Life Skills Handbooks

FREE Lifeskills Materials

The Life Skills Handbook provides advice and active learning activities for teaching life skills to young people. It supports and guides all people who plan, manage, teach or work on formal and non-formal education programmes. It can be adapted and used in different cultural contexts worldwide. The Life Skills Handbook is intended for use with young people aged 8-16. The activities need to be adapted to the needs, experiences of the young people you work with. Many people use the activities with adult groups too. View three FREE Life Skills activity sessions if you click here. For the complete collection of all 61 Sessions and sections on planning and training, buy the Life Skills Handbook here of £4.99.

 

If you have no means to pay and you think this handbook is just what you need, let us know and we will send it to you for FREE.

OTHER FREE Lifeskills Resources

• (Aids Alliance) A Parrot on Your Shoulder: A guide for people working with orphans and vulnerable children. (Clare Hanbury was part of the advisory and review team). This fully illustrated activity guide is aimed at those who working with OVC's. Drawing on the experiences of the Alliance, its partners, and other organisations working in the field, it gives some pointers on working with children, including cultural and gender considerations. It includes 30 activities for engaging children in group work, as well as fun ideas for ice-breakers and energisers, group work and co-operation, observation, active listening and analytical skills, drama, mime and role play, and painting and drawing. To download click the link here

• Bamboo Shoots. A training manual on child rights, child protection and child-led community actions for facilitators working with children and youth groups. It  was originally created by Plan in Cambodia. It was developed to: Increase children’s understanding of their rights as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC); raise children’s awareness of their rights and build their capacities to claim them; create opportunities for children to recognize, identify and prioritize issues and problems or gaps in relation to child rights violations; and provide opportunities for children to influence agendas and action regarding identified and prioritized child rights violations.To download, click the link here

• (Clare Hanbury) The Tricycle System.  This is a new framework for promoting children's participation in health and other child rights-related projects. It builds upon the 6-step Child-to-Child approach that I helped to develop as a result of many years of field work with The Child-to-Child Trust. New elements are ideas and activities developed out of work in mentoring, coaching and appreciative enquiry. For a free summary of the Tricycle System click here.

• (Clare Hanbury) We are On The Radio. A book and tape about children making radio broadcasts for other children and families about health and development issues important to them. This is only available from us. Please contact us to find out how to get hold of a copy!

• (Clare Hanbury) Monitoring and Evaluating Life Skills Projects for Youth Development for The Jacobs Foundation. (April 2011). For link click here

Sample Life Skills Activity Sessions 1/3

Self Awareness: My Place on the Tree

Purpose of activity: To develop children's self-awareness about their present lives.

Life skills: Self-awareness, critical thinking, creative thinking

Important points: Try to ask the children to think deeply about their place on the tree and to find reasons for their choices. If children find this difficult, do not worry but note what the children feel or do not feel able to say. The activity can be repeated in Part 3 when children have improved their communication skills. If some children do not want to speak in the group, do not force them, but let them think about their ideas and if possible talk about their ideas to one friend.

Materials

A copy of the tree picture on a large poster for all the children to see

Self Awarness: my place on the tree diagram

 

Steps

1. Show the children the picture and explain that the tree represents life. The people on the tree are at different stages of their lives. They are doing different things for different reasons.

2. Ask the children to think of a well-known character in your country, for example a famous sports star, a character from a folktale or a famous person. Perhaps this person feels like the person at the top of the tree because he looks sure of himself and powerful. She is smiling at everyone below her. She is pleased with her position! Ask the children which figure in the picture is like the famous person. (The children will probably have different ideas and different reasons – that's fine).

3. Show the children the figure(s) on the tree which show where you feel you are in life today. Explain the reasons for your choice.
For example: I feel I am like the person doing a handstand halfway up the tree with one hand off the branch. I feel like this because I am feeling full of energy and I feel I am doing something a bit different today by starting this life skills work with you. I am not sure if it will be fun or a bit risky!

4. Ask the children to choose one figure that is closest to themselves.

5. In pairs or small groups, children discuss why they identified with a particular figure. For example…

I feel like I am at the bottom of the tree waving and looking happy because I am just beginning the life skills (so I am at the bottom of the tree). I am looking happy because I hope the class will help me and I am waving at my friends who will be with me.
Final discussion:

Do we feel like different people on the tree at different times of the day or week? Were you happy to tell us about your figure? Why/Why not?