Training kids + tips for 6yo entertainment?

[Tabouli]

Phew (sighs Tabouli, casting aside her suit jacket and settling in front of the computer, still rather tense).  Haven't got my latest OT digest yet, but I though I'd send a vent, a call for advice and a triumphant story of HP saving the day!

Just got back from my first corporate cross-cultural briefing with my new semi-manager (more mentor really), who I picked out about a year ago as a good cross-cultural trainer and hence contacted and cultivated (good trainers are rare: unfortunately, there's very little regulation for cross-cultural training in Australia, and as a result a lot of trainers are fair to bad, IMJO (in my judgmental opinion)).  Endearing sort of a fellow and the soul of diplomacy, Malaysian Indian with Australian wife and two very cute little half-Indian half-Australian sons (Eurasian children - a fine thing).

First impressions and keeping big clients on side being what they are, especially in training contract work, it was crucial to do a good job, and when he announced to me that he'd assigned me to train the four children present (aged 6,10,12,14) accompanying their various parents to Malaysia, I nearly fainted away with fear.  Kids?? I squeaked, paling to ivory.  I've never trained kids before, and I'm not very experienced in dealing with them even socially!  I might bore them to death, they might run riot!  And how can I possibly cater to a 6yo and a 14yo simultaneously?  You have kids, can't you train them?

He was unmoved by my timid suggestions that I'd really feel more comfortable with the adults, reassured me I'd be fine.  So kids it was (he did help me design my training session, of course).  He introduced the session, and then handed over my charges to lead to another room, which I did (quietly chanting "Relax, relax, talk slowly, don't let them see your fear, calm, confident, in control" to myself).  I bluffed my way through the introductions, and, thank God, the 10yo boy mentioned that he liked reading.  I asked him if he liked Harry Potter and all four faces lit up!  We spent the next five minutes enthusing over who our favorite characters were and what we thought of the movie, and they were so impressed by my HPFGU honed wealth of knowledge on the subject that I won them over, relaxed, and had their full attention!  I uttered a silent prayer of gratitude to JKR and the people at HPFGU and forged on into my two hour session.

(The 10yo boy in particular was very keen to talk about HP - at the BBQ afterwards, we spent about an hour talking about it and played a sort of quiz game, asking each other HP general knowledge questions.  The amount of detailed in-depth knowledge he had of the books was quite amazing (as you might imagine, I thought up some killer obscure questions for him and he answered all but three within seconds!  He caught me out twice too - I won by just one point!))

>From then on in the session, the three older children were fine.  I'd been worried that the 14yo would feel patronised, but no problems at all, she was interested and obliging and helpful.  The 6yo's attention span, however, lasted about 40 minutes.  No doubt this is normal, but I realised when he started to get more and more restless and whingey and troublesome (kicking chairs, interrupting everyone, trying to start fights with his brother, wanting to run down the corridor and visit his mother, etc.) that I should have come better prepared.  The older ones had a lot of things they wanted to talk about (e.g. having servants, starting at a new school, etc.), but there didn't seem to be any way of holding a discussion at the level they needed and involving the 6yo boy, so I had to keep on trying to think up things he could do.  There's only so many dinosaurs a boy's prepared to draw quietly in a corner when no-one's paying any attention to him.

I may have to work with this group of kids again in a few months, and may of course have a similar problem with this or any other group with young children, and I mused that my wise friends on HPFGU, among whom parents and teachers and Guide leaders lurk, might have some tips on teaching technique, how to keep children under 7 or 8 entertained in this sort of situation, and some handy hints on discipline... I did OK at first with stern admonishments to sit down please and stop hitting your brother, but he got progressively harder and harder to control as he grew more bored (fatal), and my suggestions for what he could do while we were talking got closer and closer to the bottom of the barrel.

Any wise words?

Tabouli.


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