Top tips

Be prepared

• Make sure rooms are booked well in advance.
• Ensure you have plenty of time on the day to buy refreshments and any extras that may be needed
• If staff are using their own cars for transport, try to have one person (with the keys!) at the venue so the first car load to arrive get a welcome
• Plan the final activity so some staff can be released to tidy up during it!
• Always have more activities planned than you can use
• If an activity is not working, move to something else; don't stick with it just because it was on the plan
• Especially with younger children, change activity just before they have got tired of it, not just after – they will then remember a group with lots to do, not a group where they had periods (even if only momentary) of doing nothing
• Plan a balance of social activities (eg art and craft, games, competitions) and more direct experiential/therapeutic activities. Make the latter as creative and fun as possible. Be clear that there are times when everyone is expected to join together as a group, balanced with times when they can choose to participate or sit and chat.
• Set limits. All groups need an idea of what the "groundrules" are. Older children may like to come up with their own suggestions. This can be a fun session as many children come up with amazingly strict rules which are negotiated down by other group members
• Invite a guest for one session – paediatrician/adult sibling/social worker/drama therapist