More than half of Welsh adults who have heard of vapes wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or worse, new ASH Wales YouGov findings show.
Meet the Nicofiends
Meet the Nicofiends, a bunch of made-up creatures that bring some of the pressures around smoking, vaping and nicotine to life. From fitting in and curiosity to stress, hype and cravings, each one gives young people something they can spot, talk about and challenge.
Flashy Nicofiend
Flashy uses bold colours, shiny packaging and sweet flavours to make nicotine products look exciting... without showing the risks.
Where to start?
Choose the route that best fits what you need. Nicofiends has ready-to-run resources for schools, youth groups, families, sports clubs and community settings.
SCHOOLSChoose a school resourceReady-to-run resources for younger primary pupils, KS2 pupils and secondary schools.
QUICK SESSIONSFind a quick activityFilter games and creative activities by age, session length or activity type.
FOR FAMILIESUse Nicofiends at homeExplore the campaign together or enter the Create Your Own Nicofiend competition.
CLUBS & GROUPSRun it with a club or groupActivities that work in youth clubs, sports settings and community sessions.
Want to do something?
Try a quick activity, play the Nicofiends card game or create your own Nicofiend.
Already smoking, vaping or using nicotine?
You can get help without being judged. Find out what support is available and what to expect if you want to stop.
Planning a session with young people?
Find ready-to-run activities, teaching packs and facilitator guidance for schools, youth clubs and community settings.
Find resourcesCreate your own Nicofiend
Young people across Wales are invited to invent an original Nicofiend: a character showing a pressure, feeling, message or trick linked to smoking, vaping or nicotine. Draw it, paint it or create it digitally.
Twelve winning ideas will be professionally reimagined as official Nicofiends playing cards and animated campaign characters for 2027.
Winners will receive a Nicofiends card game, prize bundle, certificate and voucher.
Closes Friday 4th December 2026
Why this campaign matters
Nicofiends takes things like peer pressure, hype, stress and cravings and turns them into creatures young people can spot and talk about. It makes something a bit complicated feel easier to name. The Nicofiend is always the pressure, never the person. The activities are designed to give adults a creative, age-appropriate way to open honest conversations.
The programme is informed by wider prevention evidence about active learning, decision-making and social influence. Participation or positive feedback should not be read as proof that Nicofiends itself has reduced smoking or vaping unless and until outcome evaluation demonstrates that.
Nicofiend
[ nik-oh-feend ] | noun
a character that shows the pressures, tricks or feelings that can pull young people into smoking, vaping or nicotine use.
Nicofiends is designed to help young people:
- Spot peer pressure and influence
- Question marketing and social media messages
- Feel more confident making their own choices
New Nicofiends resource
Play the Nicofiends Card Game
Battle Nicofiends using NicoFriends in a fast, discussion-friendly card game about pressure, feelings, marketing and nicotine tricks.
Quick Activities
All of the activities below can be used in youth groups, community settings or informal sessions with young people.
Showing 6 of 22 activities
Nicofiends Card Game
Battle Nicofiends using NicoFriends in a card game about pressure, feelings, marketing and nicotine tricks.
View activityRisk Ladder
Compare different types of risk linked to smoking, vaping, nicotine and other products.
View activityPressure Web
Map connected pressures around smoking, vaping and nicotine and find ways to weaken them.
View activityPass It On
Create a campaign poster helping younger pupils recognise pressure and make their own choices.
View activityReason Rumble
Practise realistic responses, reasons and ways out when someone feels under pressure.
View activityChoice Shield
Create a simple plan for what to notice, say, do and who to ask for help.
View activityMy Brave Phrase
Practise simple words children can use to say no, make a different choice or ask for help.
View activityLittle Feelings Monster
Create a character that shows a feeling and think about who can help when feelings get big.
View activityCopy or Choose?
A movement game exploring the difference between copying someone and making your own choice.
View activityQuick Gain
A passing game where teams decide whether a quicker advantage is worth the extra risk.
View activityRescue Run
An active team game about noticing when someone needs support and helping them rejoin the group.
View activityPressure Shot
A sports activity exploring how other people’s opinions can affect confidence and choices.
View activityHold the Line
A quick sports game about pausing before automatically following what other people do.
View activityChoice Compass
Build a simple plan to notice pressure, respond, leave the moment and find support.
View activityCup Choice
A quick guessing game exploring how group advice can influence someone’s first choice.
View activityWhat’s Missing?
Look closely at advertising and spot the information, consequences or context that has been left out.
View activityCreate Your Nicofiend
Create a character showing a pressure, feeling or message linked to smoking, vaping or nicotine.
View activityHype Lab
Turn an ordinary object into a must-have product and spot the tricks used to make it sound appealing.
View activityPower Up Tower
A team-building challenge about tempting offers, hidden catches and quick decisions.
View activityVIP Room
A guessing game exploring hidden rules, fitting in and what starts to feel accepted by a group.
View activityMystery Auction
A bidding game about hype, missing information and making choices before knowing the full story.
View activityPressure Postcards
Spot the pressure trick in each message and decide what someone could say, think or do.
View activity
No activities match those choices. Try another option or clear the filters.
English and Welsh
Choose your pack
Download the full youth group pack
Open the folder to choose the English or Welsh version, with all the Nicofiends youth group activities and printables together.
Used Nicofiends?
Give feedback
Tell us how it went
Have you used a Nicofiends lesson, activity or competition resource? Tell us what worked and what we could improve. Your feedback helps us improve future resources and understand how Nicofiends is being used across Wales.
For teachers & youth workers
Ready-to-run lessons and creative activities for adults working with young people. For the full professional route, visit Schools & Youth Workers.
Younger primary activity (ages 4-7)
A simple creative activity helping younger children explore feelings, choices and who they can talk to when they need help.
Primary school lesson (KS2)
A ready-to-run KS2 lesson helping pupils explore pressure, feelings and choices before creating their own Nicofiend.
Secondary school pack
Year 7 to 9 pupils explore influence, marketing, nicotine products and social pressure.
Tackling peer pressure through play
Created with WRU Community Rugby, these active team games help young people explore peer pressure, confidence and choice through play. They can be used by rugby clubs and adapted for other sports settings.
Download the sports club pack
Nicofiends FAQs
Nicofiends FAQs
Got a question?
Quick answers for schools, youth workers, families and anyone using Nicofiends with young people. Questions about Nicofiends, resources or competition entries? Email communications@ashwales.org.uk
What exactly is a Nicofiend?
A Nicofiend is a made-up creature that gives a pressure, feeling, message or craving a face. It gives young people a simple way to spot what is going on and talk about it without putting a label on themselves or anyone else.
Think curiosity, wanting to fit in, stress, bright packaging, something seen online or someone saying “Go on, just try it.” The Nicofiend is the pressure, never the person.
Who are the Nicofiends resources for?
Nicofiends has free resources for children and young people aged 4 to 18.
They can be used in schools, youth groups, sports clubs, community settings and other places where adults work with young people.
Where should I start?
Start with whatever fits your group and the time you have.
Choose one quick activity, try the card game, download a resource pack or get young people involved in the national competition.
There is no set order and you do not need to work through everything.
Do I need to be a nicotine expert?
Nope.
You know your young people. The resources give you a way into the conversation, with facilitator notes, discussion prompts, key messages and printable materials where you need them.
Do I have to stick to the suggested age ranges?
No. The age ranges are there to help you choose an activity, rather than box you in.
Lots of the activities can be made simpler or more challenging depending on the young people you are working with.
Is Nicofiends just about vaping?
No. Nicofiends looks at smoking, vaping, nicotine products and the pressures that can sit behind them.
Products change, but things like curiosity, fitting in, hype, stress, temptation and that “just one more” feeling keep cropping up in different forms.
Does Nicofiends cover mental health and wellbeing?
Mental health is not a separate Nicofiends topic, but feelings and coping are part of many of the conversations.
Younger children might explore worry, boredom, feeling left out, confidence and asking for help. With older young people, conversations can move into stress, coping, dependence and nicotine feeling like a “quick fix”.
Nicofiends is not a mental health service. If a young person needs more support, use the wellbeing and safeguarding routes you would normally use in your setting.
Is Nicofiends a quit service?
No. Nicofiends is mainly about prevention - helping young people spot pressure, understand what might pull them in and make their own informed choices.
Some young people using the resources may already smoke, vape or use nicotine. They should still be included without judgement.
If they want help to stop, there is free NHS support available in Wales.
What if a young person wants help to stop smoking or vaping?
Signpost them to Help Me Quit, the free NHS stop-smoking service for Wales.
FREE NHS SUPPORT
Help Me Quit
If they smoke
Help Me Quit supports young people aged 12 and over who want to stop smoking.
- Support from trained stop-smoking advisers
- Help with cravings, triggers and planning a quit attempt
- Behavioural support suited to the young person
- Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy, such as patches or gum, where suitable
Help Me Quit says parental consent is ideal, but it is not always required. The service can talk through the right approach for each young person.
If they vape
Young people who vape can be supported to access Help Me Quit too.
The support available for vaping is different from the stop-smoking programme and the offer for young people is developing. Help Me Quit can talk through what support is currently available and the best next step.
If they smoke and vape
Young people who both smoke and vape can access the full Help Me Quit smoking support pathway.
What about nicotine pouches or another nicotine product?
If you are unsure what support is right for a young person using another nicotine product, contact Help Me Quit and ask the team for advice.
You can text HMQ to 80818 too.
What if a young person tells me they already use nicotine?
Nicofiends is not about catching anyone out or asking young people to disclose whether they smoke, vape or use nicotine.
Keep the conversation calm and non-judgemental. Listen to what they are telling you and what, if anything, they want help with.
If they want to stop, signpost them to Help Me Quit. If what they tell you raises a welfare or safeguarding concern, follow the normal procedures for your setting.
Is there support for parents and carers?
Yes. Parent Support is our support hub for parents and carers who are worried about a child or teenager smoking, vaping or using nicotine.
It covers starting conversations, understanding different products, helping a young person who wants to stop, withdrawal and what to do if you find a vape or another nicotine product.
Can the activities be used for pressures beyond nicotine?
Yes. Nicofiends was created around smoking, vaping and nicotine, but many of the conversations can go wider.
Pressure, hype, curiosity, fitting in, marketing and “just one more” can open conversations about other choices and behaviours too.
What if I am worried about an illegal vape or underage sale?
You do not need to investigate it yourself or collect proof.
Illegal tobacco, illegal vapes, cannabis or THC products, online sellers and underage sales can be reported through No Ifs. No Butts.
Reports can be anonymous. A shop name, postcode, online account, seller, product or pattern can still help build the local picture.
How does the Nicofiends competition work?
Children and young people across Wales can create their own original Nicofiend based on a pressure, feeling, message or trick they recognise.
They can draw, paint, collage, craft or create their idea digitally.
They do not need to use an official entry sheet. An idea created on ordinary paper can still be entered.
Generative AI entries cannot be accepted.
The competition closes Friday 4th December 2026. Twelve winning ideas will help shape the next Nicofiends campaign in 2027.
Are the Nicofiends resources free?
Yes. The activity bank, school resources, youth resources, competition materials and downloadable resources are free to use.
Can we tell you how it went?
Yes please - we really want to hear it.
Tell us what got your young people talking, what they enjoyed, what fell flat, what surprised you and what you would change.
Feedback from young people and the adults working with them will help shape how Nicofiends develops.
