I’m encouraging and participating in the 100 Acts of Kindness Project right now. Peace education is a natural part of both the 100 Acts of Kindness Project (link to all my 100 Acts of Kindness Projects) and Montessori education.
North American Montessori Center’s 3-6 Montessori Homeschool Program has activities to help with peace education and the 100 Acts of Kindness Project in a wonderful free download of Friendship Flower Activities.
Friendship Flower Activities (Images from North American Montessori Center Printables)
Note: NAMC’s Montessori Homeschool Program was offering the free download to Montessori homeschoolers, parents, and educators. The activities could be used for either Montessori peace education, the 100 Acts of Kindness Project, or both. UPDATE: The download is no longer available, but I’ll give you information about what was offered in case you want to prepare your own friendship flower activity.
The download had activities such as a sharing flower, healthy friendship cookies, parts of the plant nomenclature cards (a Montessori botany activity to coordinate with the friendship flower activities), and peace labels for a peace discussion. There was also a lesson on how to use a peace rose (commonly used to resolve conflicts in a Montessori classroom).
The background information about the Friendship Flower Activities said:
Working with the Friendship Flower, your child will explore areas of life important to all humans: self, family, community, and nature. By considering these areas of life and your child’s relationship to them, your child will learn to assess his feelings and the feelings of others. This is an important step to becoming a respectful person, as learning respect is fundamental to your child’s personal development. For young children, it is helpful to link respect to friendship, an idea children both cherish and understand.
Respect is the foundation of Montessori philosophy and methodology. Indeed, Dr. Montessori’s success in helping children develop their true potential can be connected to her belief in the natural dignity of all people and her profound respect for children.
In this activity, your child learns about respecting and being friends with himself, his family, his community, and nature. These areas of life are represented as flower petals, with a strong center that holds the delicate petals together. The center of the flower shows how all areas of life are connected on some level. You may choose to name the center of your flower. For example, you may wish to label it as “Respect,” “Friendship,” “Peace,” or “God.”
Update: Here are some other Friendship Activities and Resources:
- Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities
- How to Prepare a Peace Corner
- Montessori-Inspired Friendship Activities
- Free Friendship Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
- Free Taking Turns and Sharing Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
- How to Teach Toddlers and Preschoolers to Take Turns and Work Together
- The Best Children’s Books about Taking Turns and Sharing
- How to Prepare a Montessori Peace Tray
- Montessori Services Peace Activities and Resources Review
- Our Favorite Picture Book about Inclusion and Friendship
- Does Your Preschooler Have This Fabulous Multicultural Children’s Book?
- Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers
- How to Prepare a Book Basket That Encourages Kindness
- Fostering Kids’ Friendships Pinterest Board
Update: Here are some other Peace and Mindfulness Activities and Resources:
- Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities
- How to Prepare a Peace Corner
- Montessori-Inspired Friendship Activities
- Free Friendship Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
- Free Taking Turns and Sharing Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
- How to Teach Toddlers and Preschoolers to Take Turns and Work Together
- The Best Children’s Books about Taking Turns and Sharing
- How to Prepare a Montessori Peace Tray
- Montessori Services Peace Activities and Resources Review
- Equality and Peace Resources for Parents and Teachers
- The Silence Game {Montessori Activity to Develop Self Discipline
- Free Guided Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Meditations for Deep Sleep and Relaxation {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
- Free Guided Meditations for Deep Sleep for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Best Nelson Mandela Quotes
- Free Guided Christian Meditations for Teens and Adults
- Free Guided Christian Meditations for Kids
- Free Guided Gratitude Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- What Is Mindfulness? (And How We can All Benefit from It)
- Free Guided Gratitude Meditations {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
- Free Mindfulness Songs for Kids
- Promote Peace with Montessori Holidays Around the World Resources
- Free Peace Printables and Montessori-Inspired Peace Activities
- The Ultimate List of Free Meditation Printables for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- The Ultimate List of Free Yoga Pose Printables for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- “Education Is the Best Weapon for Peace” Montessori Word Art Freebie
- The Best Peace Books for Kids
- The Best Mindfulness Books for Kids
- Free Peace Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Peace Do-a-Dot Printables (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Peace Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori Education Week Free Peace Lesson
- Free Relaxing Ocean Images, Sounds, and Music for Kids and Adults {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Ocean Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Ocean Meditations {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
- Let’s Sing Peace Around the World at School and at Home
- How to Make a 100 Hearts Sensory Bottle (100 Hearts Calming Bottle)
- Thank You for Planet Earth (or Thank You, Planet Earth) Mindfulness Cards and Booklet
- Free Mindfulness Resources from Calm
- Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers
- Free Juneteenth Songs and Educational Videos
- Animal-Inspired Mindfulness Affirmation Cards and Booklet in Manuscript and Cursive
- Free Calming Printables and Montessori-Inspired Calming Activities
- Free Yoga Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Calming Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Guided Frozen and Winter Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources
- Kids’ Peace and Mindfulness Activities Pinterest Board
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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I love your sharing flower. It would great to do in the spring.
Gotta love a dish washing king!
Thanks – the friendship flower activities definitely would be great in the spring, too! I love that they have so many different uses!
And how lucky you are to have a dishwashing king!
Oh I really enjoyed this post and I can’t wait to try this activity out with my girls! If we keep having so many snow days… I won’t have to wait long! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks, Angie! We’ve been lucky to avoid a lot of those snow days here. But that does sound like a great idea if you have more!
I hopped on over the HipHomeschoolHop to say hello. Enjoy your week.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great week, too!
This looks like a wonderful resource!
Thanks, Maureen! I’m really impressed with what NAMC is offering in a free resource!
How wonderful!! Thanks so much for sharing! Kerri
Thanks for your comment, Kerri! I love sharing great resources – and for this one, I was lucky enough to have NAMC contact me with the link to offer to my readers!
We’re dedicating a lesson each day next week to friendship & kindness. You’d be surprised how few ideas there are online for teaching these principles. It was refreshing to find one post I can get inspiration from. Thank you!
Thanks for your kind comment, Lori! What a great week of lessons you have planned. I’m glad I could share this awesome download from NAMC’s Montessori 3-6 Homeschool! I also had more links to the 100 Acts of Kindness challenges at https://livingmontessorinow.com/community/#/1378313/forum/75899/are-you-participating-in-the-100-acts-of-kindness-project-with-your-students-and-or-family-.html
You’re welcome, Andy! Thanks for visiting!