Go Wild! by Scripture Union
Harness the power of the great outdoors and help children discover who God is through nature. The majority of the current resources in this collection are aimed at 8-11 year olds. There are multiple downloadable PDF resources including taster event plan, session plans, activities and how to guides for leaders. As a lot of SU resources this can be used with children and young people at any stage of faith including those that don’t have religious beliefs. You could also adapt this to use as a family/families activity. This set of resources is great as it connects children with the outdoors – it thinks outside the box and outside the rooms and context we would usually deliver kids and youth work. There are always some young people who struggle with traditional sit and listen approaches to kids work and this resource turns that approach on its head – gets young people outside and enables them to experience something of God for themselves in perhaps a more meaningful way.
The Go Wild! Collection takes children outside to experience the majesty and love bound up in God’s creation. Through bushcraft activities, outdoor experiences and stories around the campfire, children will be introduced to ideas of who God is. They will discover Bible stories and find out something of what it means to follow Jesus.
There are resources for all stages of the Revealing Jesus mission framework, enabling you to journey with children for the long term, as they Connect, Explore, Respond and Grow in faith.
It uses natural environments to help participants explore creation and connect with the Bible through hands-on activities. Typical tasks include building campfires, constructing outdoor shelters, tracking wildlife, and nature-based craft projects
Go Wild! sessions are formed around 4 steps:
1. Experience – an engaging tangible experience that a child has in a Go Wild! setting.
2. Reflection – an invitation to engage with questions inspired by the experience on a personal level.
3. Formation – an opportunity to explore a Christian perspective on the experience through the Bible and shared testimony.
4. Application – an opportunity to consider the everyday life implications of what has been experienced and explored.
The beauty of this experiential learning approach, which is so key to the Go Wild! experience is that children will leave the session or activity with more than a story in their minds.
SU have created some brilliant content that can help you explore how to run Go Wild! inspired sessions but, sometimes the best way to learn is to experience things for yourself.
Across the year SU run online training sessions, in-person leaders residentials, and holidays for children and young people where you can go along and jump into a Go Wild adventure. We guarantee you’ll learn how to connect with God in the outdoors, respond to him, and explore the Bible in new and impactful ways with children and young people.
https://content.scriptureunion.org.uk/collectiondetailpage/go-wild