Activity

Guidance

By

Umar AlFarooq
Activity Guidance Document
 Pine Haven Gators Club

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Spiritual..................................................................................................................2
Leadership..............................................................................................................2
Debate.....................................................................................................................2
How to pick a topic.............................................................................................2
Protocols of Debate............................................................................................2
Feeding the poor and hungry..................................................................................4
Making Shows........................................................................................................5
Talking....................................................................................................................5
Discussion...............................................................................................................5
Planting/Gardening.................................................................................................5
Arts and Crafts........................................................................................................5
Food........................................................................................................................5
Parenting Skills.......................................................................................................6
Martial Arts.............................................................................................................6
Self Control.............................................................................................................6
Build Something.....................................................................................................6
Movie Night............................................................................................................6
Fryday.....................................................................................................................6
Home Depot............................................................................................................7
Library....................................................................................................................7
Park.........................................................................................................................7
Swimming at pool/beach........................................................................................7
Xbox Team Games.................................................................................................7
Fight Night..............................................................................................................8
Board Games..........................................................................................................8
DnD........................................................................................................................8
Sports......................................................................................................................8
Exercise..................................................................................................................8

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 SPIRITUAL

This activity involves each member presenting how their beliefs or faith leads to
doing good and being good. References are encouraged, you may tell stories or
give examples. This is an opportunity to share your ideas in a safe space.

LEADERSHIP

Activities in this category involves tasks such as planning, scheduling, grading,

setting good examples for others to follow, learning how to communicate
effectively, how to formulate ideas and how to get control over chaos quickly.
This requires patience, self control and maturity.

DEBATE

This activity will involve some work.

HOW TO PICK A TOPIC

Firstly, you must pick a topic which affects many people and discussing or
resolving the matter could potentially help many people either understand how to
overcome an issue or gain a better understanding of it. There will be a set format
and protocols to follow.

PROTOCOLS OF DEBATE

Each participant-member should learn the following protocols. Younger children

will be given easier topics to debate. On round one, these protocols will be
followed. In round two, the roles between the “Teacher” and “Student” gets
reversed and in the end, audience will be allowed to ask questions as well.

1. We can enter into one of three modes.

 Teaching
 Learning
 Arbitration
2. One topic must be defined or a question must be stated clearly
3. Exactly two sides of the stated proposition must be taken by the “student”
and “teacher” role
4. If a “teacher” makes a statement, he/she must defend it. There is no need to
ask why the questioner is asking, what is the questioner’s belief, how others
are wrong or any off-topic replies. These violations must be called by the
arbitrator and explicitly cited.

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 5. If a student asks a question, he/she must allow the teacher to articulate their
point. They may defer to the arbitrator to rule on whether or not the
question has been address appropriately.
6. The answer to the question the student has asked must directly relate to the
question, not go into preaching mode or spout unrelated statements.
7. An arbitrator must adhere to the protocols of debate. That is their primary
function and not to take sides or give their own opinion on matters. They
can clarify questions and set the expectations for the debate. The arbitrator
is also the consistency checker.
8. Each person must stay within the topic until it is answered or agreed to be
deferred.
9. If the teacher contradicts or changes an earlier statement even with a
clarification, the student reserves the right to iterate through the points
previously discussed. If not, the same point must not be beleaguered.
10. Each statement can branch off into other sub-debates and a tracking
mechanism will be in place to identify fallacies, unethical tactics or circular
arguments.

<Please see diagram below for a visual representation>

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 FEEDING THE POOR AND HUNGRY

Once a month, we will prepare enough food for 100 people, serve them and do
cleanup afterwards. This involves at least 5 hours of work to get full credit.

MAKING SHOWS

Each activity we’re all involved in can be made into a show. In order to do that,
you must first write a script, possibly with diagrams to illustrate scenes, prepare
the “actors”, camera, lighting and audio, and film the event. Then this footage
must be taken into a computer and edited. Finally, this video can be uploaded to
YouTube and we can watch the comments and respond as appropriate.
You can also do shows which are not based on activities we do.

TALKING

This activity involves talking to each other about things which affect everyone in
the group. The idea behind it is to share each others’ feelings and learn how to be
sensitive to others. This gives an opportunity for kids to talk and learn about how
other families do things. Emphasis should be given to good over bad/evil. This
planned activity should take into consideration the different levels of a child’s
development and try to engage with the kid at their level.

DISCUSSION

This is not a formal debate nor a casual “talk”. This activity is to discuss
important things which are going on in the world. How to better understand it,
how to help and how it affects us or others.

PLANTING/GARDENING

Either potted plants or scout out locations where we can plant or garden to make
the place better.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Think of someone special. Do something to make them happy. You can make a
drawing, painting, sculpture, crafts, poem, story, etc. The person can be a group
member, family member, friend or even strangers. A good idea is for us to learn

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 about people in Hospice care (people who are near death), learn their names and
something about their lives and then make something nice for them.

FOOD

Cook healthy and delicious food! Create or learn about a recipe and with adult
supervision, create that dish. Bonus points for doing this as a show.

PARENTING SKILLS

How can parents do better? What can parents do to make your lives better? How
can parents listen to you and talk to you? Can kids make a group and discuss how
things they wanted to talk about can be better articulated? Let’s try. Help us help
you.

MARTIAL ARTS

Learn self-defense in a safe and effective way. We will learn how NOT to hurt
people first and once we do that, we can practice martial arts with each other in a
way that we are not intimidated by threats or violence. That we are able to remain
calm and composed and alert when faced with danger.

SELF CONTROL

There are many techniques to learn self-control like yoga, meditation and martial
arts. We will explore these techniques and enhance focus and sharpness while
learning patience and self control.

BUILD SOMETHING

This is the most ambitious of our activities. We look for opportunities to build
something which will benefit others. A solid construction like a house, fence,
things to help animals, plants, humans, etc.

MOVIE NIGHT

Pick a show or movie to watch. Pop some popcorn, learn the etiquettes of
watching something together. No talking during the movie, no making a mess,
arrive on time so everyone doesn’t have to wait and pay attention to what’s going
on so you don’t have to interrupt with “What’s going on?” After the show you
can discuss.

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 FRYDAY

A day when you get to eat deep fried foods! Unhealthy? Yes but it will be only
once a month. This will typically be after the “Feeding the Homeless” day as a
reward for helping others.

HOME DEPOT

First Saturday of each month there is a project in Home Depot for kids to do. We
wake up early and go to this project at 9:30 AM. Try to read the instructions and
learn how to complete the project more effectively.

LIBRARY

Typically on a Saturday we will go to the library to read books, check some out
and possibly some movies.

PARK

Typically on a Saturday, we will pack enough food for a good lunch and a light
fruit snack in the evening. We take advantage of the coolness of the morning
time to go to the park early and have some fun. They open at 9 am so that would
be the best time to start there. This means that Friday night most of the
preparations should be done. Until 11:30 AM we do the various park activities.
Then we break for lunch/picnic and have our food. Cleanup and drive to the
library which is nearby. During the peak heat, we can spend the time indoors in
AC. Around 2:30 PM we leave the library to go to the Rec center for more indoor
activities until 5 PM when they close. At this time we break for some fruit snacks
and hydration. Then the kids play in the playground and fields and adults play
volleyball until 7:30 PM.
This is done once a week so all members should be well prepared for a day filled
with activities.

SWIMMING AT POOL/BEACH

We primarily go to these events to learn how to control our breath better, the
different techniques for swimming, floating, diving and snorkeling, and practice
our endurance. Doing water aerobics and training is also good. Playing games
and splashing around should be relegated for the end of these sessions.

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 XBOX TEAM GAMES

A really fun activity played with Xbox Kinnect. Members should learn restraint
and encourage others to do better, not insult or tear each other down. There are
many games there and everyone gets a turn.

FIGHT NIGHT

This is a night to let out some steam in a safe environment. There will be rules to
make it fair for the smaller kids and precautions in place to minimize chances of
injury. It will be adult supervised and kids will be challenged. A good
opportunity to put the martial arts training to use. This activity teaches kids to not
be afraid of bullies and how not to be a bully yourself.

BOARD GAMES

We have several board games like Guesstures, Taboo, Connect 4, Cards,

Pictionary, Puzzles, Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly,
Civilization game, etc. Kids should be matched with their levels but they can
challenge harder opponents.

DND

Dungeons and Dragons is a role playing games. We will be playing with the
conventions of Advanced D&D 2nd Edition. Player stats and progress is tracked
and character sheets maintained.

SPORTS

Various sporting activities are possible. Cricket, Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball,

Soccer, Track & Field, etc. Younger members should be given easier exercises
and encouraged by older members. The goal of this activity is to improve the
skills and attitude in playing. Be a good sportsman and not a sore winner or loser.

EXERCISE

Bodyweight exercises, weight training, aerobics, endurance training. Full

participation is expected in order to get full credits.