Happiness - Ages 3-7 - Values Education for Children and Young Adults

Happiness - Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7

Excerpts from LVE's Living Values Activities for Children Ages 3-7

Happiness Lesson
Using Our Imagination

Ask the children to sit comfortably or lie on the floor. ?Today we?re going to use our imagination again to make a picture in our mind. Let yourself get comfortable and let the body be very still . . . Imagine a big, beautiful butterfly. It can be any colour you like. This butterfly likes to fly to places where only happy people live. Do you want to go there, too? . . . Okay, close your eyes and listen. Imagine you are sitting on the wings of this big, beautiful, colourful butterfly and are flying to a place where children are happy . . . Now you have arrived . . . Can you see the happy faces of the children? . . . Now the butterfly comes to rest on the grass in this beautiful world and all the children come to welcome the butterfly and to welcome you . . . What do they say to you? . . . The children ask you to play with them . . . What are you playing? . . . Now they call you to join a picnic on the grass . . . What do you eat? . . . What do you say to each other? . . . Now you look around . . . You see trees, flowers . . . birds . . . the sun . . . Is your face looking happy? . . . Now it?s time to come back to school (or camp or wherever the setting is). You sit on the wings of your loving butterfly, and off you fly back here. Now open your eyes and we will share.?

Share: Ask the children to share their experiences.

Activity: Provide the opportunity for children to make butterflies or a picture of a happy world. Paper wings of a butterfly can be painted or coloured and attached to an ice cream stick. The butterflies can be used as a Quietly Being symbol or used to role-play conversations.

Happiness Lesson
Happiness Is Knowing

Discuss: Say, ?When we did the unit on respect, we learned that part of respect is knowing we are lovable and capable. Each one of us is loved. But let?s talk about who loves you. One of the Happiness Points is: Happiness is knowing I am loved.?

What does that mean?
Why do you think that?s true?
Who loves you?
Does everyone need to be loved?

Activity: Ask the children to draw a picture of themselves with someone who loves them.

Homework: Tell the children that their homework for today is to give someone at home one extra hug.

Hug Homework: When they come back the next day, ask the children to tell what happened with their hug homework. Ask, ?Is giving a hug to someone we love one of the ways we can give happiness?? If you get a resounding yes, tell the children that their homework for today again is to give someone at home one extra hug. When they come back the next day, ask them what happened, and give them the same homework every day for that week.

Happiness Lesson
Words Can Be Like Flowers or Thorns

Introduce the topic, ?Part of happiness comes with words. You were telling me the other day that . . . (Give some examples of what they shared in the circle group: that they feel happy when their mother says she loves them, when their uncle says they?re special, etc.) . . . I notice that Jamie likes it when Mario says . . . (Give more specific examples.) So words can give happiness. It?s almost like giving a flower . . . or sometimes words can hurt like a thorn.? Ask:

What kinds of words make you feel bad or sad?
What kinds of words make you angry?
What kinds of words can you say to others that give happiness?

Say, ?Those are some nice things to say. One of the Happiness Points is:?

I can give happiness to others with words that are like flowers, not thorns.

Would anyone like to share about that?

?This week, I?d like us all to pay special attention to giving flowers. If someone does say something mean, you can just say, ?Give me flowers, not thorns.?? The adult can reinforce this, encouraging children to use this as a verbal skill, rather than hitting or saying something mean when others say something negative. Ask the children to repeat the phrase several times.

Activity: Ask the children to draw a picture about the lesson today. (Some children may draw a time when they felt bad while others may draw about feeling happy. Allow them to draw whatever they wish.)

Happiness Lesson
Good Wishes

Say, ?A secret that hardly anyone knows is that it?s easy to be happy if you have good wishes for everyone.?

Discuss two Happiness Points:

Good wishes for everyone make me happy inside.
I can give happiness to everyone with my good wishes.

What does that mean?
Can anyone tell us about a time when everyone had good wishes for you?
What did that feel like?
How do we give happiness to others with our good wishes?

So, let?s fill ourselves up with love like we did last week.? Do the Filling Up With Love exercise.

Say, ?Now, I want you to look around the room at everyone, and just think of them with love . . . (Allow time for everyone to do that.) Isn?t that easy? How does that feel? . . . Okay, let?s end with a happy song.?

Sing this song or another song on happiness from your culture.

The Happy Stars

^GI am happy, I am happy,
I am a ^D7star,
I am happy, I am happy,
I am a star.
I am happy to remember
to ^Csparkle forever,
I am ^Ghappy, I am ^D7happy,
I am a ^Gstar.

I give my love to ^Geveryone,
I give it ^D7from my heart.
I ^Ggive my sparkle to everyone,
and ^D7make them sparkle too.
(Repeat first verse)

Activity: Allow the children to use finger paints to make a picture of happiness.

Happiness - For Parents of Children 2- to 7-Year-Old

Excerpts from Living Values Parent Groups: A Facilitator Guide

At Home

Think about what makes you happy about your children. Discuss this with a friend or partner.
What games did you enjoy as a child? Play one of those games with your children.
As a group, review the Good Wishes section (LVE Values Activities for Children, Ages 3-7). Discuss how they can help their children have good wishes for others when others are feeling sad or bad.
Play games with your children at home or at the park. Enjoy being spontaneous and humorous occasionally.
Little ones enjoy parents giving lots of hugs and physical contact during playtime. Your laughter is another wonderful gift.
Caregivers might share with the children that giving good wishes is a way of giving happiness. Suggest, ?Let?s send good wishes to ______ together.?
Take a happy hike. Look at how the trees or the birds are happy.
Sing ?The Happy Stars? song with your children. Sing songs that give you a happy feeling. With your toddlers, do dancing exercises to the music.
Have fun telling children?s jokes when you have ?Us Time.? Listen and enjoy their jokes.
Make a ?Happy Thoughts? box. Everyone in the family can contribute thoughts and each thought can be written on a slip of paper. Or a tiny drawing can express a thought. The parent may want to do this as part of the evening ritual when you chat about the day or it could be done at another time. A mother might write, ?I love Nimu.? Other examples: ?Nimu has a beautiful smile.? ?Hossein is sweet with his sister.? Avoid materialistic sentences. Encourage children to come up with a happy thought that has self or interactive appreciation. Examples are: ?I like to make flower pictures.? ?I love playing with Daddy.? ?I am happy when I feel sweet inside.? Or, ?I love hugging the kitty cat.?
Tell your children when you are proud of them.

Excerpts from Living Values Activities for Children and Young Adults
and Happiness Ideas at Home for Parents of

Focusing on the Value of Happiness