Activities

Leading According Age Groups

Leading adults in recreational experiences requires as much attention to excellence as does leading children and youth.

Adults have developmental stages that can affect their recreational needs and behaviors.

Adult life stages can be times of crisis and distruptions, but they can also indicate growth and positive change.

Recreation is acknowledged as contributing more and more to these peak years.

Adulthood can be broken up into three groups: young adulthood, middle adult hood, and older adulthood.

Young/Middle Adult's Play

During the years of young adulthood recreational involvement depends on lifestyle.

going to college, choosing a partner, having children, being unemployed, and other life situations are typical in early adulthood have a large impact on recreational pursuits.

Recreational involvement during this period usually becomes less spontaneous and more highly regimented and planned.

Participation in strenuous and high risk sports gradually decreases because of lack of time and increase responsibility committed to new family activities.

Middle adulthood recreation produces a greater tendency for consumer recreation away from the home.

o Participation in recreation will increase because -

§ Children have grown and left home

§ Recreation interest center more on activities that can be done together with partners

§ Greater economical resources

The recreational leader should primarily interact with adult participants in a peer-to-peer fashion rather than in a superior - subordinate way.

Respect for the leader should be based on the leader's knowledge and skills rather than on his or her position.

Recreational Leaders:

o Play an important told in enhancing the quality of retirement and in slowing the aging process.

o Should encourage older adults to be involved in their community by:

§ Serve as a leisure and social resource

§ Stimulate social interaction

§ Facilitate experiences that enable feelings of self-worth and usefulness

§ Encourage independence in leisure expression

All of the information above came from the book, Leadership in Recreation, written by Ruth V. Russell.