Character & Leadership is a priority outcome area for Boys & Girls Clubs. Our aim is that young people stay true to their values, demonstrate good citizenship, and drive positive change. Character determines the way one behaves when no one is looking. In Clubs and Youth Centers, six essential traits, or pillars, define character:
- Respect involves treating others with honor and dignity, accepting differences, being courteous to others, and considering others’ feelings.
- Fairness means playing by the rules, taking turns and sharing, being open-minded, listening to others, and not taking advantage of others.
- Trustworthiness is being able to be relied upon as honest or truthful.
- Responsibility is recognizing how behaviors affect others in both positive and negative ways and being accountable for your words.
- Caring is about understanding and having compassion for the experiences and perspectives of others and demonstrating kindness, empathy, gratitude, and forgiveness.
- Citizenship involves understanding community issues and dynamics and collaborating to find a solution to shared problems.
Character is caught and taught, with character traits coming to life when youth practice essential skills and staff model good character. The benefits of providing youth with opportunities to learn and practice essential skills include improved academic performance, decreased emotional distress, decreased behavior problems, and increases in positive attitudes about both school and pro-social behavior. Social and emotional development is the foundation of all skill-building in Club and Youth Center programming.
As young people develop and grow, the strategies needed to support healthy, positive social and emotional development must stay relevant. Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) has created this We Belong: Creating the Club Climate You(th) Want Activity Colleciton to support Clubs through an intentional series of activities focused on core essential skills — the “building blocks” of a strong Club community. No matter where you are in your programming, taking a moment to reset and focus on these building block skills can revitalize your efforts to create a Positive Club Climate.
What Is a Positive Club Climate?
A Positive Club Climate is one in which staff and youth feel connected and supported, respected and valued, inspired and excited, and emotionally safe and comfortable. When youth feel supported, respected, and safe, they are more likely to engage in impactful Club activities and positive peer interactions.
Working with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, BGCA has adapted the Positive Club Climate Toolkit, available on bgca.net, with the following four resource guides:
Emotional Check-Ins Resource Guide is a tool that YDPs and youth can use to pause, reflect, and identify their emotions so that they can better understand and meet their needs.
Group Agreements Guide is a tool that youth and YDPs can use to create an emotionally safe and supportive environment by creating a shared vision for how people want to feel during their time together.
Meta-Moment Guide helps staff and youth handle strong emotions to make better decisions for themselves and their community.
Restorative Roadmap Guide is a tool that provides YDPs with easy-to-use, step-by-step guidance on how to restore relationships after a conflict occurs.
This We Belong: Creating the Club Climate You(th) Want Activity Colleciton was created to support these Positive Club Climate tools.
Positive Club Climate Resources At-a-Glance |
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| | What is it? | How to use it: |
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Emotional Check-Ins | Emotional Check-Ins are designed to help participants learn to recognize emotions in ourselves and others, and to develop strategies for regulating or managing these emotions. | - Use Emotional Check-Ins at staff meetings.
- Use Emotional Check-Ins at the beginning and end of each program.
- Use Emotional Check-Ins at various points throughout the Club day.
- Use Emotional Check-Ins when working with youth who are feeling strong emotions.
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Group Agreements | Group Agreements are a shared vision created by participants in order to build an emotionally supportive environment. | - Create Group Agreements with youth development professionals at a staff meeting; revisit them routinely to update them as needed.
- Create Club-wide Group Agreements to showcase your Club vision.
- Create Group Agreements with youth for specific program areas or when you begin a new program; revisit them daily and change them as needed.
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Meta-Moments | The Meta-Moment helps participants handle strong emotions so they can make better decisions for themselves and their community. | - Youth development professionals can take a Meta-Moment before approaching a tense situation with youth to prepare themselves to react calmly.
- Youth can use the Meta-Moment to guide their interactions with staff and peers when they are feeling big emotions.
- Staff can encourage youth to use the Meta-Moment as a way to positively guide behavior choices.
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Restorative Roadmap | The Restorative Roadmap helps participants manage conflict effectively. | - Youth development professionals can use the Restorative Roadmap for reflection with youth after a conflict occurs.
- Club leaders can use the Restorative Roadmap for reflection with youth development professionals after a conflict occurs.
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Essential Skills Development
In addition to facilitating youth and adult connections, as well as inclusion, the Positive Club Climate tools were designed to promote the following essential skills.
Essential Skills | Descriptions | Aligned Character Traits |
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| Self-Awareness | Recognizing one's feelings, needs, thoughts, and influence on behavior. | Fairness |
| Empathy | Ability to understand and share the feelings of others. | Respect Fairness Responsibility Caring |
| Perspective-Taking | Ability to see things from others' point of view. | Respect Responsibility Caring |
| Identifying Emotions | Recognizing and expressing feelings. | Responsibility |
| Conflict Management and Resolution | Responding to conflict. | Fairness Responsibility |
| Communication | Communicating clearly verbally and non-verbally, listening well to others. | Respect Fairness Trustworthiness Responsibility Citizenship |
| Impulse Control | Controlling the desire to react immediately. | Respect Responsibility Caring |
The Positive Club Climate methods support a High-Quality Club Experience, which is built on Safe, Inclusive Environments; Meaningful Programs & Experiences; and — most of all — Supportive Relationships. Emotional Check-Ins, Group Agreements, Meta-Moments, The Restorative Roadmap, and the activities found in this We Belong: Creating the Club Climate You(th) Want Activity Colleciton facilitate supportive relationships among staff, between staff and youth, and among youth. By using these methods, you can work with youth to build a culture of understanding, appreciation, and support in all interactions.
Resource Purpose
This collection has been designed as a two-week set of activities that any Club or Youth Center can use to help build and/or refresh foundational essential skills. While each 60-minute activity can be facilitated on its own, each one builds foundational skills and, when completed as a series, helps to create trust and a sense of community. These activities are most suitable for youth ages 9 to 12 (4th thru 8th grade), but they could be adapted for other age groups. These activities are designed to build skills in the following three areas.
- Connection to Self: Skills that focus on the awareness, feelings, actions, and growth of oneself.
- Connection With Others: Skills that focus on communication and positive engagement with others.
- Connection in Community: Skills that focus on teamwork, collaboration, and community building.
The following chart outlines each activity’s objective and targeted essential skills.
| Activity Title | Objective | Skills |
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Connection to Self |
| 1. Who Am I? | Youth will assess their own strengths and begin to understand their individual needs. | - Self-Awareness
- Recognizing Strengths
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| 2. Community Tic-Tac-Toe | Youth will recognize characteristics about themselves and others in their group. | Self-Awareness Relationship Building
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| 3. Weather Mood Collage | Youth will learn about being aware of their bodies and their emotions, both positive and negative. | |
| 4. Journey to My Happy Place | Youth will practice mindfulness techniques and discuss when and how to use mindfulness as an emotional wellness strategy. | |
Connection With Others |
| 5. Freeze! | Youth will practice communication and collaboration to create and change improvisation scenes. | - Self-Awareness
- Impulse Control
- Identifying Emotions
- Communication
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| 6. Lead the Way | Youth will practice clear communication with each other as they successfully recreate images. | - Communication
- Peer Relationships
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| 7. Name That Feeling | Youth will practice noticing and becoming aware of body language to communicate information and create a non-verbal scene. | - Communication
- Relationship Building
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| 8. The Restorative Roadmap | Youth will practice the steps in the Restorative Roadmap to reflect on and address conflict. | - Self-Awareness
- Communication
- Conflict Management and Resolution
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| 9. The Great Egg Drop | Youth will collaborate to problem solve and create a container to safely protect an egg when dropped. | - Identifying and Solving Problems
- Planning
- Evaluating
- Collaboration
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Connection in Community |
| 10. Mini Design Charrette | Youth and facilitators will partner in a process to reimagine and redesign Club/Youth Center spaces. | - Collaboration
- Identifying and Solving Problems
- Identifying and Solving Problems
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| 11. Group Agreements | Youth will collaborate to develop or refresh Group Agreements for how they want to be/feel in the Club/Youth Center. | - Communication
- Self-Awareness
- Identifying Emotions
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Many of the activities found in this Activity Collection utilize practices from the other four Positive Club Climate tools.
Emotional Check-Ins | Group Agreements | The Meta-Moment | The Restorative Roadmap |
Weather Mood Forecast The Restorative Roadmap Name That Feeling | Group Agreements Sample Group Agreements across activities* | Journey to My Happy Place The Restorative Roadmap | The Restorative Roadmap |
*There are sample Group Agreements in each activity so youth can practice different ones before they create their own Group Agreements.
Activity 1
