What is peace

	Peace gesture. Sit in a circle, look everyone in the eye, and grasp hands. Calm down, and take a few deep breaths. Drop hands, then put them in some position (on or in front of your chest) which sym-bolizes peace for you. Stay in this position of peace (or state of rest) at least one minute, without speaking or moving. Imagine that you are the wise old aboriginal or Indian with a stone face who sits for hours, without making a single sound or movement. Discussion after the activity: How did you feel while you were being calm? Were you in a state of concentration or disturbance? Would someone like to say something more about his/her feelings? Did someone feel unrest? Who felt (a sense of) lightness? What do you think, can one be a calm Indian stone face without practising?
	Alphabet of peace. We divide up the worksheet under the title "Peace and War" (see appendix). In the middle are written the letters of the alphabet vertically, to the right at the top the word WAR and to left at the top the word PEACE. For each letter of the alphabet, which is read out, on one's own paper write the first word that comes into your mind and which begins with that letter. Write your associated word under "war" or "peace" according to how you think it should be classified. For instance, if I say G, and somebody thinks "gunpowder", that should be put under "war". Everybody writes his or her answers on his/her paper. A few children read out their answers: The teacher does not make any comments or corrections. Discussion: Which are there more of, words having to do with war or having to do with peace? Which ones came to your mind first? Why do you think they did?
	Secret friend. Write your name down on little piece of paper, fold it over four times, and toss it in the basket. Then select any little piece of paper, carefully unfold it, and secretly read the name. That name - that is your secret friend. If you see your own name, put the paper back and choose another one. Nobody knows whose secret friend he/she is. As these workshops come to an end, your task, during the course of today's meeting and until our next meeting, is to follow and check unnoticed what your secret friend likes, what interests him/her, what he/she does, what are his/her preferences, etc. For the next time prepare some gift for your secret friend. And you will be given a gift, because you are somebody's secret friend. This will be our mutual farewell the next time. Therefore do not forget the gift, and do not forget that until then you must not tell anyone the name of your secret friend.
	Island of peace. The children split up into groups of 7 or 8 members each. Each group draws on a big peace of paper an ISLAND OF PEACE, an island which is governed by the children in the best way that they know how and are able. Everybody assigns to him/herself a certain function or place so that the peaceful life and the children's management can be protected. Imagine that people from other worlds can come into your life on the island. You do not wish to go to war against them, but you don't want to live in ongoing tensions with them either. Before doing the drawing, agree on which functions will be distributed, and which are important for a peaceful life. Each group displays its picture, and one member explains to the other groups his/her group's picture. Feedback discussion: How did you come to an agreement over who would do what on the Island of Peace, which is run by the children? Who was the main troublemaker and who was the peacemaker? What were the main colors used in the drawings of the Island of Peace? What color would you use to show peace?
	Would you like to come to our ISLAND OF PEACE? Everybody in his/her own way will describe what their group imagined how it would be to rule over and live on the Island of Peace. This will be written down at home, and a picture, together with all the essays, will be sent by each group to an address on the other side of the border, to one of our neighboring countries. The teacher will help by networking in school links and try to contact one school from abroad so that the students can exchange with them their pictures of the ISLAND OF PEACE.
	The dove of peace. Stand up and hold hands. Imagine that in the middle of the circle there is a dove of peace. The leader gently passes it to the child to his/her right, and then that person passes it on in the same manner. Everything is done slowly and with concentration.

Peace A B C D E F G H I War