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Excerpts from Living Values Activities Books and
Simplicity Ideas at Home for Parents of
 

Living Values Activities Books 
This series offers a variety of experiential activities for teachers and parents

LVEP is a comprehensive values education programme. This innovative global character education programme offers teachers and facilitators a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key universal values: Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Cooperation, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, and Unity. LVEP also has special materials for use with parents and caregivers, children affected by war, street children and children affected by earthquakes.

LVEP's Living Values Activities series of books is published by Health Communications, Inc. In each newsletter we bring into focus one of the values explored by LVEP, excerpting from this award winning series selected ideas and activities on each value. In the last edition the focus was on responsibility; this edition focuses on simplicity.

Think of the moments you have enjoyed simply relaxing, being you ? or delighting in those seemingly slowed-down moments of feeling one with nature.When we are healthy and full, self-respect is natural. In that state we seem to ?need? and ?want? less.Does advertising create artificial ?needs? and desires? What does my happiness really depend on? Simplicity in relation to my ?needs? and generosity in my heart allow me to live in such a way that a better quality of life is possible for all. Please explore the Reflection Points on Simplicity below in the light of your own experiences.

Reflection Points from Living Values Activities for Young Adults, Simplicity Unit.

• Simplicity is natural.

• Simplicity is learning from the earth.

• Simplicity is beautiful.

• Simplicity is relaxing.

• Simplicity is learning from the wisdom of native cultures.

• Simplicity is giving patience, friendship, and encouragement.

• Simplicity is appreciating the small things in life.

• Simplicity is enjoying a plain mind and intellect.

• Simplicity calls on instinct, intuition, and insight to create essenceful thoughts and empathetic feelings.  

• Simplicity is appreciating inner beauty and recognizing the value of all actors, even the poorest and worst off. 

• Simplicity is the precursor to sustainable development.

• Simplicity teaches us economy ? how to use our resources keeping future generations in mind.

• Simplicity calls upon people to rethink their values.  

• Simplicity asks whether we are being induced to purchase unnecessary products. Psychological enticements create artificial needs. Desires stimulated by wanting unnecessary things result in value clashes complicated by greed, fear, peer pressure, and a false sense of identify. Once fulfillment of basic necessities allow for a comfortable lifestyle, extremes and excesses invite overindulgence and waste.

You can read an excerpt on Simplicity from Living Values: A Guidebook to stimulate thought; please click as indicated below for activities on Simplicity for Parents, Children and Young Adults. Young adults may wish to explore a few of the ideas with family or friends while parents may wish to take up some of the activities with their children. And do let us know the outcome or if you've got other experiences or activities you'd like to share!

"In developing countries, for example, women are key to the management of many environmental systems. They grow food as well as cooking it; they provide fuel as well as burning it; they manage the water supply as well as using it. If energy, land and water are the keys to survival, the keys are held by the women of the world.'"

Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund
June 1992