Character-Building Activities

Preteens and teens need help in acquiring the social skills to appropriately handle challenging situations. Without those skills, a minor disagreement can often escalate into a physical confrontation. And that's where Character-Building Activities: Teaching Responsibility, Interaction, and Group Dynamics comes in.

This book provides nearly 100 activities that will help children and young adults

-gain a better sense of what they value based on their character traits,

-become more effective communicators, and

-discover how to communicate their values and strengthen their convictions.

Character-Building Activities: Teaching Responsibility, Interaction, and Group Dynamics applies directly to preteens and teenagers, but it is easily adapted to younger children. This resource can be used in a variety of settings both in and out of school, including youth groups and curricular areas such as language arts and social studies. The activities are short, clearly described, easy to set up, and ready to use. Teachers or group leaders can pop an activity into an existing lesson plan or use a few in creating a new lesson plan.

Regardless of age and setting, the participants in these activities will learn to deal with a variety of issues, including self-esteem, peer pressure, bullies, anger, and stress. They will also acquire self-reflection skills and have opportunities to share their values and listen to other kids as they share theirs.

The self-responsibility, social interaction, and group dynamics involved in this book's activities will help kids grow and mature.

Judy Demers currently teaches physical education at Castillero Middle School in San Jose, California. Demers developed the physical education curriculum for her individual classes and the San Jose Unified School District. She has written two professional improvement projects for San Jose Unified School District, one of which she presented at the California Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance conference. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from San Jose State University. Demers has also served on health and physical education task forces and the California Healthy Kids Material Review Board, and she helped design district standards. Demers has been a member of CAHPERD since 1995 and has been a member of the Bay Area Physical Education and Health Subject Matter Project for several years.