A growing number of nine to 13-year-olds are considered at risk of sliding into disaffection or offending behaviour. This invaluable resource is primarily for youth workers supporting those just younger than the “traditional” youth work age range of 14 to 21, but teachers of upper primary or early secondary pupils will find many of the exercises suitable for PSHE classes.

The book contains 72 structured activities aimed at encouraging good practice in early intervention with young people who may be vulnerable. The author is careful to address professional issues such as confidentiality, equality, reading age, gender, religion and medical needs, along with the requirement to gain parental permission for working with children in this age group.

Five sections - Making the Rules, Warm-Ups, Getting to Know Each Other, Expressing Yourself and Making Friends - cover the gamut between helping develop a group’s sense of security and belonging, to creating opportunities, to exploring feelings about their lives and relationships.

Fun activities progress gradually through the book towards invitations to group members to discuss personal views and feelings within a supportive climate.

Some one-to-one exercises are included. Great care and thought accompany descriptions of these activities and tips for using them, although on occasions the aims are closer to descriptions than intended outcomes. Some exercises will be familiar to youth workers, having been gleaned or adapted from other sources, but their evident tried-and-tested status should instil confidence in those coming new to this work.

As with all resources, this one is only as good as the workers who will be using it. A certain level of expertise is assumed: comments such as “be really sensitive to anyone feeling excluded” may leave the less experienced wondering “how?”

Youth workers still need to know their target group well and be clear about the rationale and purposes of this kind of work.

Adrian King

Adrian King is an independent health education consultant