Peacemakers for Life Games |
Target Themes: Appreciation, Helping Others, Building Relationships, Peacemakers for Life, Community
Tell players they are going to be playing a game in which they will be complimenting each other. If you are playing with young children, ask if they know what a compliment is. If they already know, have them share some examples. If not, then explain the concept to them and give a few examples of compliments. Have the players sit in a circle and tell them that they are going to be passing compliments around the circle. One person will give a compliment to the person next to them, who will then say “thank you” and give a compliment to the next person and so on around the circle. Remind them that the compliments need to be sincere and start the relay. If you would like to play a second round, give players 10 seconds to find a new seat in the circle (they can’t sit next to the same person) and challenge them to say something different from the last round.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Tell players they are going to be playing a game in which they will be complimenting each other. If you are playing with young children, ask if they know what a compliment is. If they already know, have them share some examples. If not, then explain the concept to them and give a few examples of compliments. Have the players sit in a circle and tell them that they are going to be passing compliments around the circle. One person will give a compliment to the person next to them, who will then say “thank you” and give a compliment to the next person and so on around the circle. Remind them that the compliments need to be sincere and start the relay. If you would like to play a second round, give players 10 seconds to find a new seat in the circle (they can’t sit next to the same person) and challenge them to say something different from the last round.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Target Themes: Community, Appreciation, Helping Others, Peacemakers for Life
Supplies: Hershey’s Kisses or other small candy (2 per player)
GET PERMISSION BEFORE GIVING YOUR STUDENTS CANDY.
Have the group sit in a circle and give each person two pieces of candy. Tell them not to eat them yet. Explain that one piece represents something that they appreciate about the group or thought the group did well and the other is something that they appreciate about themselves or something they did well. Give players a minute to think about what each of their kisses will be for and then go around the circle and have people share their kisses. Encourage everyone to share at least one of their kisses but if someone is really uncomfortable give them the option to pass. Once everyone has had a turn to share, participants may eat their kisses.
Variation: Instead of having one of the kisses be something they appreciate about the group or themselves, make it something they appreciate about another player in the circle. Have the person give their kiss to whomever they are recognizing, making sure that everyone gets one.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Supplies: Hershey’s Kisses or other small candy (2 per player)
GET PERMISSION BEFORE GIVING YOUR STUDENTS CANDY.
Have the group sit in a circle and give each person two pieces of candy. Tell them not to eat them yet. Explain that one piece represents something that they appreciate about the group or thought the group did well and the other is something that they appreciate about themselves or something they did well. Give players a minute to think about what each of their kisses will be for and then go around the circle and have people share their kisses. Encourage everyone to share at least one of their kisses but if someone is really uncomfortable give them the option to pass. Once everyone has had a turn to share, participants may eat their kisses.
Variation: Instead of having one of the kisses be something they appreciate about the group or themselves, make it something they appreciate about another player in the circle. Have the person give their kiss to whomever they are recognizing, making sure that everyone gets one.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Target Themes: Introductions, Embracing Potential, Observation, Community, Appreciating diversity, Peacemakers for Life
Supplies: index cards/name tags/ small pieces of paper, pens/markers, tape
Give each player a marker and an index card and ask them to write down five characteristics that describe them best. Examples are race, ethnicity, gender, religion, likes, dislikes, talents, hobbies, goals, achievements, and values. For younger children you can offer a prompt such as favorite food, holiday, color or something they’re good at. After everyone finishes creating their label, give them tape and have them tape their cards to their shirts and walk around the room. Tell them to look at other people’s cards and talk about what they’ve written. They can ask questions about the different things people have chosen to represent themselves or talk about the similarities and differences between them.
The idea is to give participants the chance to have conversations about their identity based on the qualities they value the most about themselves and direct people’s attention toward these aspects of their identity. After about ten minutes, bring the group back to debrief.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Supplies: index cards/name tags/ small pieces of paper, pens/markers, tape
Give each player a marker and an index card and ask them to write down five characteristics that describe them best. Examples are race, ethnicity, gender, religion, likes, dislikes, talents, hobbies, goals, achievements, and values. For younger children you can offer a prompt such as favorite food, holiday, color or something they’re good at. After everyone finishes creating their label, give them tape and have them tape their cards to their shirts and walk around the room. Tell them to look at other people’s cards and talk about what they’ve written. They can ask questions about the different things people have chosen to represent themselves or talk about the similarities and differences between them.
The idea is to give participants the chance to have conversations about their identity based on the qualities they value the most about themselves and direct people’s attention toward these aspects of their identity. After about ten minutes, bring the group back to debrief.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Target Themes: Self-reflection, Observation, Respecting differences, Empowerment
Supplies: Nametags
It’s important that you play this game once you know the group well, and leave lots of time for debrief and reflection. Prepare nametags in advance with both good and bad labels (examples: teacher’s pet, homeless, popular, good at math, wears glasses, athlete, gossip, rich, bully, etc.)
Begin by talking about the different labels people carry with them, and the positive and/or negative message these labels can send. Then give each person a label by sticking a nametag to his or her back. Once everyone has a nametag, the group should mingle, trying to figure out what label they have been given. People should act as if they are first meeting each other, and treat each other according to the labels on their backs. You might want to remind players that the way they are being treated in the game is not personal, everyone is playing a role. Give the group a couple minutes to mingle before gathering them in a circle to talk about the game. Thank players for participating and ask them to guess what their label was. When everyone has had a chance to guess, have them take their labels off and see if they were correct.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes
Supplies: Nametags
It’s important that you play this game once you know the group well, and leave lots of time for debrief and reflection. Prepare nametags in advance with both good and bad labels (examples: teacher’s pet, homeless, popular, good at math, wears glasses, athlete, gossip, rich, bully, etc.)
Begin by talking about the different labels people carry with them, and the positive and/or negative message these labels can send. Then give each person a label by sticking a nametag to his or her back. Once everyone has a nametag, the group should mingle, trying to figure out what label they have been given. People should act as if they are first meeting each other, and treat each other according to the labels on their backs. You might want to remind players that the way they are being treated in the game is not personal, everyone is playing a role. Give the group a couple minutes to mingle before gathering them in a circle to talk about the game. Thank players for participating and ask them to guess what their label was. When everyone has had a chance to guess, have them take their labels off and see if they were correct.
Back to Fall Themes
Back to Spring Themes