Working With Tweenagers (9-13's)

Comment by John Hardwick on September 8, 2008 at 9:39am

The tweenage years are roughly between 9 and 14 years of age, a time of enormous physical and emotional/psychological growth and change. This time of transition has the potential to trigger confusion and stress, as the young person begins to move from childhood towards the challenges and responsibilities of adulthood. The tweenager is moving from concrete reasoning to developing the ability to think about abstract concepts. They are beginning to fit their knowledge into the framework of their emerging worldview, and reconciling apparently conflicting information (e.g. the love of God c.f. God punishes the sinner).

Comment by Janet Evans on March 27, 2009 at 12:54pm

Hey John, I realise you're really after ideas for groups, but I hope you might find this interesting . . . I began Dernier Publishing to publish fiction for this age group; this is my burning vision! I tentatively started off with a bit of finance and two books of my own (my background is in freeelance writing) and have now commissioned more books from other authors which will be released later this year (DV 2 ready for summer reading, 2 in Sep/Oct).

The need for excellent books for young people with a Christian world view cannot be underestimated. There are plenty of books around (and film spin-offs) with an atheistic viewpoint and many stories which have incited interest in the occult and witchcraft, violence, materialism and worldly relationships, but what about books where the Lord is God, where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ matters, where people pray and read the bible? These don't have to be dry subjects! - they can be as alive, real, funny, scary and sad as any secular story, but with the enormous extra bonus of a spiritual perspective.
The aim of our books is to encourage, thrill and inspire young people in their walk with God - and to show non-church kids what they are missing! We also have posters and . . .well, take a look at our website - www.dernierpublishing.com, see what you think! You can sign up for montly newsletter with offers sometimes too. We would appreciate your support!

btw I helped with a group of kids this age for years - mostly non-church, it was a headache but such fun! We had a thought for the day at the end of the session (they were mostly non-church) and at times you thought nothing was going in but one day I said, right you can do the talk this time and sat down. Well, they got up and yelled the gospel at me like I'd never heard it b4!!!! I couldn't believe it. Be encouraged - more goes in than you think!

Comment by emily davis on March 30, 2009 at 12:48pm

Have a look at the Yfaith website: www.yfaith.co.uk and in particular the downloads page: http://www.yfaith.co.uk/parents/downloads.html

The website is an initiative of the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation, and is geared towards 10-13 year old churched kids. The downloads weekly gospel commentary; a monthly discussion starter by Martin Saunders (editor of youthwork magazine), that has been tweaked for our slightly younger target audience; a Bible Detectives Quiz and so on.

Do spread the word as these are free, quality resources!

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