The importance of play for participation and engagement!
To create conditions for daring, wanting, and being motivated to make one’s voice heard, sports organizations need to think carefully. How do we actually create engagement among our members? And how do we involve children and youth in democratic decisions within the organization?
There is no simple answer to this question. However, something we have focused on during this journey has been the importance of play for safety, community, and joy. When participants feel joy, community, and safety, participation comes naturally. Then we dare to express our opinion, even if it differs. We dare to share when something has happened, and we become more creative.
When we in the Democratic Project, IFK Umeå, invite people to various meeting places or when we meet members in already existing forums within the organization, we have therefore always planned different games to break things up (whether we meet children or adults). These can be games to get to know each other better, games that strengthen cooperation between groups, games that promote communication, or games that are simply based on laughter and joy.
Sometimes it can take time to plan these games.
Therefore, you can download suggestions for games to use in your organization here!
- Who am I?
- Birthday Parade
- Survival Game
- Rock Paper Scissors – with a twist
- Relays
- Which celebrity am I?
- Guide your friend the right way
- Quiz
- Treasure hunt
- Who agrees?
- Best in Test – games
- The Spaghetti Tower
- Create and tell – build the home arena, the gingerbread house, or the clubroom
- Memory game about club knowledge
- Who is the tallest?
- The Knot
- The Hello Game
- Get-to-know-you bingo
