- Theme
- General
- Age Range
- 7-18
- Type
- Activities
- Number of Participants
- 10-40
- Timescale
- 30-60 minutes
Quick overview
Who can create the best country and how’d you go about it? It’s something we’re forever asking ourselves but is a great challenge to help inspire young people to work together, think of others, engage their imaginations and have a laugh along the way.
Approximate timings:
30-40 minutes for the activity, 2-5 minutes per group for the presentation
Supplies you’ll need
Pens, pencils, colour markers, several pieces of paper (preferably A2 or bigger), a map of an imaginary island with things like lakes, mountains, forests, rivers, orchards etc.
Prep
Drawing the map and photo, copying it so that there are enough copies for each group.
Leading the Activity
Split the young people into groups of 2-10. Give each the materials above and this challenge:
They have arrived on an uninhabited island with a bunch of people and they have been selected to become the new government. Their first task is to complete the following tasks and make the following decisions:
- Name the country
- Nickname for the country
- Create a flag
- Write a national anthem
- Where to build their settlement on the map
- Give themselves government offices
- Create any laws that you feel are necessary
- Choose another job they could do that would help serve the needs of their country
- Pick an animal to represent their country
- Create a motto for the country
The group must work together to complete the task and then present it to the rest of the group when finished. They must explain why they made the decisions they decided and then you as a leader decide which is the best country.
God Link
As human beings, we naturally want to create a world that helps people. The problem is that while in theory we could do it, in practice people can often be selfish and self-centred. A great example of this is communism, which while in theory has many great sounding points, in practice led to more deaths than Nazism!
For us to truly live for others and build a greater society we must learn from the only being that is completely selfless and wholly loving, and that is God. This can then lead into prayer, which is the way we come to know personally the great love of God. Luke 6:31, Luke 6:35, Mark 12:31, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.