One of Rally’s objectives is to produce worthwhile citizens. Our programmes need to be ‘holistic’ to achieve this, in other words we need to make sure that we are providing Physical, Spiritual & Educational activities. It’s a good idea to look at your year’s program and ask “what activities are we doing that are achieving these objectives?”
Many children today are growing up with a lack of life skills. The ability to change a tire, fix a fuse, change a light bulb, cook a meal from scratch, light a fire or pitch a tent etc is not always being taught to our children, and Rally can be where some valuable teaching of life skills can occur. We can’t make our members into Jo Seager cooks, or Bear Grylls survivor bush men, but we can teach them some basics, have fun along the way and award some badges when appropriate.
What you can teach will depend on the age of your Rally members and the skills & resources that you have available, but below are some ideas of skills that we could teach.
Once you have prepared your Term/Year plan, sort out some ‘life skills’ you can incorporate into it. You can do some very short basic ones that only take 5 minutes each time. Or plan a special activity around one of the skills eg. cooking, gardening, first aid…
Health & Safety
- Personal hygiene – bring in a Doctor, nurse, dentist to cover basic skills. Use a hairdresser for a fun hair night, but also cover hair care.
- Exercise – ask your local gym to come and run an exercise/nutrition night.
- Safety in the home – Local firemen can teach fire safety, kitchen, bathroom, laundry safety.
Basic DIY
- · Bring in a car and teach members how to change a tyre, check tyre pressure, check the oil and water, fill the windscreen cleaner and general safety.
- · Teach the basics of a fuse board, how to change a light bulb, fix a hinge, set a mousetrap and unblock a drain. (You can probably come up with a couple of other ideas too – think of those things that are fairly basic but that we all need to know! Even things like changing a light bulb – turn off the light switch first – is something we may not know ourselves until we do it – or we may drop the bulb at the fright we receive when it lights up!)
Communication & Public Service
- · Ask someone in a wheelchair or with another disability to talk about the challenges they face. (take Rally members for a walk around a supermarket, in pairs with one of them blindfolded and the other guiding them. Then change roles)
- · Teach members how to make friends, talk to an older person, assist someone with a disability.
- · Practice communication skills – guide a blindfolded person through an obstacle course.
- · Teach them how to address and send a letter or parcel. (Some of these suggestions are also requirements for the Home skills badge so check off what members do and include those also so they can receive a badge as well). How to find a phone number – use old phone books and play as a competition – looking up community services, helping agencies, counselling services, police etc.
- · Visit a retirement home, assist in a community project, help raise funds for a project other than Rally. Teach generosity and a care for others less fortunate.
- · Teach the basics of money management – budgeting, saving, cash discounts, the dangers of hire purchase, the ‘buy now, pay later’ traps.
- · Caring for our environment; in our home, in our community & in our world.
 Home Skills
- · Teach how to grow vegetables, then how to use them. Suggest they all plant a few vegetables and monitor them – keep a record of their progress at Rally. Take a bottle of cream and make butter! (Maybe bring in someone who can teach simple cheese making)
- · Teach basic cooking skills, nutrition and eating habits. (Make soup, coleslaw, vegetable salads and fruit salads.)
- · General cleaning – vacuuming, how to do laundry, cleaning toilets, bathrooms and kitchens.
- · Look at the basics of wise shopping, menu planning and budgeting.
These skills are not always tied into a specific badge, but where possible a badge helps to positively reinforce what has been taught. Skills can be taught through activity rather than just straight lesson style. Plan a dinner for a family in need (a new baby or illness) then budget, shop, prepare and deliver. Visit a home and do some cleaning or gardening. Be creative in how these skills are taught.
Even though we are teaching life skills, Christian principles direct us in every area. God has given us amazing bodies so we need to keep them strong & healthy; God gives us the ability to work and earn so we need to be wise with our money; God loves and cares for us so we need to be caring for those who are less fortunate; God has placed us in a prosperous country so we need to care for our possessions and appreciate them.
ere is another way of teaching some simple ‘life skill’s’….
Proverbs – Choose a proverb from the Bible to explain/talk about each Rally night….eg.
- · 1:19 (GNB) “Robbery always claims the life of the robber – this is what happens to anyone who lives by violence.” How would robbery claim my life? I may not die, but my reputation is ruined. No-one will trust me now. I may end up in prison if I get caught. Others doing the same can be violent towards me - many folk involved in selling drugs end up getting killed.
- · 4:23 “Be careful how you think: your life is shaped by your thoughts.” If you think a lot about going into a shop and stealing something, you may end up doing it one day. You will likely get caught – if not this time then you will one day. When you keep thinking about something, your mind dwells on it and then you end up doing it. If you get angry with Mum and then think about how unfair she is (even if she isn’t) then you will probably start shouting at her and arguing – because you have made your mind think it. If you think happy thoughts you will become a happier person.
- · 14:30 “Peace of mind makes the body healthy, but jealousy is like a cancer.” Drs have found that bad emotions like jealousy, anger, hatred, actually can eat away at our bodies and affect us physically. It can cause disease and sickness. If we treat others as God says and as we would like to be treated, we will have healthier minds and that helps us have healthier bodies. Our mind and body affects each other.
Let us use the opportunity we have been given with our Rally members to teach them as much as we can. Rally needs to do more than just provide fun & games - we have a responsibility to teach skills that will prepare our members for real life. |
