Creative Restorative Justice Games

Specific methods (such as images and movement) have been proven to be successful to support children when verbal communication is an obstacle, but more needs to be done to better integrate these methods in daily practices. When children in contact with the law are to be informed about restorative justice, practitioners (in criminal justice and restorative justice) face the challenge to find the right way to explain restorative justice and deliver the correct message in order for children to be able to make the right choice. What if information on restorative justice was supported by communication materials produced by children for other children? What type of communication tools, terminology, message, etc. would children propose to better explain restorative justice and support their peers in their decision-making process? The i-RESTORE 2.0’s project child-led resource on restorative justice has been an attempt to respond to these questions.

Youth from the Child Advisory Boards (groups of children and young people in each of the target countries of the project: Romania, Greece, Estonia and the Netherlands) have influenced the creation of a child-led and child-friendly creative resource on restorative justice. They have been invited to produce a resource for children and practitioners, as a support tool to conduct restorative justice with children and to explain to children the benefits of restorative justice, what it means, how it is conducted, how to make it accessible, etc. Using a collaborative creative production methodology together with the young members, the resource has taken the shape of a game.

“Reconciliation race” is a game co-created with the help of the young volunteers involved in the i-Restore 2.0 project in collaboration with Terre des hommes Romania.

This game aims to increase the visibility and knowledge of the general public regarding the concept of Restorative Justice. Such a game is developed with the intention of educating and facilitating understanding of restorative justice concepts and procedures, encouraging open communication, empathy and accountability. During each turn, a player must draw a card and define the RJ-inspired word on the card without using the forbidden words (also mentioned on the card). The other players must guess the word. Players will have time to guess until the sand runs out of the hourglass (2 minutes). Whoever guesses the word first gets the card and a point. At the end of the game whoever has the most cards wins the game.

Minimum 2 players.

“Get in our shoes” is a quiz game co-created by the Greek CAB members of the i-Restore 2.0 project in collaboration with Terre des hommes Hellas. Inspired by the famous game “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” the goal of the game is to correctly answer a series of 16 multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty in order to accumulate points and win the competition. The game counts with a buzz for each player to (speedily) press to be the first to answer each question. Players are also given the opportunity to resort to two help wildcards if they are not sure of the answer. 

This game was designed to be played with 3 players and 2 hosts.

“Restorative justice game” was co-created by the Estonian members of the i-Restore 2.0 project in collaboration with Social Insurance Board. 

The aim of the game is to raise awareness of restorative justice and how to approach conflicts through it. The game is designed to help players rehearse a real restorative encounter. As this is not a competition game, everyone’s a winner!

While sitting in a circle, a situation card will be drawn by the “mediator” player. Other players will be given roles according to the conflict described. 4 special cards (question cards for the mediator, restorative justice principles card, needs card and emotions card) will aid the players to explore thoughts, feelings and needs arising from the conflict described. Depending on the number of participants and their willingness to talk, the time it takes to solve a situation may vary from 10 minutes to 2 hours!

The game helps to show that in conflict situations, each party has its own story, its own thoughts, its own feelings and needs, and through restorative justice, the parties can find out why a party may have behaved in a certain way and how each party felt. The game helps to develop both critical thinking and self-reflection skills in conflict situations.

“Justice in Action” is an educative game about Restorative Justice co-designed by the Dutch Child Advisory Board of i-RESTORE 2.0.

This creative resource was designed to teach children and youths about restorative justice in a playful and interactive manner and has three different versions. Each version lasts between 45-90 minutes and is tailored to different age groups based on maturity level and capacity to comprehend the subject matter. The three editions are:

1. “Justice in Action: A Fair Classroom”, geared towards children aged 6-9. (pp. 2-5)
2. “Justice in Action: What does Justice Look Like?”, geared towards children aged 10-12. (pp. 6-9)
3. “Justice in Action:  Punishment and Reparation”, geared toward adolescents aged 13-17. (pp. 10-18)

This creative resource was designed by a panel of youths who co-designed the roleplaying games with Restorative Justice Nederland. They learned about restorative justice themselves and used their learning experience to make the resource as child-friendly and engaging as possible for their peers.