Peace Sign Activity For Kids

Trying to explain inner peace to young kids is not easy. Trying to suggest creating a place for your child to recharge, think positively and find balance isn’t either. Last year my son went off to full day kindergarten. The academics weren’t a big challenge for him but the length of the school day was. He had very little time to recharge and when he got off the bus he was a tornado. He was struggling because he didn’t have all the tools he needed to find little ways to recharge throughout the day. He couldn’t find peace through all the activity.

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This week my son and I explored Playful Learning Ecademy ‘s Be A Peacemaker eCourse and after learning many new tools the activity in this post sponsored by Playful Learning was created to reinforce some of what we learned.

Of all the lesson in the course the one that we both connected most deeply to was one where participants are asked to describe what peace looks, feels,smells, tastes and sounds like. My son’s answers were on one hand wiser than his years and the next perfectly perfect for a 6 year old. After we took the course I decided to extend the learning by combining creating a peace spot and a sign or poster of what he thought peace looked like. My hope is that when is is out of control, anxious, or just unable to stop thinking he can see his peace poster and think about what peace looks like and all he learned about how to turn those negative thoughts and worries into positive ones and be at peace.

Here is how you can make a peace sign ( as my son calls it)  with your child and use it as a conversation starter to talk about being a peacemaker. One of my hopes for this activity was for my son to take a moment of peace and create. Usually when we make things we do it together and when you get the two of us together you can bet at least one of us is talking. So going outside alone to create was as much the lesson as what he created.

1. Gather your materials. You will need the a piece of paper , a clip board, some pencils and/ or pencil crayons. I had multiple copies of my poster outline so that if he wanted to start again he didn’t have to leave the yard and break his creative space. That is also why I had the clip board in case he wanted to take it off the deck and into our woods to complete.
2. Encourage your child to find a quiet spot outside to sit and think about peace. Bring them all the materials and make sure they know there are no right or wrong answers. Do not tell them to keep going if they are done in 2 seconds. This is their peace poster.
3. Ask them to explain the poster to you even if you think you can figure it out. I found this so important. Knowing that love is how my son sees peace makes so much sense and I think you will find a certain insight into your children’s minds too.
4. Put it up in the spot where your child feels the most peaceful. I love that his is by his bed because it gives me a chance to talk about it before he falls asleep at night.
5. After he was done my daughter who is still a little young for the course proved she wasn’t too young to create her own peace. Her answer was pink. Peace looks like pink.

This exercise is just a tiny taste of what Playful Learning Ecademy Be A Peacemaker course can offer you and your kids. I really do believe in the value these course can offer families and know that my family has been helped by taking them. Before school starts and my son gets overwhelmed we will be reviewing the tools he has learned so he is better prepared for the long days ahead.

 

What tools do you use with your family use to practice finding peace and staying positive ? Share your ideas below or on our Facebook Page!

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This post was sponsored by Playful Learning and contains affiliate links.