Activity: Peace Ribbon

In this activity, you will need a ribbon and a thin fabric marker or sharpie. On the ribbon with the marker, write a peaceful message and sign your name. Then get all of your friends to sign. You can hang it up on a bulletin board or if it is short enough, wear it as a bracelet. Here are our peace ribbons:

This one we all signed. This was done in sharpie.

With a fabric marker, I wrote the Girl Scout Promise.

~Alison

Activity: Tibetan Prayer Flags

In the Himilayas, along the peaks of some of the tallest mountains of the world, there is something like a clothesline, and you hang something called a prayer flag on it. And prayer flags are not only in Tibet or the Himilayas. I have seen them at my local art center, and Margaret has some hanging in her room! So lets make our own prayer flags! Many of the Himilayan flags have peace on them and, well, as you guessed, let's write peace on them!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/07/oxygen-mount-everest-intensive-care

What You'll Need:

• Colorful piece of fabric (preferably something thin; see picture above)
• Fabric Markers (or Sharpies)
• Scissors
• String

Instructions:

1. First, cut your colorful fabric so that there are two slits on either end of the flag
2. Now, with your markers, decorate the prayer flag with peaceful designs (like the peace cirlcle or the word peace) NOTE: You can be even more creative and sew or just remain simple!
3. Now string your prayer flag onto the string and hang!

The Evolution of my flag:

     Step 1: I used fleece, which I do NOT recommend- use very thin fabric!
     Step 2: Sorry about the cut off- my scanner is only so thick.

     Step 3: Here it is all strung up! I looped the string around the slits.

We would also love to see your finished Tibetan Prayer flag!


~Alison

Activity: Paper Crane Origami

Thanks to Origami Fun I learned how to fold a paper crane. Cranes represent peace in many other cultures. Go to http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crane.html, and it gives a video and printable instructions to make a paper crane. Next week I'll tell you the story of 1000 Paper Cranes. And just for fun, I named all of my cranes in a different language.

Here are my 5 cranes.

This is "Pace"

Meet "Rojo"

And this is "Gelb"

And "Cerule"

Last but not least, "Blanche"

~Alison

Activity: Coloring Pages

Grab your colors and get to work! Here are some coloring pages that are peace-related. These are our original art pieces so, please, DO NOT CLAIM THEM AS YOUR OWN. You can print them out and use them toward educational purposes, but do not copy. All of them but the first three were hand drawn by yours truly. Happy coloring!

~Alison

Activity: Peace Writing Promts

I know writing promts aren't the most exciting activities, but it will have to do. You can comment your piece(s) to this post so that people can see it (if you want to share it).

1) Do you have any personal experiences in which someone said something mean to you and you told them to stop? Or have you stood up to someone for a friend? Describe your experience.

2) Is there any other word you would describe peace as? Explain your answer.

3) Anylyze the word peace. What does it mean? What does it mean to you? Use your own words to describe the word peace.

I will comment my responses soon. But it may take a while, and remember I am not correct. All of these promts have no answer. They all lead into narrative pieces. When you write, just be yourself and don't be afraid to digress. The sky is not the limit. Go into the universe with your writing. Have fun. :) This won't be graded and is totally optional.

~Alison

Activity: Repeating Game

So, for this game, all players first sit in a circle. The first person says, "I am going to the store to buy some (then a name of a food)". Then the next person says, "I am going to the store to buy (first person's food) and (their food)" The game keeps adding foods until somebody forgets a food and is "out". Then whoever is out can't talk, but can help their teammates by motioning the food (like if it was ice cream, then the people who are out would be licking the air). Then whoever is left is the winner!

~Alison

Activity: Ways to Show Peace (to others)

There are many ways to show peace to others. You can sit next to them at lunch, say hi in the hallways, or just share a smile. These are my top fifteen ways to show peace:
1. Smile :D
2. Introduce yourself if you don't already know them. Be relaxed, and be yourself.
3. Say "Hi." It doesn't matter where - just say hi!
4. Don't cross your arms or shrug, stand tall and you will look more respectful.
5. If somebody looks down, cheer them up!
6. Listen. It is as simple as that. Don't interrupt or argue as much (you can express your opinion, but don't argue).
7. Be optimistic. Who wants an unhappy friend? Every cloud has a silver lining!
8. Manners, manners, manners. Be polite to your friend(s), they with or without knowing, admire your manners.
9. Offer to help with something. Are you in art and you're done? Offer to help with another person's project.
10. Compliment. Who doesn't enjoy a compliment? Do you like his/her backpack? Pen? Top? Complimenting shows that you pay attention.
11. Please don't gossip, backstab, or bully. This is the utmost worst thing you can do to others and yourself. Do you want to be known as the gossip hub?
12. Create conversation. Talk about anything. What is the person carrying? Ask about that. The chances are, they probably want to meet you, too.
13. Don't say anything rude or on-edge. You might insult that person. And don't swear, cuss, or use bad words.
14. Patience is the key. Is the person super-kind of annoying? Just grin and bear through the rest of the conversation. Still be polite.
15. Treat others the way you want to be treated. It's as simple as that.

~Alison

Activity: Ways to Show Peace (Pictures)

This week I decided to show different mediums to show peace in. "Medium" is an art term meaning  a substance in which you create art with (those are my own words). Enjoy!

A drawing of peace

Crumpled piece of paper to make peace.

An oil painting

An other oil painting

And a loooooonnnng piece of braided yarn. It took me forever to make!

Reminder: All of these images are our original pieces. We do have a copyright on our blog and all of the images with it. So if you do decide to use our photos, please give us credit. Thanks!
~Alison

Activity: Peace (Symbols)

Like languages, there are many ways to say "peace." These are all universal ways to say peace, or anyone, whether if they are Asian or Brazillian, they understand these symbols.

Last week I posted this at the end of the Language activity post. It is the most common way to sign "peace."

And this is the most common peace sign

A paper crane is the Japanese symbol of peace.

A dove carrying an olive branch is another sign of peace. . .

. . . and so is just a plain olive branch.

And finally, an Italian peace flag (remember pace from last week?)

Activity: Peace (Languages)

There are many ways to say peace. You can do the two-finger method, or say it in foreign languages.
I have compiled a list of the word "peace" in many different ways. Enjoy!

German - Freiden (FRI- den)
French - la paix (la pay)
Spanish - paz
Afrikaans - vrede
Arabic - salun (SAL-un)
Czech - mir
Dutch - vrede (FRE-duh)
Greek - erini (YA- rini)
Korean - peonghwa
Hungarian - beka (BE-ka)
Icelandic - friour (FRE-hooh)
Italian - pace (PA-cha)
Japanese - Heiwa (HEY-wa)
Latin - pacem (PA-chem)
Polish - pokoj (PA-kwi)
Romanian - pace (like Italian)
Russian - mir
Swahili - amani
Swedish - fred (e souds like ay)
Turkish - baris (BA-rish)

Please, if you have any other language suggestions, please comment them and I will add! Also, if you say the words in a cool accent, it sounds really cool!

~Alison

Activity: I Statements

An idea used both in the aMAZE journey and the Cooper and Me Theme Guides, the "I" statements. When someone makes you feel good or bad, you could use an I statement to tell them that. An I statement is basically a fill in the blank:

I feel ___________
when you _______________
because _____________

My example is: I feel great when you stand up for me because you are a great friend. But you can stand up for yourself or a friend by saying something like: I feel mad when you take my pen without asking because it is rude, or, I feel angry when you call Wendy names because it is mean. Try a few yourself and post some you really like!

Activity: Stand Up

This week I have a game that you can do with two people. This activity deals with trust and strength without being dangerous(how many times have you been "almost" or "accidentally" dropped?). Here are the instructions:

Two players sit back-to-back with their legs stretched out in front of them.  The players link arms behind their backs.  They then proceed to try to stand up without using their arms.  The players must work together to reach the goal!

As you may have noticed, I am posting my activity during a meeting! Whenever one of us can't make it, the troop decides that it just wouldn't make sense to have a two-person meeting. Don't worry, next week the meeting is on!

~Alison

Activity: Word Search

This activity is just like any other word search. You look for the hidden words and you find them. All of these words have to do with pro-peace or anti-bullying. That's all for now!
~Alison

Activity: Peacemaker Kit

When my troop did the aMAZE journey, we had these little boxes called Peacemaker Kits. One meeting, we (four) dequpaged little boxes (shown below) then we filled it with reflections on quotes, moments that can relate to aMAZE, or tokens of friendship. Try it out!
~Alison

This is my paecemaker kit . . .

When I unfloded the quotes, it was overflowing!

Activity: Acrostic Poem

Can you create a poem out of the word 'Peace'? Print out the sheet to aspire your poetic creativity!

This activity is great for both young and old. I remember two years ago my girl scout troop (of four then) and leaders both enjoyed this activity as we were doing our aMAZE journey. I think I still have mine . . .
~Alison