Overview of the Youth Arts Activity Guide

This publication is made up of High-Yield Activities that build foundational skills across the four pillars of the arts.

• Visual Arts: Include drawing, painting, sculpture and pastel
• Performing Arts: Include drama, dance, instrumental music, vocal music and spoken word
• Digital Arts: Include graphic design, digital music and digital photography
• Applied Arts: Include jewelry making, culinary arts and fashion design

Purpose of This Guide

The purpose of this Youth Arts Activity Guide is to support young artists as they express themselves creatively and practice arts skills across the four pillars. The activities in this guide are intended as one-time exploratory experiences for youth ages 6 to 9. These arts-specific activities can be implemented in any program area of a Club or Youth Center, any day of the year.

How to Use This Guide

The Youth Arts Activity Guide is an introduction to arts experiences in visual, performing, digital and applied arts. The activities provide youth engaging, hands-on opportunities to explore art forms and create expressive products or performances.

The activities in this guide may be run in any order. They are designed to be implemented as stand-alone experiences lasting approximately 45 to 60 minutes each. For each arts topic, activities are included for youth ages 6 to 9 and ages 10 to 12. (Ages 10 to 12 are included in a separate collection.) Although individual activities specify age levels, each of them may be used with other age groups as Club staff determine. With a mixed age group, you can decide which activity best fits the needs of youth. In some cases, you may need to provide extra support for younger members or encourage older members to assist as needed.

Arts Topics

All activities focus on building skills in one of four pillars of the arts: visual, performing, digital and applied arts. Youth will explore the following arts topics.

Activity Components

Each activity includes the following components.

Background and Preparation: An overview of information needed to implement the activities

• Session Objective: Brief description of the Main Activity
• Time Requirements: Duration of activity (45-60 minutes)
• Group Size: Number of participants
• Handouts: Printouts to distribute
• Supplies Needed: Items to have ready
• Links to Resources: Websites to access for more information
• Skills: Social-emotional and creative skills practiced in the activity
• Key Terms: Vocabulary taught through the activity
• Preparation: Steps to prepare for and complete the activity

Before the Main Activity: Welcome and icebreaker to get the group ready

• Warm Welcome: Time to greet each young person by name, thank them for coming, and engage in conversation
• Community Builder: An icebreaker to engage the group, lay the groundwork for the activity, and create an environment for learning and exploration

During the Main Activity: Specific guidance for how to facilitate the activity

• Introducing Youth to the Activity: A few comments about the topic and activity
• Step-by-Step Directions: Detailed steps for facilitating the activity

After the Main Activity: Helpful guidelines for concluding the activity

• Reflection: Help youth affirm what they’ve learned and apply it in other areas of life
• Recognition: Celebrate youths’ efforts and encourage participants to recognize each other’s accomplishments
• Closing: Guide youth to put materials away, tidy the space, and move on to the next program area

Preparing to Implement the Activities

These activities are easy to implement. You can facilitate them in any Club program area on any day. However, they will be most effective if you take the time to prepare. Here is what you will need to facilitate each activity.

• Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes
• Activity time: 45 to 60 minutes
• Space: Average-sized space or room
• Equipment: Access to a computer, printer and copy machine
• Materials: Paper, pens/pencils and art supplies (listed for each activity)
• Staff: One youth development professional or facilitator
• Background: No prior knowledge of the topic is needed, but additional resources are listed for more information

Overview of Activities

• Activity 1: Me, Myself and I: Youth will explore mixed media by creating self-portraits that depict their emotions and feelings using a variety of materials.
• Activity 2: Destroy to Create: Youth will explore collage by destroying images and using the pieces to create new images using their imaginations.
• Activity 3: Tin Foil People: Youth will explore sculpture using texture, scale and light to create sculptures using tin foil.
• Activity 4: Exploring Lines: Youth will explore drawing lines and shapes, combining different lines and shapes to make unique images.
• Activity 5: Expression of My Day: Youth will explore poetry by using alliteration to develop poems that include repetitive sounds and letters, and then they will build a group poem together.
• Activity 6: What in the World Is Pantomime? Youth will explore pantomime by acting out actions and emotions without using words or sounds.
• Activity 7: What’s Your Move? Youth will explore improvisational dance by practicing three levels of movement – low, middle and high – to communicate a message.
• Activity 8: Move as One: Youth will explore step dance by practicing three basic step movements: stomp, clap and pat.
• Activity 9: Alphabet Photography: Youth will explore photography and the idea of perspective by taking pictures of everyday objects that form the shape of letters.
• Activity 10: People of Our Club: Youth will explore portrait photography by practicing taking “selfies,” or self-portraits.
• Activity 11: Click, Drag, Create! Youth will explore digital collage by creating pieces inspired by the work of Aminah Robinson on the Aminah’s World website.
• Activity 12: My Musical Painting: Youth will explore digital painting by listening to music and painting what they hear using Bomomo.com.
• Activity 13: How to Make UNICORN Toast! Youth will explore food presentation by following a recipe and creating food to display and eat.
• Activity 14: The Five Flavors in Food: Youth will explore taste by creating their own recipes using the five flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory.
• Activity 15: That’s My Hat: Youth will explore fashion design and learn how fashion can be used to express who a person is by creating paper hats to represent themselves.
• Activity 16: Upcycled Accessories: Youth will explore accessory design by creating bracelets reusing recyclable plastic shopping bags.

Overview of Skills

The activities in this Youth Arts Activity Guide help youth develop social-emotional and creative skills by practicing a variety of art forms. This table shows how these activities address a few of these skills.

Staff Roles in the Arts

Your role in the arts is to create environments that support imagination and creative self-expression, help youth make connections to themselves and others through the arts, and lead experiences where youth can explore the process of making art, even if it does not always result in a product.

Staff Practices to Support All Youth as Artists

Club professionals can support creative youth development by demonstrating the following staff practices specific to the arts.

• Provide exposure to different artistic styles, forms, artists, and artwork from different cultures and traditions.
• Allow youth to copy and adapt styles and approaches to create their own original work.
• Explore new ideas with youth through open-ended questions such as, “What emotions are you trying to express?” or “Can you tell me what excites you or makes you curious about your project?”
• Explore, practice, and create your own art to share and/or collaborate on with youth artists.
• Encourage youth to play and experiment with their work and new art forms and media, which may or may not lead to a product.
• Express high expectations and perseverance, encourage follow-through, value self-expression through the arts, and support youth to hold staff and peers accountable.
• Provide timely and specific verbal and written feedback to youth individually, help them communicate self-expression through their artwork, and help them build their artistic technical skills.
• Provide opportunities to showcase youth work through a culminating event, exhibit or experience.
• Create a safe and supportive environment where youth are encouraged to freely explore and express who they are, what they believe in, and what they want to say through their art.
• Provide opportunities to discuss ways the arts connect with youths’ culture and community.
• Research current and/or new techniques in the arts, and incorporate them in programming.
• Run activities/experiences that allow youth to explore, play and experiment with different art forms, without a specific goal, product or end in mind.

Inclusion

Inclusion is a core component for building a safe, positive environment in your Club or Youth Center. Youth will feel physically and emotionally secure when everyone is focused on making sure ALL youth feel included. In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs and Youth Centers must create safe, positive and inclusive environments for youth of every race, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, religion or cultural belief. When we create inclusive environments at our Clubs and Youth Centers, we improve the overall experience for all young people.

When implementing activities, ensure ALL youth:

• Feel represented
• Have a sense of belonging
• Can meaningfully participate in activities

Inclusion Resources

The Program Basics BLUEprint is the definitive guide to program planning and delivery in Boys & Girls Clubs and BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military bases. It also reviews youth development fundamentals. To access the BLUEprint, visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics BLUEprint." To learn more about implementing inclusive practices, see pages 23-24.

Fostering Group Unity

In order for a group to work together effectively, youth need to believe the environment is emotionally supportive and safe. By creating Group Agreements (or ground rules), members have a shared vision for their time together – even if it’s for just one activity – and feel emotionally supported by other members. Before implementing any activity, it is important to take time to help youth create guidelines. Ask group members these questions to guide them in making a Group Agreement:

• How do we want to feel during our time together?
• What behaviors and actions will we agree to so we can all feel this way?
• What will we do if there is a conflict in the group?

One way to do this is to ask each question individually. For each question, have each young person write five responses on separate Post-it notes, and stick them on a flipchart page. You can review the responses to each question as a group and decide on the top five responses shared. Once you have identified the top five group responses to each question, post them on a single flipchart page in a place where members can see them every time they participate in one of the activities. At the start of each activity, you can briefly review the Group Agreements for returning members and those new to the group.

National Arts Contest Opportunities

The National Arts Contest runs annually and allows youth to submit entries in different forms of visual, digital and performing arts. Entries are judged at local, regional and national levels, highlighting youth artists between the ages of 6 to 18 years old. The activities in this guide introduce youth to different art forms. Some of the products they will create during activities can be submitted into the National Arts Contest for visual and digital category submissions.

Youth can also apply skills they practiced in these arts activities to create new products for the National Arts Contest.

To access the National Arts Contest page, please visit BGCA.net and search for "National Arts Contest."

See the following resources to support youth contest submissions:

• National Arts Contest Guide (Visit BGCA.net and search for "National Arts Contest Guide")
• National Fine Arts Program Guide (Visit BGCA.net and search for "National Arts Contest")
• ImageMakers National Photography Activities (Visit BGCA.net and search for "National Photography Program")
• My Future Arts Modules: Media Making and Visual Arts Badges