Peace Resource Center Workshop
Appropriate for Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade
Hearts and Crafts and Hands for Peace
Materials:
Construction paper, paper heart, scissors, glue sticks or glue, tape, easels, cardboard, pencils, markers, poster with Affirmation definition, chart with positive words, 6 small containers, enough small cards for each student to have 6, some pre-cut colored paper hands (for those who have trouble cutting), large cardboard with peace sign drawn on it, book: Peace Begins with You by Katherine Scholes.
Room Preparation: Place post it notes with each student’s name on one where you would like them to hang their finished heart.
Post the following agenda:
Game
Name Tags
Agenda Preview
Hearts Talk and Affirmation Activity
Peace Begins with You
Hands for Peace (Snacks available during this activity)
Circle
Closing
(A) Icebreaker: Would you rather?
Point to each side of the room where you want students to move as you give them choices.
Would you rather?
go water skiing or snow skiing?
read or do math?
have a lot of siblings or no siblings?
eat ice cream or pizza?\
see a baseball game or a football game?
be in a play or be in a musical performance?
play outside or inside?
camp out or visit another city?
have a skateboard or a surfboard?
have a field trip or stay in class?
5 min
Nametags, Agenda Preview – students seated on rugs
5 min, 10 total
(B) Affirmation Hearts
Students should be seated at tables.
Show students a paper heart and ask them what it represents to them.
Share the thought that hearts might represent our connections to other people. Babies can hear their mothers’ hearts beat before they are born, and they continue to be comforted by the same heartbeat when their mothers hold them close.
We give hearts at Valentine’s Day. We “Heart” something, which means that we like it.
Crumple up the paper heart, and ask students what that might represent. It can represent hurt feelings, or a broken heart. Smoothe the heart out as best you can, and observe that it’s still got a lot of wrinkles. Ask: What does that remind you of?
Perhaps it’s like the unkind words that you can’t put back in your mouth. Or that it might be hard to forget words that are unkind.