TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Michael van Leeuwen
Aim: To empower youth workers to use games as a tool for personal and social development of young people.
Objectives:
• Develop skills to design and facilitate educational and inclusion-focused games.
• Promote intercultural learning and exchange of best practices among youth workers.
• Strengthen participants’ competences in non-formal learning methods.
• Inspire follow-up activities and application of games in local youth projects.
A Trainers’ team of 3 European trainers where each one of us facilitated sessions on games methodology, group dynamics, and non-formal learning.
Target group: 29 youth workers and youth leaders from 14 European countries, including Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Romania, and Spain.
Methods: non-formal learning through interactive games, icebreakers, storytelling, group discussions, role-playing, and workshops on game design.
Examples of Icebreakers: Name Circle, Neighbours
Games for inclusion and social skills: Dixit, Story Cubes, SoWhat?!
Workshops on applying games to youth work, reflection on learning outcomes
• Participants learned to design and facilitate games for youth development and inclusion.
• Strengthened international network of youth workers and inspired follow-up projects in home countries.
• Documented in the official Activity Report – Let’s Go 4 Games!
• Feedback and evaluation forms showed high satisfaction and intention to apply methods locally.
• As co-trainer I focused on cultural exchange activities, group facilitation, and supporting reflective learning sessions and coaching participants on practical application of games in youth work.
• We had common shared responsibility in planning, delivering, and evaluating all sessions within the program training week.