Giving Games Guide by Play for Peace

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Ways to Play Introduction.............................................p.2 Sections: ➢ #1 For Self...............................................................p.4 ➢ #2 For Others..........................................................p.6 ➢ #3 For the Earth......................................................p.9 How to Join the Giving Games.....................................p.10 Reporting your Giving Games Activities.......................p.11 About Play for Peace Organization..............................p.12 Notes............................................................................p.13

A Guide for the Play for Peace Community Play With Generosity and Celebrate Giving!

The Giving Games: Youth and Schools Play it Forward are an 11 day

global challenge to inspire, develop, and celebrate our shared humanity through acts of generosity and compassion. Beginning on December 1st – a day known as Giving Tuesday – and going through December 11th, the Giving Games are played worldwide between youth, educators, and mentors to foster safe and fulfilling places of learning, helping the next generation develop into happy, compassionate, creative, and resilient members of our world!

The Giving Games start the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The Giving

Games are a way to explore new ways to be generous with others, ourselves, and the Earth. Let’s play the Giving Games with generosity and celebrate compassion!

Play for Peace is a global learning community that trains and supports young

leaders around the world who inspire compassion in action and friendships across divides of culture, religion and beliefs. Cooperative play and community service are our tools to teach kids, teenagers and adults that the "enemy" is someone not so different from themselves and to learn that when we work (and play!) together, peace is possible.

Ways to Play

Playing Together Changes the World! The Compassion Games are a powerful social tool designed to ignite, amplify, and catalyze compassionate action in communities around the world. By infusing the power of playfulness and compassion with the fun of friendly competition. The Games offer a unique way to strive together to serve: each other, our own personal well-being, and the Earth. The Ways to Play are grouped into three dimensions: Generosity and Compassion for Self, Others, and Earth . However, the activities in this packet are just suggestions! You can make up your own activities to play during the Giving Games. In fact, we can’t wait to hear about your original

ideas.

When you report on your activities your did, you (or your team) will get “points” for the number of service hours, volunteers participating and money raised for good causes, and this acknowledgement of your work will inspire other to be more compassionate. No one can lose the Compassion Games and as the more people play, the more people win! There are several ways you, or a group of friends can join and play in the Giving Games. Learn more about some of the suggested Ways to Play below. Also, feel free to use team activity ideas for yourself and teams might want to use suggested individual ways to play as a group. There is no one correct way! Play for Peace volunteers, please include your volunteer hours on Games reports, Play for Peace Clubs all Practice Peace Sessions count, Play for Peace Trainers, all Play for Peace Training should be included! If you choose to sign-up as part of the “Play for Peace” team simply write “Play for Peace” in the Team slot on the registration page and create your own-name for your group as a “Sub-team.” If you are an individual signing up as “Play for Peace” without a sub-team name will also be fine. As always, it is a Play for Peace activity if follow our core values of cooperative, inclusive, caring and fun.

Let the Games Begin! 3

Section #1 FOR SELF Self-compassion means you are kind and understanding towards yourself. Having compassion for oneself is really no different than having compassion for others, yet for whatever reason, it can often be the most challenging! We have to live with ourselves every second, of every moment, of every day. We know how hard it is! It is human nature to make profound and meaningful mistakes. Yet, in the sorrow of our darkest experiences, we are the ones who have to live with ourselves through it all. Being human is not easy. We peer out through the eyes of the Self, and we find every reason to judge ourselves and be down on ourselves. Why? Because we don’t know anything else. But it is for this exact reason that we should be that much more loving toward ourselves, for when we take a step back, we know how hard it can be. In the luminous glow of this insight, we can find more reason to be in awe and gratitude of what we are capable of! The Dalai Lama says: “If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not capable of developing compassion for others.” The following Ways to Play are directed towards nourishing the Self, and intended to ignite and awaken the spark of compassion in our own wild and precious hearts, to sustain us and remind us of our intrinsic wholeness. It begins first with oneself, starting from within, and then naturally for others and for the whole Earth.

WAYS TO PLAY as an Individual f or Self

❖ THE DAILY HAPPINESS LIST ➢ Make a list of the things that make you happy. Then, make a list of the things you do every day. ➢ Compare the lists. ➢ Create a new daily list that includes at least one new item from your list of things that make you happy and try to follow it during the 11 days of the Giving Games! ❖ THE PEACE TREE (created by Samantha Armas, 9 years old)

➢ Build a stack of notecards each with happy memory written on it. Decorate your cards and attach a string. ➢ Hang the notecards from a tree in your garden or plant in your home. ➢ When you feel sad or lonely look at the cards until you have a smile on your face. ❖ LEARNING MORE ABOUT COMPASSION ➢ Read a short biography of a global peace leader you’ve always been interested in learning more about and reflect on one thing you learned from their story that you can apply to your life. ➢ Use references such as; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_peace_activists

WAYS TO PLAY as a Team for Self

❖ CELEBRATING YOUR GENEROSITY AND COMPASSION ➢ Create a paper or digital poster of all the generous and compassion acts your group has done this year. ➢ Share it with your friends, families, community (and of course the Giving Games!). ❖ A WEB OF SUPPORT ➢ Bring a ball of yarn or string to your group meeting. ➢ Sitting in a circle one person holds the end of the yarn and says one thing they need from the group to feel included and cared about. When they are done speaking they toss the yarn to someone in front of them without letting go of a piece of the yarn. ➢ The yarn ball is tossed to everyone only once, with everyone keeping hold of a piece of the yarn. A beautiful web of communication, caring and support is created. ➢ For more advanced Play for Peace groups you can use rope or webbing instead of yarn and take turns laying on the web once created and having the group lift and rotate it (Raccoon Circles style). ❖ PASS THE TIFFIN ➢ One of the ways you can become a more compassionate person is learning more about the people around you, the different cultures and practices that make up your community. 5

➢ When your group meets over a mealtime have everyone bring their “lunch box” or “tiffin” if you are in India! Sit in a circle and play musical chair with your tiffin. ➢ Start music and pass around the tiffins in the circle.When the music stops, take a bite from the tiffin that reached you and start the music again. ➢ Play the game, until you finish all the food in the tiffins.When game ends, share your new food experience in a group. ❖ PEACE PUZZLE ➢ One of the ways you can become a more compassionate person is learning about cultures and places in the world different from your own. ➢ Find a puzzle that has an image of a world map or create one. ➢ Divide up the puzzle pieces and ask your team members to take the 23 pieces (nations) of the world puzzle to their home. Research/find out five fascinating things about their nations represented on their pieces. ➢ Present their finds to the group the next day. All the team members work towards putting the pieces together to make it a world puzzle!

Section #2 FOR OTHERS It is the people in our lives who truly ground us, providing us with a sense of unconditional belonging and meaning. Humans are, first and foremost, social beings. Compared to other living beings, we are not remarkable in our inherent quickness, nor our strength. We are not born with sharp claws or fangs to protect ourselves from harm. We are even born completely vulnerable, totally dependent on the love and care of others to nurture us into maturity. Therefore, it is the connections and bonds we create between each other, woven through the tender strands of the compassion and love, that give us strength and resilience beyond compare. It is in honor of this profound and shared human reality that so many Ways to Play are “For Others”. Dedicated to the tender caretakers of our spirits – to our friends, families, and communities – and even to the people we do not know who may forever remember a smile or kindness from a simple act. As the Earth continues to become a global village, we are coming to know ourselves as One Human Family, a fact that holds physical, scientific truth in our very DNA. Compassion is central to this emerging identity, requiring us to show unprecedented empathy, 6

kindness, and understanding toward one another, to celebrate our diversity as we embrace the oneness of all humanity.

WAYS TO PLAY as an Individual f or Others

❖ APPRECIATION TO PEACEBUILDERS AROUND THE GLOBE ➢ Young leaders all over the world are doing very difficult peacebuilding work in their communities. It can be isolating, and sometimes, disheartening. Please help us appreciate their efforts that mean so much to the world! ➢ Select a Play for Peace Club, Trainer or Volunteer from our lists here and here and here to read about their work. Found in our website www.playforpeace.org under “Community.” ➢ Create a paper of digital letter or poster of appreciation. ➢ Scan or take a photo of the letter or poster and send it info@playforpeace.org , we’ll make sure it gets to them and to the Play for Peace Community. You can also use that image for your Givings Games report! ❖ SLAP, SNAP, CLAP, PLAY FOR PEACE! ➢ Teach someone the Play for Peace Ritual and tell them why you love Play for Peace! Please see our Play for Peace Ritual on a video HERE . ➢ Invite this person to join the Play for Peace Community! ❖ JOIN A COMMUNITY SERVICE EFFORT ➢ Find a local Play for Peace Club and join their activities. ➢ Go to the nearest orphanage, homeless shelter, food bank, etc. and donate your time. ➢ Collect food for refugee and relief camps, make sure you check wish list of charities accepting donations in your area first. ➢ Do a “springcleaning” in the winter and donate all the things that aren’t useful to you but are like new and could be useful to someone else. ➢ Rescue street animals and find a safe home for them.

❖ SUPPORT A GROUP OF YOUNG PEACEBUILDERS ➢ Youthled volunteer Play for Peace Club projects are launched in response to a local need and communities and lives are changed forever. Communities become more unified, self sufficient and resilient in the face of challenges. From even the most humble beginnings, Play for Peace Youth Leaders make powerful and lasting contributions to their communities. See a list of our current Play for Peace Clubs by profile or location . New Clubs are being formed every month and it takes $1000/year to support 1 Play for 7

Peace Club. Please choose to invest a portion of your charitable donations this year to Play for Peace. Donate here .

WAYS TO PLAY as a Team for Others

❖ SHARE YOUR IDEAS FOR COMPASSIONATE ACTS WITH OTHERS ➢ Create a paper or digital poster of all the generous and compassion acts your group has done this year. Include why you choose those acts and reflections on what activities most inspired you to keep going. ➢ Celebrate your successes and share the poster with your friends, family and community. Send a scan or photo of the poster to info@playforpeace.org so that we can share it with the Play for Peace Community. Use the image also in your report to the Giving Games so that others can be inspired by you as well! ❖ SHARE YOUR JOY ➢ We know that being compassionate and helping others, actually has many, many benefits for us! People who do compassionate acts are generally happier and healthier and often what we give comes back to us tenfold. Grow your group by at least 4 more people and give them the opportunity to become global peacebuilders as well! ➢ Design and put up posters inviting new members to your weekly meetings or just decide that each member invite at least one more person to join them next week to try it out. Whatever your strategy, support and opportunities will grow as your group grows in number. ❖ CATCHING DREAMS ➢ Dreams of a better world are what help motivate us to be more compassionate people. Try building this team dreamcatcher and support your team members in building a better world! ➢ Using webbing or climbing rope lay a large circle on the ground. Ask participants to write down their biggest dream on a piece of paper and gather the papers. ➢ The dream catcher begins with participants placing their dreams outside the circle (at least 30 ft. from the circle). The members then step inside the circle and are challenged to reach the papers from inside the circle without touching the ground outside the circle. ➢ The team can only take 5 minutes to come up with a plan to reach the papers, and while they are talking, they cannot start moving. The group can use accessories that are available including; scarf, pens, necklaces, people etc. 8

➢ Once they have brought all the papers (dreams) into the circle they can discuss how to achieve their dreams written on the papers.

Section #3 FOR EARTH Who is it that you love? When we think about those who are dear to us, we are reminded of what is truly most important to our lives. Our love for those we care about inspire unimaginable feats of human strength, connection, and resilience, and this love moves us to make the world a better and safer place. Love as a force of nature is truly a remarkable power to behold. It isn’t much of a leap to realize that the sustainability and well-being of our only home, Planet Earth, directly affects the happiness and safety of those who make life so meaningful and beautiful to us. Our relationship to the Earth also nurtures our own personal well-being. Allowing us each to feel a deep sense of connection, wonder, peace, and wholeness in this place we all belong to and call our home. Ways to Play “For Earth” aims to help us transform our love into compassionate action, for the Earth and all her inhabitants. It aims to uplift and rally our spirits into a positive vision of the future that works for the environment, all of life, and for generations to come!

WAYS TO PLAY as an Individual f or Earth

❖ SHOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT ➢ We all know how it feels when you clean off your desk or straighten up your room. You have more energy, are more focused and can even breath a little easier! ➢ Encourage caring for the earth in your neighborhood by showing everyone how much you care about it. Pick up litter in your neighborhood, cut weeds or be creative in making your neighborhood a place that looks loved. ❖ LOVE YOUR TREES ➢ Plants and trees give us oxygen to breath! What a precious gift. ➢ Go out with your family and friends and hug a tree, plant seeds or water plants. 9

❖ BE RESOURCEFUL ➢ Ride your bike or walk instead of driving. ➢ Take shorter showers. ➢ Learn more about how to recycle in your area, teach what you learnt to someone else.

WAYS TO PLAY as a Team for Earth

❖ TEAM SCULPTURE ➢ Clean up debris in a park or school and make a team sculpture as tall, or as interesting, as possible. ➢ Make sure to take safety precautions with the debris that is picked up. Natural components such as fallen leaves and twigs can be used as well! ❖ WALK YOUR TALK ➢ Walk in a group or in a pair and talk about “What nature means to you” and find out what nature means to your partner(s). ➢ While walking you can bring or take pictures of 23 nature related items picked from nature but please don’t pick live plants. Upon returning, share in the group why you picked those 23 things and how those items are related to you. Reflect on how a connection with the earth affects your work as a peacebuilder. ❖ MEET FOR PEACE ➢ Connect with another Play for Peace Club or member and find out what community service projects they do for the earth. Ask for support at info@playforpeace.org to set up this skype exchange (with advance notice please!) ➢ Talk about it with your team or try it out in your community!

How can I join the Giving Games? You can join as individual or team with your Play for Peace Club, classroom, or group of friends/coworkers. By clicking the link here and creating a “subteam” after adding “Play for Peace” as your main team. There is no cost to join! Use this “Play for Peace Ways to Play” resource guide for both individuals and teams as well as the Compassion Games website and the Practice Peace Session Guide. Please make sure you “confirm your email address” by clicking on the link you receive via email after registering. Before the Giving Games begin, you can connect with organizers to plan and promote your Giving Games activities and during the Giving Games you will get daily suggestions of Compassionate Acts.

Playing the Giving Games! First and foremost, play! Be generous and compassionate. Once you have completed an activity share it with others on the Compassion Games website and help inspire others with your acts of Compassion. Check back everyday and watch your emails for ideas and suggestions. Details you will need to be sure to include and share about your acts of compassion when reporting back to the Giving Games, are: ❖ A title (be sure to identify the Way to Play you selected) ❖ Your location ❖ Any photo’s or video you would like to share! ❖ Your team name (and subteam) ❖ A description of your Compassionate Action(s) ❖ Reflections on your Compassionate Action(s) ❖ How many Volunteers/Players did you get involved?! ❖ How many hours did it take to complete your task?! ❖ How many people did you reach with your Compassionate Act?! ❖ How much money did you raise?

A Little Bit About Play for Peace Overview Play for Peace (PFP), a nonprofit INGO based in Chicago. Play for Peace is a community of people who are, right now, creating a world that fosters coexistence.Children, youth and adults from communities in conflict, are deciding to choose compassion and practice coexistence, and they are learning to do this through the joy of play. Through cooperative play, we have a universal and nonthreatening platform around which people can come together and learn. Play creates a gateway to moments when differences dissolve, fear melts away, and we see what connects us rather than what divides us.

Mission To bring together children, youth and organizations from communities in conflict, using cooperative play to create laughter, compassion and peace .

Goals Play for Peace Program changes young lives, educates children and transforms communities, specifically : ● Creating safe environments in which people of all ages can experience the joy of play. ● Promoting positive relationships among people of societies in conflict. ● Fostering leaders for peace around the world. ● Building selfsustaining learning communities in which all of our region's work interdependently to build a more peaceful world.

Play for Peace Method

LAUGHTER ⇛ COMPASSION ⇛ PEACE

Join Play for Peace Individuals and Communities join us through our Global Learning Community receiving training, educational resources and cultural exchange opportunities that promote lifelong learning and development for adult mentors, youth leaders and compassionate children. Find out more about how to join Play for Peace here . 12

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