Unit 1: Social Skills

Lesson 7: Leisure Skills

OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the benefits of having meaningful activities outside of work.

2. Use a newspaper to identify at least three activities in which you would like to participate.

MATERIALS NEEDED
recent local newspapers that list recreation, leisure, and volunteer opportunities (these lists may appear on different days)

INSTRUCTIONAL FORMAT
This lesson is designed to provide training in the area of leisure skills. Although leisure skills may not appear to be a significant life skill for vocational success, it is important to stress to students that it truly is an important skill. Without meaningful activities to structure a person's time outside of work, there are a number of problems that can occur in relation to work. Part of the lesson will be spent discussing these problems. The rest of the lesson will be spent training students to understand factors that go into selecting leisure activities. There are many skills that are needed to effectively participate in leisure activities. A person needs telephone skills to call and find out about the activity, social skills to interact and make friends with the people at the activity, and money management skills to budget the money to participate in the activity. Training in these skills is available in units contained in this manual.

1. Discuss the problems that can occur at work if a person does not use time away from work productively.
   
   

   • A person may be more apt to work a lot of overtime. This can lead to feelings of being overworked which can affect job performance.
     
     

   • A person may linger around work even when he is not working. People who do this generally do not have a lot of social contacts outside of work. Although this may be enjoyable for the person, his co-workers may be distracted and even annoyed, which does not contribute to a good working environment.
     
     

   • A person may be unhappy because of her poor social life. This unhappiness could spill over into the workplace.
     
     

   • A person may be involved in destructive activities such as using drugs or alcohol. See the unit titled Health for more information.
     
     

   • A final problem can occur when a person uses his free time too productively. When a person gets so involved in activities outside of work that he is not getting enough sleep, is missing work, or is spending money that is needed for essentials, this can interfere with work.
     
     

2. Discuss the factors of time, money, people, and available activities when developing a meaningful social life.
   
   

   • Time – Have students make a list of when they generally have free-time. This is an important first step in deciding what type of activities a person might pursue. If they want to be involved with a club that only meets on the weekends, but they work on the weekends, it would not be a good idea to actively pursue becoming a member. Stress to students that, although it is good to be involved in activities away from work, they do not want to be involved in so many activities that they are too tired to work.
     
     

   • Money – Many leisure activities cost money. If an activity costs so much money that a student is having a difficult time paying for rent, groceries, transportation, etc., she may have to change her leisure choices. There are many activities that cost little or no money. See exercise below for finding cheap activities.
     
     

   • People – One of the best ways to get involved in leisure activities is to meet people. Of course, a person may have to get involved in an activity first in order to meet people who have the same interests. Remind students that they can meet people in their neighborhood, church, and at work.
     
     

   • Available Activities - Depending on where a person lives, the number of activities that are available is going to vary. A person living in a larger city is going to have a greater selection of activities than person living in a small town. Remind students that most towns have churches, parks, and opportunities to volunteer.
     
     

3. Pass out the newspapers to the students and have them look through the sections that contain listings of activities going on in the community. Remind students about movies and other entertainment, sports, outdoor recreation, volunteer opportunities, clubs, and churches. Have them identify three activities they would like to participate in over the next few weeks.  Remind them to consider cost, time available, and transportation. Have students discuss why they would be interested in participating in the activities they chose.
   
   

4. As an optional activity, have the students meet in two weeks without a trainer and have them discuss whether they participated in any of the activities. Have them discuss cost, whether they enjoyed it, and whether they met people at the activity that they may do something with in the future.
   

SIGNS OF GENERALIZATION
Students report engaging in meaningful activities outside of work.

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