Storytime Extension 2.A

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Mother Earth Teaches the Path to Peace: Nature Walk and Peace Circle

 Nature Walk: (1-2 Hours)  The Nature Walk and Peace Circle experience introduces the children to the power of dreaming and believing in the Dream of Peace by creating and building a cooperative experience as co-creators in their world. Let the children know the Peace Circle they will make is also a Give-Away gift to be shared with their community.

The Peace Circle experience is intended to empower children to create Peace in the world; that they are the Peace, and that Peace as an active and collective experience has the power to transform and affect their worlds and the World around them. Along the way, the facilitator, teacher can ask question to help bring the understanding that peace is more than living without war. Peace begins in the heart.

Questions to inspire thought and action: a few examples:

What is Peace? Peace is the power to live without war. Peace is the way of the heart.

What does Peace feel like? Peace is a feeling of love, kindness, calmness, compassion, goodness, happiness, balance etc. 

What it the Power of Peace? Changing/Transforming angry thoughts back into good thoughts. Building bridges between friends and new friends.

What does Peace look like? Peace is helping others to feel good about themselves. Peace is helping someone fix something, picking up garbage, Peace is walking away from an argument that could turn into a fight. Peace is taking a big breath and choosing not to be mad. Peace is offering someone your hand when they fall down. Peace is loving yourself enough to know you are already good.

*The concept of peace may seem complex; however, the goal is to present the learning experience as an adventure to gather natural items; to make a sacred circle and place the natural items in a circle. Connecting to the natural world is the foundation for peace.

The focus will be for the children to experience gathering and constructing a Peace Circle together, building an understanding of the concept of Dreaming for Peace begins with us, and creating natural art to express this idea; and effect the world around us. Therefore, we are developing the concept of peace through a fully concrete experience. 

Procedure:

Step 1: Facilitator/Teacher draws out an image of a Peace Sign for children to have a reference to what they will be producing for the community park. Facilitator/Teacher prepares sage, sweetgrass and cedar to bring to the Peace Circle.

 Step 2: Children Learn What They Live...With paper bag lunches to go, pockets and hands ready to carry treasures, the class will walk to a nearby park. Along the way, children will gather lots of natural items (stones, branches, leaves, flowers and sticks), and they can also gather natural items from home. Teachers will bring sacred sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco to offer at the Peace Circle and a bouquet of enough flowers for every child to make a peace symbol for the center of the Peace Circle. Once at the park, the children will gather to form a circle and the teacher will explain the purpose and process for the Peace Circle.

Step 3: Once at the park, the art facilitator/teacher/s gives each child some tobacco to offer to the circle. The children hold the tobacco until every child has some. Now the children are to make a wish of something good for our Earth, each other, our families and our brother and sister animals. Then together the tobacco is offered to the earth and ground in front of them.

Step 4: Children will now be directed to place one natural item they have gathered down on the ground in front of them to begin the Peace Circle. This directed step establishes the basic circle for children to observe and recognize they are part of Mother Earth and working together.

 Step 5: Now the children are free to place their natural peace tokens they collected on the nature walk wherever they choose along the Peace Circle, creating a uniform peace circle.

 Step 6: The teacher will now give each child a flower and together the group will go to the center of the Peace Circle and build a Peace Sign with the flowers. When the flower Peace Sign is complete, the group returns to the outer circle and stands together again to hold hands for a moment.

Step 7: The Art facilitator/teacher lights the sage, sweetgrass, cedar to honor the sacred space the children have created; and together, everyone will send their positive thoughts and good dreams to each other, their families, their neighborhoods, and to all the children everywhere, in villages, towns, cities and continents all over the World. 

The Gift of Smudging is part of many traditions in the world, some form of lighting plant matter is offered as a vehicle to carry good thoughts and energy beyond our own selves. Through the burning of sage or lighted incense, the smudge is offered to cleanse and purify; and to carry our good thoughts and prayers to ourselves, others and all life. 

 Step 8: the Gift of Smudging is presented to the children by the art facilitator/teacher who understands the tradition, or another traditional representative. Knowledge, respect and experience are all that is needed to offer the sacred smudge.

 Step 9: Let the art facilitator/teacher or children complete the Nature Walk Peace Circle by saying... "We send this Dream of Peace into the World".

Step 10: The children are asked to be aware the Peace Circle is a sacred piece of art created by them and so to be careful while moving around it. 

 Step 11: The facilitator/teacher explains they will have lunch now and asks the children to observe and watch for the people's reactions as they pass by and notice the Peace Circle. Help the children understand their Peace Circle is a gift to the world, and not to be disturbed if they should see some people take an item from their circle, as that person may feel the good power in that item and need it to help them along their day.

 Step 12: Is an added extension that can offer gifts to the passing public. to help keep the Peace Circle intact for a while longer. This is when and where children can give away Peace Ribbons, Peace Flags, painted rocks with Peace Messages etc.

*The gifts can be placed in a basket outside of the Peace Circle with a sign that reads... "Peace is for Free!... please take one.".

 
*An alternative to building a peace sign with flowers would be to have children and teachers paint a peace sign on canvas. Then the flowers could be placed around the painted peace sign or placed in a bucket with water and presented as a Give-Away for the public passing by.

The Give-Away (2-3 Hours) The Give-Away Ceremony is part of many traditional Indigenous cultures throughout the world. For this experience, children will create Medicine Bundles to give away either at the Peace Circle Ceremony or at another time. 

Medicine Bundles are a sacred way to develop the Art of Giving of oneself for the needs of others. Each child will be given a piece of cloth in one of the Four Directional Colors of Red, White, Black and Yellow. As well, children can bring their own pieces of cloth from home and the teacher can supply more material for large gifts to be wrapped in a bundle. (Large cotton bandanas can be purchased at dollar stores and are great for making lunch bundles. The bundles can be tied with ribbons of various to represent the ribbon shirt and skirts that indigenous people wear for sacred events and ceremony; or the bundles can be tied with hemp rope as well, as it is a sustainably grown plant medicine to replenish the earth with all the nutrients needed to grow food. 

*It would be wonderful for teachers prior to the Give-Away to encourage their Indigenous youth to wear their ribbon dresses and shirts for the Give-Away and for the non-native children, they can tie ribbons around their wrists.

 The sacred items to be placed in the bundles are to be gifts from the children. They can be a book, toy, poem, feather, rock, crystal, a piece of art made by the child. Really any gift, big or small is as sacred as the next. This is an important aspect. As a gift comes from the ‘Heart’ and that is where its power lies. It does not have to be new, but rather something that is special to them. Pre-made lunch bags for people in the community is also a great idea.

 Messages of Peace can be placed in each medicine bundle. Children write a message for peace, such as Give Peace a Chance; One Peace at a Time works etc. I have made a list of Peace Sayings to share and use as examples (return to the HOME page, go to section ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and click on ‘See More’)  . Children can write positive affirmations as well, such as "You are amazing!", 'There's only one like you and you are perfect!"

 Making Medicine Bundles helps the child to reflect on the meaning of the Give-Away, and it also activates the imagination on the journey to the park where they will give away their gifts. It connects the present to the future and awakens their hearts to their own self-worth.

 Walking to the Park through the neighborhood connects the child’s home to the Give-Away. Children can look for wild flowers growing along the pathways and bring them to the Give-Away circle. Once at the park, the children gather in a circle. Each child will place their bundle on the ground one at a time. They can speak and share the reason they chose their give-away gift to give, or they can just place the gift down in the circle. A Talking Stick can be used for this process if the teacher has one and the children understand how the Talking Stick is used. Any flowers that have been gathered can be placed down on the give-away circle.

The Give-Away Ceremony experience should be set up for a few days you know it will be sunny. 

*Make extra bundles for children who did not make bundles or for children in the park that become curious and want to join in the activity.

*This is an all-year activity and is a creative way for the community to come together to witness. Examples for Give Away:

*One circle could be made of hats, gloves and scarves to give away for a Winter Ceremony.

*Another circle of books to give away for a Spring Ceremony.

*A Give-Away circle of outgrown runners for a Summer Ceremony.

*A Give-away circle of harvest canned foods for a Harvest Fall Ceremony.

*Homemade cookies for an Elder's home or gathering.

*Once the creative process is activated the give-away ideas will grow and flow.