Learning About Peace with Kindergarten Students

In the kindergarten classes they have been having a lot of conversations about peace. What does peace mean? How can find moments of being peaceful? This is rooted in the helping young students learn about self awareness and self regulation of their emotions and finding peaceful moments of meditation. I wanted to do a project that connected some of the books we had on peace connected with a maker or building project that connected the ideas of peace with a project students could take with them and use to continue to make connections with the idea of finding moments of peace. That sparked the idea of Peace Lamps. We would read different books that talked about peace and being at peace and then kindergarteners would make their own peace lamps that they could use when they wanted to find some peace.

The project started with reading the book “What Does Peace Feel Like?” by Vladimir Radunsky. The story collections ideas about peace from children around the world. The book ask children what does peace feel like, smell like, taste like, look like and sound like to them. We read the book together and then kindergarteners reflected on what peace feels, smells, looks, and sounds like to them. They talked about the taste of their favorite foods they eat with their families on special occasions or the smell of fresh flowers in the summer and the feel of a hug from someone they love. For the next step, kindergarteners drew pictures of their different kinds of peace.

During the next class kindergarteners made their peace lamps. The students cut out their pictures of peace. Then they glued the pictures between two pieces of wax paper. Then we helped students roll their papers into a cylinder and glue it to the bottom of circle gift box. The final step was adding a small battery tea light inside the lamp. Now students have peace lamps to turn on when they need moments of peace and calm in their lives. This project made connections to the meditation practices and helping students learn to calm themselves and find moments of peace.