The children were able to let off steam creatively and craftily throughout the week. Sandra Welsch took all the participants on a journey with her "Creative Green Suitcase" at the youth club on the market square. From building marble runs and Harry Potter's owl Hedwig to building rocket vehicles, wooden door signs and experiments, there were no limits. The children were enthusiastic and eager to get stuck in. Every day brought new challenges that stimulated their imagination and strengthened their manual skills.
Badminton was a sporting event. Fifteen children aged between 8 and 15 were welcomed to the Stadenhalle by the Idar-Oberstein badminton team at the start of the week. After a short warm-up program, they were introduced to badminton with the help of various games and exercises. They then learned about two different serves and the basic rules of badminton. After most of the children had mastered the serve, a passing exercise was carried out, which led to a final free game. All the children were eager and had fun, and in the end everyone was able to show an improvement in their game, which was a great sense of achievement for them.
Chess was the name of the game. Under the motto "Time for two", around 20 children with and without previous knowledge met for three days as part of the "Chess for children (and their parents)" vacation offer, which was organized and supervised by the Birkenfeld chess friends. The children were divided into three groups according to their abilities. The beginners' group first dealt with the movement of the pieces and later with the topics of chess, castling and mate. The advanced group mainly dealt with tactical motifs such as pinning or forking and mating with two rooks or a queen. The third group were the children who had already taken the knight diploma last year. Here, the tactical moves they had already learned were discussed in more detail. The first two days were spent practising, then on the third day it was "chess matt", when all the knowledge learned was bundled together and applied in a group-internal tournament. Cups and medals were presented at the award ceremony.
The children wanted to fly high at Idarer TV's family sports park. A total of three courses were offered in the high ropes course. The groups of around 20 participants were divided into small teams, which ran through the various stations of the park under the guidance of the trainers. From a giant swing to box climbing and a rope bridge, there was plenty to try out. Some of the stations called for team spirit, while others required more of a personal effort.
An action-packed weekend was on the agenda at the HSG Obere Nahe handball taster training session at the end of the week. The young participants learned the basics of handball at the training camp, including techniques to outwit their opponents and score goals for their team. As a highlight, an exciting "international match" was organized for family, friends and fans to cheer on.
New this year was the "Behind the Scenes" film camp with videographer Steven Werthwein. Six young people learned what it's like to be behind the camera. They were allowed to try out everything themselves, from directing, camera work, lighting and sound. The theme of the film was the summer holiday program "Where to go on vacation" itself. A short script was written, interviews were conducted with participants and leaders of other programs and on the last day the material was viewed, sorted and pre-edited. The film will be available to watch on the Instagram channel of the Jugendtreff am Markt (jugend_io) once it has been completed, providing a nice conclusion to this year's summer holiday program of the Idar-Oberstein Youth Welfare Office.