and creativity of young people. - European cooperation and awareness.

Project partners (13)