Activity Goal: Help participants identify pessimistic or negative thoughts that may arise in their daily lives (especially in group settings such as a camp) and learn how to reframe them in a more realistic, constructive, or optimistic way.

Preparation: Prepare and give each participant a sheet divided into three columns:

• Column 1: Negative Thought
• Column 2: Is it 100% true?
• Column 3: Realistic/Positive Reframing

You can also write the headers on a whiteboard or on several sheets of paper so everyone can see them while working.

Start of the activity: Explain to the participants that everyone, at some point, has thoughts that discourage them, make them doubt themselves, or prevent them from taking action. This activity aims to identify and transform those thoughts in order to handle them better and act in a more positive way.

An example: Have you ever thought something like “I’m not good at this” or “I’m sure I’ll mess it up”? Today we’re going to learn how to turn those thoughts around and see them from another, more useful and realistic perspective.

Implementation: Individual work: Hand out the worksheet to each participant. Ask them to think of at least three negative or pessimistic thoughts they’ve had recently (these can be related to the camp, the group, or something personal), and then write each one in the first column.

To help them, you can give some common examples:

• “I’m not good at this.”
• “My opinion doesn’t matter.”
• “We’re definitely going to lose the game.”
• “This is never going to work.”
• “I’m just annoying the group.”

Then they have to ask themselves in the second column: Is what I’m thinking 100% true? Or is there another way to look at it?

Finally, in the third column, write a more realistic or constructive version of the thought.

Negative Thought	Is it 100% true?	Realistic/Positive Reframing
“I’m not good at this”	No, I’m just getting started	“I’m learning, and it’s normal to make mistakes.”
“No one listens to me”	Sometimes people do hear me	“I can try to find a better moment to speak.”

Implementation: Group sharing: Invite participants (only if they feel comfortable) to share one example with the group. This helps everyone see that they have similar thoughts and that they can work through them together. You can use prompts like:

• “Would anyone like to share how they transformed one of their thoughts?”
• “Have you ever thought something like this before? What helped you see it differently?”

This builds empathy and normalizes the fact that we all face difficult thoughts sometimes.

Wrap up/debrief: Ask each participant to choose one of their reframed thoughts and commit to remembering and applying it for the rest of the day or the week. You can also invite them to write this positive thought on a card to carry with them or hang it on a group mural.

Here are some reflection questions you can ask them:

• Which thought was the hardest for you to reframe?
• How did it feel to realize you could change it into something more helpful?
• What helps you think more positively?
• What will you do the next time you have a negative thought?

Materials: Paper sheets and pens