Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "work with children/teenagers" projects in Germany

In the middle of the Münsterland region lies the Ostberven community. The youth office is looking forward to your help with summer holiday games for around 150 children between 8 – 12 years old. Together with the supervisors on site, you'll co-ordinate sports, games and crafts activities with the children. After an introduction and communal preparations during the first few days, you will then work with the children for 2 weeks, trying out the different types of activities. Please bring ideas for sports, games and crafts with you. We're excited to have capable and committed volunteers, who can try out their ideas with the children. During the holiday games, you'll be working for 8 hours a day, with a communal break.

You'll be staying in the youth centre. You'll cook your own meals together.

There are numerous free time activities available. In Ostbevern there's a skate park, a BMX park, a swimming pool. Within the youth centre itself there's a billiard table, table football and many other games. You can also visit the beautiful towns of Münster and Osnabrück. A day trip to the Netherlands would also be possible.

All participants should have a flair for pedagogical activities as well as a desire and interest to work with children. Experience with art, creativity, manual work and sport are all an advantage.

18-26

Ostbevern

English

QDU: Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof (Dusseldorf, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

Work: In the last workcamps with the help of the local artist Ms. Ulrike Speckmann, volunteers created colorful messages of Peace to be shown in public places: They designed „benches of encounter" and a big mural in the local kindergarden. Two years ago, volunteers designed a big picture for the entrance hall of the local church. It was done as reflection of a memorial in the same room, which still shows a very militaristic and nationalistic approach. This year volunteers are invited to design benches for this room, in order to bring in the perspective of peace and reconciliation. Again the artist will help us to get a creative process of painting. For information about the artist please visit http://ulrike-speckmann.de/. In addition to this artistic activities it is foreseen to visit the local kindergarden, to play with the children and to do some gardening there.Members of the parish will be happy if volunteers are ready to contact the different social groups of the city, especially the children and the older generation.

How to tackle the subject peace artistically, local history as starting point of an international movement.

The participants will be accommodated in the modern community center of Datteln „Etienne-Bach-Haus". Please bring sleeping bag. Camp beds and pillows will be provided.

Leisure time: Excursions to local places of interest, like the crossing of 4 channels and other sites.

The town Datteln is part of the mining region in the north of the Ruhr area with approx. 35 000 inhabitants in the federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen. Four waterways for shipping traffic are crossing in Datteln. The river Lippe and the region Münsterland are nearby. Next bigger towns are Recklinghausen, Dortmund and the very nice and famous students town Münster.

Volunteers with interest in creative arts are very welcome. After confirmation, you will have to sign a self-commitment statement in terms of legal protection for children and young persons. Please bring a sleeping bag.

18-26

Datteln

English, German

DTM: Dortmund (Dortmund, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

"Die Jugendhilfe Essen" (Youth Welfare in Essen) is the youth farm's provider. Here, children and young people have the opportunity to experience responsible working behaviour when dealing with nature. Around 100 animals live on the huge farm and want to be looked after and fed by young people and children. In summer, holiday activities take place. These involve working with the animals, in the farm's garden (maintaining and harvesting crops) and working with children. Besides this, there will be some manual work – over the last few years, for example, participants have built a goat pen and an insect hotel, as well as many other upcycling projects. There could also be other ecological projects. Tasks will be assigned daily to participants. You should be flexible and enjoy working outside.

A room on the grounds of the youth farm. All participants will sleep in one room. As well as this, there is a renovated construction trailer available for sleeping in. Participants will cook their own meals together

The convenient location of the camp in the Ruhr area means you can visit other interesting towns nearby, such as Dortmund or Münster. Köln and the Netherlands are also easily reachable. On the grounds of the youth farm, you can play football, volleyball and table tennis. A canoe trip available is also available.

An interest and desire to work with animals, in nature/gardens/with children. Knowledge of German is an advantage.

16-26

Essen

English, German

DTM: Dortmund (Dortmund, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

Do you enjoy playing games with children? Do you want to be make sure that children from Wismar and Grevesmühlen have a great summer holiday and at the same time do a bit of renovation? Then get involved with our huge summer holiday events for 40 to 100 of the children in Wismar and Grevesmühlen between 6 and 12 years old. Every day will have its own motto. Help us out with your ideas and your desire for creative and sporty games, so that these days are great fun not just for the children, but also for you! With games, songs, and crafts ideas from your home countries, you can give this summer's holiday events an international flair. In the first week of the camp, you'll be preparing for your press conference the holiday event. Afterwards, together with a team of pedagogical staff on-site, you'll be taking care of the children and putting your prepared ideas into practice. From Monday to Wednesday in the second week, this will be in Grevesmühlen, then on Thursday and Friday (as well as for the whole third week) this will be in Wismar.The exciting, adventurous accommodating can be seen at the following website: wagenburg.wobau-wismar.de. It lies at the edge of Wismar (www.wismar.de) and you'll get bikes to use for excursions to the town and its surrounding areas. You can also find pictures of the Bauernscheune, the biggest indoor playground in Wismar, (aka the Barn) here: bauernscheune.wobau-wismar.de. Some knowledge of German will make it easier for you to communicate with the children, but the main language of the workcamp and its participants will be English. Please don't forget to bring your own ideas for games and music from your home countries!

You'll be staying at the "Wagenburg", a small camp with covered wagons, a barbecue area and a clay oven. You'll prepare and cook your own meals in groups.

At "Wagenburg", you can play football and volleyball. Bikes will be available for excursions to the Ostsee lake and to the town centre. The town of Wismar is one of the prettiest old Hanseatic towns on the East coast. Besides this, you have the opportunity to go on day-trips to Lübeck, Rostock and Poel Island.

Some knowledge of German would be useful for this camp, as would enjoying playing games with children and being able to ride a bike.

18-26

Wismar

English, German

HAM: Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

Workcamp participants are invited to work in different fields: Manual, artistically, pedagogical. During the youth camps, you will have contact with kids from diverse background and join their activities as well. You are requested to be prepared as "ambassador" of the peoples living in your country. It would be helpful to be prepared to offer your own workshop artistically, musically or athletically at home and bring lots of ideas. In addition all volunteers will have the chance to introduce their country in an open evening. You should gather ideas at home and bring material for creating this evening. Further information will be prepared after the placement in the workcamp. Beside the announced activities the volunteers will also need to take responsibility by leading groups of young campers in daily works like catering and cleaning

The study part of this workcamp will be dominated mostly by the question about life between past and future, tradition and modernity, small-town-life and global correlations. Working on the "Himmelsfels", always encourage encounters between people from different cultures and diverse background.

There will be basic and simple accommodation. You will be sleeping in caravans. Please bring a sleeping bag. As some summer nights can get cold in Germany, please bring some warm clothes and raingear!

Himmelsfels is a nice place where kids spend their school vacation

Basic knowledge in German language is helpful in the contact with the Kids. Volunteers with interest in performing arts are very welcome and it would be great if you are interested in Christian spirituality. After confirmation, you will have to sign a self-commitment statement in terms of legal protection for children and young persons. Please bring a sleeping bag. As some summer nights can get cold in Germany, please bring some warm clothes and raingear!

18-26

Spangenberg

English, German

KSF: Kassel Calden (Kassel, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

The Holznagelhausen adventure playground is a holiday activity in the Veitshöchheim area. For 2 weeks, together with other volunteers, you'll be looking after 200 children between the ages of 7 and 13 – split into 14 groups - across a large outdoor area. You'll build wooden huts, offer sport and other workshop activities to the children (from football to baseball, baking pizzas in a stone oven to crafts and pedagogical games). You'll be able to have a lot of fun together. A highlight is the overnight stay in the huts complete with a night-time walk. During the camp you'll be able to contribute your own ideas and skills, learn how a youth project is carried out, experience working in a big team, learn new languages and make many new friends! The Holznagelhausen adventure playground holiday activity has been running for over 30 years and therefore is a long and successful tradition in the Veitshöchheim area. The activity is led by the community-based youth work in Veitshöchheim, which itself has been around for 25 years (more info at www.veitshoechheim.de; www.juz.veitshoechheim.de). You'll be working at the adventure playground Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 14:00. During the overnight stay and night-time walk, you'll be working late into the evening (until around 02:00). The children will then stay at the camp, but you will sleep as usual in the Friends of Nature House. On your last evening, there will be a farewell party with the other supervisors on site.

You'll be staying in rooms with multiple beds in the "Kalten Brunnen" Friends of Nature House. You'll prepare and cook meals in groups.

Veitshöchheim is a community with around 10,000 inhabitants and lies on the bank of the river Main near to Würzburg (which is the capital of Lower Franconia in Bavaria). In Veitshöchheim there's a very nice outdoor swimming pool, boat tours along the river Main and lots of nice people to get to know. You can get to Würzburg in about 10 minutes on the train, where you can enjoy its many sights (castles, chapels, residences) as well as shopping opportunities, cinemas, cafés and night-life. In the surrounding areas there is a climbing area, a leisure park, a go-kart track, all kinds of youth clubs, relaxing areas, cycle paths and skate parks. Everything that can be found in a large city (and indeed much more!) can also be found in Nürnberg and Frankfurt. So come and have a look!

A good knowledge of German and pedagogical skills are absolutely necessary, as is a desire to work with children.

16-26

Veitshöchheim

English, German

NUE: Nurnberg (Nuernberg, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

For over 90 years, the "Strandfahrten" of the Kiel AWO, aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 13, takes place in the youth village at the Falckenstein beach. Each year, 350 children can participate in various activities, play games, run around and discover the forest and beach for a whole week long (Monday – Friday). Every week there is a new project theme and different fixed activities on offer. You will be working from 9:00 til 16:00. In the first week of the camp you will have Monday free and will be working with the other supervisors at AWO on Tuesday and Wednesday. On these days you will also be able to get to know the project better. On the Thursday and Friday of the first week, you will be preparing for the second and third weeks. In these 2 weeks your workcamp group will design its own individual project, which you will incorporate into the programme and offer to different groups of children. For this, we ask you for your creativity and ideas. With games, songs and craft ideas from your home countries, you can give this year's Strandfahrt an international flair. If you enjoy working with children, want to go swimming and work outdoors in a large team, then you can expect to have a great time with many worthwhile experiences here. Please don't forget to bring games and ideas from your home countries! The Ostsee youth village of Falckenstein lies in an idyllic spot on the edge of the city of Kiel and is very close by to the beach at the Kiel Fjord. During the project, together with other supervisors from Germany, you are responsible for different groups of children and should be in a position to be able to communicate with them in German. The children, that you'll be working with, as well as some of the other team members, do not speak any English. You can reach the centre of Kiel in about half an hour with public transport. Kiel has around 200,000 inhabitants and is a popular tourist destination for people from all around the world.For more info about the youth village, visit www.jugenddorf-falckenstein.de. Here you can also find pictures from previous years.

You'll be staying in a simple frame-house with a large bedroom. Communal showers are in the main building. Sometimes meals will be provided, other times you will have to cook for yourselves.

During your camp you will have many opportunities to enjoy the evenings. You could go swimming in the Ostsee lake, relax at the beach, play volleyball or table tennis, enjoy a cosy barbecue evening together or take a bus (30 min. journey) into Kiel town centre.

Good knowledge of German is necessary, as is a desire to work with children.

18-26

Kiel

English, German

HAM: Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

Volunteers will help with plenty of small tasks: They will maintain the area of the project (e.g.by renovating the goat stable) and they will support the daily work of the educational farm. During the holidays there will be approx. 30-40 children every day, aged 6 - 14 years. Volunteers will support them in their activities (e.g. help children to build their own wooden hut or go for a pony ride with them). Help will also be needed in the outdoor-kitchen to prepare lunch for everybody. All volunteers will be welcome to bring their own ideas which they can offer to the children.

You will stay in a local school. Kitchen and all necessary sanitary facilities are provided, and there is enough space to have a bedroom and a separate common room. Either mats or camp beds will be provided.

: Schwarzach is a village in Southern Germany approx. 100km north of Stuttgart and 50km east of Heidelberg. The village has 3.200 inhabitants and offers a very good infrastructure (public swimming pool, mini-zoo, supermarket, ice-cream shop). The village is surrounded by pure nature and offers many opportunities for hiking. Excursions to Heidelberg or Heilbronn are possible.

-

16-26

Schwarzach

English

FRA: Frankfurt Main (Frankfurt, Germany)