New Games Workshops with Dale Le Fevre


New Games Mentoring Program

1. Program Summary:
This is a program that trains older school students to provide New Games to younger school children in their play periods. New Games are cooperative group interactive games that anybody can play regardless of size, gender, or athletic ability.

The problem is many-fold: 1) there has been an increasing problem of bullying and rough play and injuries at the Elementary school at play periods, 2) obesity is increasingly becoming a problem, 3) there is generally low morale of the school population, and 4) students need positive leadership experiences.

The project will involve training a number of older students to lead co-operative games. It is an opportunity for these students to learn democratic, inclusive, and responsive group leadership skills. The basics of good leadership are as true for leading games as they are elsewhere. The students will also learn a number of other skills: 1) building participation and cooperation, 2) stimulating and encouraging creative expression, 3) building enthusiasm, and 4) listening and adapting to the needs of children. It also offers these students a position of importance and a chance to be a mentor. All of these build self efficacy, plus feelings of competency and self worth.

After initial training, the games can then be offered by the older students to the children during physical education (PE) times and/or lunch time or other recess periods with support from the playground supervisors. All children are involved, including those who are trouble makers and those who are normally left out. This promotes greater understanding and acceptance, as well as cooperative behavior for both older students and elementary school children. In addition, there is a strong mentoring aspect to the program, which has been shown to support healthy behavior. The programme fee is for having an outside New Game consultant train and monitor the program for the School. The goal is to establish a programme of New Games that will continue in succeeding years.

2. Program goals:
The overall program goal of the New Games mentoring program is to increase the resiliency of students and children in the school community. By providing worthwhile, healthy, active alternatives for older students and children, this program will steer both away from self-destructive and abusive behavior. New Games has been doing this for general audiences since 1973 and trainer Dale N. Le Fevre, the designated consultant, has been involved full time since 1975. What is taught is a specific program for the particular school.

The program will be initiated over a 1 week period and will involve three stages. First, up to 30 older students will be chosen to participate in the training. For the first day, all the participants will learn the games by doing them. On succeeding days these student leaders will practice leading the games with fellow student leaders in a safe environment. Positive, constructive feedback will come from the course leader, playground staff, and fellow students. Emphasis will be on what the presenter did well and how the game might need adaptation for younger children.

The second part will be spent having the students lead games with individual classes to give the students practice leading games and to introduce the children to the students. The last stage of the initial training will involve students additionally presenting New Games at the lunch time or other play periods.

The students can then continue presenting New Games throughout the year in two instances. First, two/three students could visit every class for a minimum of two weeks a semester for a period of physical education using New Games. Second, the students could present the games at the lunch time or other periods for designated children. Every child at the grades chosen for participation could experience New Games.

Beyond this, an introductory presentation can be offered to parents at an appropriate gathering to them to see what is being offered to their children. Teachers would be given a workshop which features games that directly support curriculum.

3. Prevention Strategies:
There are several issues to address. First, rough play on the elementary playground has become an ongoing problem. Children nowadays often don't know how to cooperate or resolve conflicts during play or in the classroom. Research shows that not learning these skills leads to anti-social behavior. Second, childhood obesity is beginning to reach epidemic proportions. What is provided here are inclusive activities that every child can join in, regardless of their size or athletic ability. Next, children seem to be less enthusiastic than in the past. Whatever the reasons (tv, computer and computer games are suspect), what is offered by participating in New Games is a chance for every child to feel good about themselves. No one fails, and everyone has fun!

Last, students are in need of meaningful activities where they are treated with respect and as productive contributors. There are few leadership opportunities for youth where they can experience success. Without positive outlets for their energy, feelings of self worth are not established. With drugs and alcohol readily available, their resulting depression often becomes self destructive. Second

What will be offered in this project is a chance for students to train and learn leadership techniques and be able to actively employ those techniques during Physical Ed. and recess periods. The training will be done by the New Games trainer. For the elementary children there will be a chance to learn New Games that require cooperative behavior.

The experience that "Big Brothers and Big Sisters" had indicates that youth involved with mentoring programs, similar to the New Games one here, are significantly less drawn into risky behavior. The students will acquire planning and problem solving skills, and achieve a degree of self awareness and a mastery of leadership skills. The students and children will both experience caring relationships - the older students from the New Games trainer, school teachers, and the children, and for the children from the older students, plus from their teachers from what they learn from participating in P. E. periods and the workshop offered as part of the program.

Also, as the children begin to do the games on their own, they will support each other. This is not a fantasy, because this already happened in a program being conducted at Redwood School and Dana Gray School in Fort Bragg, CA since the Spring of 2000. Much has been learned during that time.

4. Target Population:
There are two populations that will be served, up to 30 older students (including some at risk students) from either the High School, Middle School, or fourth and fifth grade and the designated grades at the elementary school.

The playground staff and parents are invited to participate in the initial stages of training so that they will be able to get to know the youths, understand what the youths are attempting to do, and build a support system when problems arise that are beyond the ken of the youth. Teachers will also learn the the activities by being present during the P. E. sessions (teacher presence is required by law) and through a workshop that will be offered to them by the New Games trainer. The net result will be that the children of target school will have multiple ways to be exposed to this program.

For more information, contact:

New Games
Dale N. Le Fevre
29 Brunswick Street, #4
Sheffield S10 2FJ

Telephone: (0114) 249 6329
E-mail: dale@inewgames.com