Recruiting - Youth
I'm creating a set of SCA recruiting posts that are mostly for me to put information out of what things have worked and what hasn't worked. Feel free to send advise my way as things can always be improved. I'm only posting on things we've thought up or have tried out.
Youth:
I originally made a low moroccan table for my living room but it has turned out well for events. This last weekend we placed the low (brightly colored, and paint friendly) table next to the welcome popup. On the table we placed coloring pages of knights and medieval scenes (individually drawn or non-copyrighted material) on the table. All the coloring pages said "Tarnmist.org The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)" on them. I have markers, scented, non-scented, paints, pencils, and other little things that seemed to attract any small human to it for fun and entertainment. We had blankets and rugs around it so that the little people just worked their way to the table. As the welcome table was about 3 feet from the little table, the children wandered over while their parents asked questions and we were still able to keep an eye on them. We still had someone stationed there to make sure all children were supervised and safe, but the distance was also a positive factor for the kids being able to wander over. Apparently, I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of finding out what scents are associated with what colors. We had little noses covered with (washable) markers, which we thankfully also had wet wipes that just cleared them up. This allowed for a quiet time for the children to interact with each other while creating their master pieces. We hung a few up that were given to us.
The youth classes and quiet coloring areas fascinate me; they turn into a little area of focus concentration on what they are doing. Yes, they are still a bit all over the place, but they focus on their work rather than entirely on competing as they tend to do in youth combat. Youth combat as a whole has been very educational as we're working with them as fighters but it also teaches us about how they interact with adults vs people of their own age group. It's interesting to see how they respond to different age groups.
I've also gotten into the habit of having some of our page school items (foam weapons, shields, and such) with us at our adult practice and they have come in handy. On Monday we had 4 different families stop by and ask questions while the children were able to play with their families. They took handouts on the SCA and coloring pages. We even had a family visiting from Spain who I had a blast talking to. They were given the spanish version of our handout but the coloring page was the same. Hopefully they'll get involved in Drachenwald.
A few days/weeks ago callistotoni posted a comment on families and a differentiation between our practices or frequency of ocurrence here in the West vs An Tir. I found this fascinating and decided to do some more research on what draws families into the SCA. We have a few youth combatants who found us out of sheer curiosity and thus have included their families as they get more and more involved. I've been wondering if this is another venue we should pursue around here as we have a ton of families in the area.
There are so many families in the SCA that I always find it so fascinating to see the interactions. I love
ysabella_dolfin 's stories and comments on her family at events, and the posts also shows how much time she spends making sure her children have clothing and such for events. It gives a good indication of how much time parents have to spend in SCA related activities if their children are involved. She also provides a great environment for the practices and as a hang out place. People of all age groups get to hang out whether they be tiny or older. This kind of mix is what I would like to work towards so that everyone feels welcome at any kind of event we might want to put on. Is there a "Parent's guide to your child in the SCA" sort of thing?? We have a very good relationship with our youth combatant's parents but I think it might also be nice to give them something focused specifically for them and the interactions their child will have within this bigger group.
I also find that a large portion of people who have been in the SCA for a while have children and might not play because of the child factor. I wouldn't want to have to stop play just because I had a child I think making it a family friendly environment might help the participation level. This would also not exclude a large portion of our local population.
I'm off to work on more foam weapons and shields tonight. Anyone have any medieval dances that would be easy for the youth group to learn?? Name would work so I can look up music and dance steps. Thanks!!
Youth:
I originally made a low moroccan table for my living room but it has turned out well for events. This last weekend we placed the low (brightly colored, and paint friendly) table next to the welcome popup. On the table we placed coloring pages of knights and medieval scenes (individually drawn or non-copyrighted material) on the table. All the coloring pages said "Tarnmist.org The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)" on them. I have markers, scented, non-scented, paints, pencils, and other little things that seemed to attract any small human to it for fun and entertainment. We had blankets and rugs around it so that the little people just worked their way to the table. As the welcome table was about 3 feet from the little table, the children wandered over while their parents asked questions and we were still able to keep an eye on them. We still had someone stationed there to make sure all children were supervised and safe, but the distance was also a positive factor for the kids being able to wander over. Apparently, I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of finding out what scents are associated with what colors. We had little noses covered with (washable) markers, which we thankfully also had wet wipes that just cleared them up. This allowed for a quiet time for the children to interact with each other while creating their master pieces. We hung a few up that were given to us.
The youth classes and quiet coloring areas fascinate me; they turn into a little area of focus concentration on what they are doing. Yes, they are still a bit all over the place, but they focus on their work rather than entirely on competing as they tend to do in youth combat. Youth combat as a whole has been very educational as we're working with them as fighters but it also teaches us about how they interact with adults vs people of their own age group. It's interesting to see how they respond to different age groups.
I've also gotten into the habit of having some of our page school items (foam weapons, shields, and such) with us at our adult practice and they have come in handy. On Monday we had 4 different families stop by and ask questions while the children were able to play with their families. They took handouts on the SCA and coloring pages. We even had a family visiting from Spain who I had a blast talking to. They were given the spanish version of our handout but the coloring page was the same. Hopefully they'll get involved in Drachenwald.
A few days/weeks ago callistotoni posted a comment on families and a differentiation between our practices or frequency of ocurrence here in the West vs An Tir. I found this fascinating and decided to do some more research on what draws families into the SCA. We have a few youth combatants who found us out of sheer curiosity and thus have included their families as they get more and more involved. I've been wondering if this is another venue we should pursue around here as we have a ton of families in the area.
There are so many families in the SCA that I always find it so fascinating to see the interactions. I love
ysabella_dolfin 's stories and comments on her family at events, and the posts also shows how much time she spends making sure her children have clothing and such for events. It gives a good indication of how much time parents have to spend in SCA related activities if their children are involved. She also provides a great environment for the practices and as a hang out place. People of all age groups get to hang out whether they be tiny or older. This kind of mix is what I would like to work towards so that everyone feels welcome at any kind of event we might want to put on. Is there a "Parent's guide to your child in the SCA" sort of thing?? We have a very good relationship with our youth combatant's parents but I think it might also be nice to give them something focused specifically for them and the interactions their child will have within this bigger group.
I also find that a large portion of people who have been in the SCA for a while have children and might not play because of the child factor. I wouldn't want to have to stop play just because I had a child I think making it a family friendly environment might help the participation level. This would also not exclude a large portion of our local population.
I'm off to work on more foam weapons and shields tonight. Anyone have any medieval dances that would be easy for the youth group to learn?? Name would work so I can look up music and dance steps. Thanks!!