Welcome new arrivals

Before you begin

• You may want to make a list of ‘bad welcome’ characteristics, so you don’t have to think of them on the spot.
• Think about how people will create their guides and pick up any extra materials or equipment you may need.

Play ‘You’re not welcome’

1. Everyone should split into two teams and stand at opposite sides of the space.
2. The person leading the game should tell one group that they’re the ‘new arrivals’. They should act normally.
3. The person leading the game should tell the other group that they’re going to give the new arrivals a bad welcome. They should give each player a ‘bad welcome’ characteristic, for example, ignoring people, not saying hello, being loud and shouting, or laughing at people.
4. Both groups should mingle together. The new arrivals should try to introduce themselves and make friends while the other group should use their ‘bad welcome’ characteristics to give them a bad welcome. The person leading the game should encourage people to keep moving on and speaking to others from the other group.
5. Everyone should gather back together. Anyone with a ‘bad welcome’ characteristic should stop using it now and return to their lovely, normal selves.
6. The new arrivals should share how it felt when they were meeting the others. Did they feel welcome and comfortable? How did it feel to be in the bad welcome group?

Talk about refugees and displaced children

1. Refugees and displaced children are often new arrivals more than once, in different situations. Everyone should talk about any extra barriers they may face – for example, they may have to learn a new language and get used to a new culture, they may not have many things, and they may have faced some difficult things in their lives so far.
2. Everyone should think about a time they arrived somewhere new – it could be moving house, moving school, or starting a new activity or group. Did anyone do anything that made them feel welcome?
3. In small groups, everyone should write a list of ways to welcome new arrivals. They should use their own experiences of what made them feel welcome, while trying to remember some of the barriers they talked about in step one. For example, they could think about a buddy system or simple ways to explain what usually happens when the group meets.
4. Each group should use their list to create a guide for new arrivals at their group. It’s up to them how they display the information – they could make a poster, a booklet, or something even more exciting.
5. Everyone should work together to make sure their ideas happen. For example, if they thought about a buddy system, they should think about how they’ll introduce it and make it work so any future new arrivals get the best possible welcome.

This activity helps contribute towards some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about the SDGs, and how Scouts across the world are getting involved.