4 Creative Ways to Help Students Find Purpose and Meaning in Their Lives
Living with purpose and meaning can be an abstract concept for elementary aged students to comprehend, although it is very important to delve into. Therefore, we have provided four creative ways that you can explore the topic with your class. These activities are also great for adults to do. You can do them and your students’ parents, too!
PURPOSE STATEMENT
Write
Have your students write a purpose or mission statement to describe what is deeply important to them and gives them meaning in their lives. This may include their life perspective, what they are passionate about, and what values they uphold. A personal purpose statement invites students to affirm who they are at this stage of their lives.
Questions you can ask students as they get started is:
What is deeply important to you?
How do you want others to see you?
What makes you feel happy or excited?
What do you hope to achieve this year at school?
What is something important you want to live by?
Create
Once students have completed the written portion of this activity they can be invited to express their purpose statement through an artistic means. For example, they can paint a picture, create a comic strip, choreograph a dance, compose a piece of music, develop a skit, write a poem, or assemble a collage of photos to represent their statement.
LIST OF STRENGTHS
Write
Talk with your students about what it means to have strengths. In other words, what are they good at, what comes naturally to them, what are they drawn to, what excites them? Explain that they have strengths in all areas of their lives. Give students time to identify their strengths and write them down on paper.
Strengths can be one long list or broken down into categories such as these examples:
Intellectual: subjects they love, how they best learn, their creative pursuits, their ability to be curious or to think critically, etc.
Interpersonal: communication and leadership skills, ability to work as a teamplayer, cooperative nature, kind to others, willingness to resolve conflicts, etc.
Emotional: emotionally regulated, positive attitude, optimistic, hopeful, etc.
Physical: good at sports, eye-hand coordination, flexibility, stamina, endurance, etc.
Create
Put students into small groups or play the following games as a whole class: 1) Charades: have students share one of their interests with their group or the class (e.g., create two teams, set a timer, act out interests without speaking), 2) Tableau: have students work together in groups to create a frozen picture. For example, they can pick a category listed above to create a scene (e.g., recess, group work, physical education class) where they are all included in the scene based on their strengths.
LIST OF INTERESTS
Write
Give students time to write out what interests them from school life to things that extend beyond school experiences. The list could include anything from shows they love to watch, books they enjoy reading, hobbies they participate in, activities they are learning, such as sports or the arts, and also anything they want to learn or know about that is new to them.
Create
Invite students to show their interests through an arts project such as a collage or diorama.
Collage: provide each student with poster board (or a large piece of paper), scissors, glue, magazines, and newspapers. They could also bring personal photos from home, nature items, and other decorative supplies. Students will create a collage using images and words to best represent all of the things that interest them. Diorama: invite each student to bring in an empty shoe box to class to create a three dimensional representation of their interests. They will need a variety of materials, such as photographs, magazines, newspapers, plasticine, string, and paint.
Gallery Walk: Once the collage or diorama project is complete, the students can walk around the room to see each other’s work. They can look for interests that are similar and different from their own.
LIVING AN INSPIRATIONAL LIFE
Write
What does it mean to live an inspirational life? Start by looking at the word “inspirational” as a class to understand its meaning. Teachers can share examples of how they live an inspirational life (e.g., a dream they worked hard to achieve, a loved one they take special care of) and students can share examples from their own life. Next, have students write about what inspires them, such as the examples listed:
Dreams they dream of
Goals they are working towards
How they see their future selves
Places they want to travel to
Subjects they want to learn about
People they want to spend time with
Stories about others that inspire them
How they want to feel in their lives
How they want to be remembered by others
Create
Invite students to participate in a circle process where each person takes a turn sharing what it means to live an inspirational life. The teacher can begin by asking a specific question that everyone answers such as “How do you want to be remembered by others.” A circle process works best with a “talking piece” such as a stone, shell, or stick that gets passed from student to student around the circle. The person holding the talking piece is given permission to speak while everyone else in the circle is responsible for listening. Students have the “right to pass” if they are not ready to share.
Another option is to have each student create a piece of art (e.g., painting, collage) based on one feeling word that expresses what it means to them to live an inspirational life. For example, they might choose words such as kindness, compassion, joy, or love.
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Traci L. Scheepstra, Ph.D., is the CEO/Founder of Embodied Learnings.Read here to learn more about her work in education.