16 Games that Promote Conversations About Resilience

In 2004, Edgework partnered with the Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps to help launch a camp in the forest outside of Chang Mai, in northern Thailand. This camp was one of the first in the country to serve children who were affected by HIV.

Camp Sanook Sanook (Camp Happy Happy) was a success and plans were underway to repeat it for the following year when the devastating Tsunami struck in December, 2004.

As the emergency situation slowly came under control in 2005, almost every youth-facing service was facing a crush of challenges, not least of which were an entire demographic of children dealing with late effects of this disaster.

We returned in July and November of 2005 to work with 16 different youth services organizations to offer a level of training and approach on ways to promote resilience through caring adult relationships, positive program culture and play. The “Building Blocks” workshop provided senior youth workers with a set of basic skills and tools to help train their staff in trauma-informed ways to engage with children.

One of these tools was a short activity guide describing 16 games to play with children, each of which can spark conversation and skill building around a number of life skills that foster resilience. These activity guides, in their entirety, are included in this document.