“The trouble with tribbles” was an episode on the original Star Trek where there were lots of creatures on the ship, called tribbles, that were difficult to handle because they were very busy. Anyway, they may not be tribbles, but teens can be challenging! In the Instructor’s Guide, on page 48, I mentioned a tip on the page of “Advice from the Field – (number 6) A helpful strategy to use with teenagers is to identify specific tasks and print them on slips of paper to pass out, one at a time, so that they can all participate in an organized manner.” Here is an example of what we did with a group of teens at the library recently. We set up 4 stations and numbered them 1-4; each table was where a recipe would be prepared and assembled. We made Colorful Chicken Quesadillas, No-guilt Guacamole, Chickpea and Black Bean Salad, and Yummy Lime-Pinapple Dessert. Each participant took a slip of paper with a task to complete written on it. After they finished the task, they came back to get another slip, until all of the tasks were done. The quesadillas were set up as an assembly line for each participant to put together their own (after everything has been chopped and mixed from the tasks) and cook/warm on griddles or skillets. Then, they served themselves from the other recipes that had been put together though the tasks.
It’s actually a great way to make sure everybody gets to do something, and it seems to go more efficiently and uses fewer equipment supplies.
And…all of the tribbles are happy! 🙂