Report on the Youth Exchange “Come Out & Play!”
(funded by
Erasmus+)
Youthnet Hellas, in association with Youth Movement
of Edessa and Environmental
Education Centre of Edessa-Giannitsa, has
successfully implemented the Youth Exchange “Come Out & Play!” in Edessa (Greece) at 29.07.2015 – 05.08.2015, in the frame of the Erasmus+ program for
Youth.
38 youngsters from 7 European countries (Italy, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Greece) took part in this project that
mainly examined the issues of internet and on-line gaming addiction and explored
healthy ways of living.
The project “Come Out & Play!” had an
aim to outline the importance of outdoor activities and street games as means
of dealing with young people’s addiction to internet and the “videophilia”
phenomenon. This was achieved with a very entertaining, participatory and
learning way.
The main idea of the project was based on
the street games that are or were played in various countries, usually by the
older generations. The participant youngsters left their computers and smart phones
aside and came out to play with each other and with the locals.
They presented the outdoor games that were
played in their countries, they tested and played them with the rest, exercised,
cooperated with each other and entertained themselves.
After the games, there were discussions
and workshops, whereby the impressions from the experience of outdoor games were
described, issues of addiction to internet and computers were examined and the
importance of healthy behaviors and ways of living was analyzed. All activities
and workshops were realized in the frame of non-formal and informal learning.
Some of the most important achievements
were that this project managed:
• To encourage outdoor activities as means
of promoting healthy behaviors and ways of living and as a means of reinforcing
the mental, psychological and physical health of young people.
• To create intercultural learning and to
discover cultural elements and identities of participants and their countries
through the street games played today and in the past.
• The inclusion and active participation
in the project of young people with fewer opportunities.
• The intergenerational approach of
youngsters with older people.
• The development of social, personal,
group skills amongst participants and to reinforce their self esteem and self
confidence.
• To sensitize and provide knowledge about
the side-effects of modern technological means, about the dangers hidden in
getting addicted to internet and about the phenomenon of “videophilia”.
Additionally, the participants’ team
created a Handbook, which contains
all the outdoor games from various countries that were played throughout the
project, with description and detailed guidelines on how they are played.
At the same time, a Mini Movie was created, with audiovisual material from the moments that
participants were playing the outdoor games of various countries, together with
some people from local community.
The whole progress and process of the
project can be followed through the website of the project (http://come-out-and-play-2015.blogspot.gr/)
and the official website of Youthnet Hellas (www.youthnet.gr).
For more information, please contact us at:
come.out.and.play.edessa@gmail.com