Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
First Steps - a manual for starting Human Rights Education


Part
Three:
Younger
Children		 image3.gif (14965 bytes)

 

This part contains:
  • Starting up - introductory activities
  • You and me - activities about diversity
  • Who, me? - activities about responsibility
  • Rights for Life - activities about the universality of rights
  • What's fair? - activities about justice
  • My rights / Your rights - activities about situations where rights conflict
  • Action! - taking human rights beyond the classroom


"I don't teach my class their rights and responsibilities - they teach me!"

Moldovan teacher

 

 

Guide to the activities:

To make them easier to use, the activities in this part of the manual all have the same format.

Title
Aim: This, and the brief introduction to each group of activities, tells you why they are useful
Learning points: These are the key concepts contained in the activity. Keep them in mind as you do it,
What you need: This tells you what equipment you will need and what to prepare before the lesson
Time: The times shown are estimates of how long it will take to do the activity and any discussion component.
How to do it: This part explains the activity step-by-step. Where specific methods are used, these are explained in the Part Two of this manual.
Questions: Most of the activities use open questions and discussion to help students to think about the issues raised by the activity. Advice on using open questions and discussion is available in Part Two of this manual.
Choices: These are suggestions for further work on an issue. Some activities have ideas for adapting them for another age group. Others have ideas for human rights actions.
Information / Examples / Gamecards:
Some activities have additional parts. To avoid missing anything, read the whole activity through before attempting it, and check that you have found all the items listed under "What you need".

 


Starting up -
introductory
activities

Because several of the activities in this part of the manual refer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, here is an activity "Treasure Hunt" to help familiarize your class with them. The "Quick Quiz" activity can be used to test children's knowledge about rights.

These activities are continued for older children in Part Four.

Quick Quiz
(Based on an activity by David Shiman)

Aim: This quiz is useful at any stage of teaching human rights. If the children have not studied human rights before, it is a way to find out how much they already know. It can then be used to check on how their knowledge grows over time. It is also very useful for finding out what special interests and concerns children have about human rights.

Learning Points:
- We already know a lot about human rights.
- Sometimes, there are no correct answers when we discuss rights

What you need: Quiz questions.

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Quiz questions:

Can you think of?.....

Choices:

 


Treasure Hunt

Aim: This hide-and-seek activity is a quick way to introduce the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a helpful activity to use when the class first start learning about human rights. It can also be used to introduce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Learning Points:
- Human rights are valuable
- They are written down in special documents

What you need: Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five of this manual. (If the children are quite young, it is better to use the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child - see Part Five).

Time: Up to half an hour

How to do it:

Choices:

 

You and me -
activities about
diversity

These activities are about diversity - similarities and differences between people. They are designed to show that we are all different, yet all equal. Some of the activities focus on why differences are good and important for us as individuals with our own identities. Other activities draw attention to the similarities that all human beings share - for example, our love of stories, or music. Some activities are about living together as a caring community. These are all basic principles on which formal human rights standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are based.

These activities are continued for older children in chapter Living together - activities about respect in Part Four.

 

This is Me

Aim: Children reinforce their identity and raise their self-esteem through an art activity. The questions encourage them to think positively about differences between people.

Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five). Sheet of paper for each child. Pens, crayons or paints.

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Look at me!

Aim: A variation on "This is me", this activity builds on the ideas for drawing activities in section Drawing in chapter Useful teaching methods in Part Two. It increases children's self-esteem, which makes them more likely to be tolerant of others and respect others' rights. The activity also introduces ideas about how children can make their classroom a happier place through their own actions.

Learning point:
- "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Part Five), flipcharts, pens, crayons or paints.

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Hands up!

Aim: This funny game helps children to develop feelings of community and to recognise that difference is necessary.

Learning point:
- Differences are useful and necessary.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five. One blindfold.

Time: Half an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Children from around the World

Aim: This activity with pictures helps children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or ethnic group.

Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need:
- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five.
- Photos of children from your local area and around the world. Choose pictures which show as many different sorts of food, climate, physical types and ways of life as possible. These can be cut from newspapers and magazines.

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Games from around the World

Aim: This activity with games helps children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or ethnic group. It also introduces children to the idea that they have inherent rights, including the right to play, which are written down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Part Five). The example games on the next page, and also the Convention on the Rights of the Child from page (see Part Five).

Time: About an hour and a half

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Example games:

Cover your Ears (Korea).
This game is a favourite of both children and adults. Any number of players can join the fun.

  • The players sit in a circle. One player is chosen as the leader, and places both hands over their ears.
  • The player to the left of the leader places their right hand over their right ear. The player to their right must place their left hand over their left ear. (In other words, the ears nearest to the leader are covered.)
  • The leader removes both hands and points to another player in the circle.
  • The new leader puts both hands over their ears. Again, players immediately to the left and right of the leader cover their "near-side" ears. The new leader then points to another player and the game continues as quickly as possible.
  • Any player who is slow to cover an ear, or who makes a mistake, is out of the game. The winner is the last player left in the game.

Who is it? (Chile).
This is a game for six to thirty players.

  • One child is IT. The players stand in a line behind IT. IT should not see who is behind him/her.
  • IT takes nine slow steps forward while the other players quickly change places. One of them takes the place directly behind IT.
  • The other players ask IT: "Who is behind you? "
  • IT can ask three questions before guessing who it is. For example:
    "Is it a boy or a girl?" , "Is she/ he short or tall?" , "Is she/ he dark or fair?"
  • The other players give one word answers to the questions. IT must then guess who is standing immediately behind.
  • If IT guesses correctly, that person remains IT for another turn. If IT guesses incorrectly, another player becomes IT.

(For more games see Songs, Games, Stories from around the World. Details in chapter Useful Books in Part Six)

 

 

Stories from around the World

Aim: This activity uses stories to help children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or race.

Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need:
- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five).
- Example stories on the next pages.

Time: About an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Example stories:

The Fox and the Turkey (Pueblo Indian USA). O-way-way-ham-by-joh, which means a very long time ago, Mr Fox went out to hunt. He and Mrs Fox had been living on roots for many days, so he was hungry for something more tasty to eat.
He hunted for a long time until he grew tired. Then suddenly he bumped into a great fat turkey. He was just about to sink his sharp teeth into the turkey when the turkey said: "Wait, Fox-man, are you ill? You look so pale! Don't you want to take a nap? You lie down and go to sleep and I'll go down to your house and tell Mrs Fox to cook me for your dinner. Poor fellow, you look so tired!" This made Mr Fox feel really ill.
"That would be kind of you, Turkey-man."
So the turkey started off toward the fox's den and the fox watched him until he reached the door, then he lay down under a tree to sleep.
The turkey knocked loudly.
"Who's there?" asked Mrs Fox.
"Just a friend with a message for you."
"Won't you come in?" said Mrs Fox.
"No thank you," said the turkey, "I'm in a hurry. Mr Fox just asked me to come by and tell you that he will be back soon. He is very hungry and wants you to cook some roots for his dinner."
And then the turkey ran away.
Mrs Fox got busy and cooked some roots.
Very soon Mr Fox came home smacking his lips. He was so pleased to think what a delicious turkey dinner he was going to have. Mrs Fox brought the dinner and set it on the table before Mr Fox. He bit a big piece and began to chew.
"This is the toughest turkey I have ever tasted" he cried. "It tastes more like roots than turkey. What is the matter with it?"
"Turkey!" said Mrs Fox. "I have no turkey!" These are roots! Someone knocked at the door this morning. He told me you were hungry and wanted me to cook some roots for your dinner."
"Oh" groaned Mr Fox, "that must have been the turkey!"

Dividing the Cheese (Cape Verde Islands). Two cats stole a cheese. One wanted to divide it. The other did not trust him, so he said, "No, let us get a monkey to divide it between us!" The first went to find a monkey and asked him to be the judge. "Certainly," said the monkey.
He sent them for a large knife and some scales. But instead of cutting the cheese in halves, he made one piece bigger than the other. Then he put them in the scale. "I didn't divide these well," he said. He started to eat the heavier piece of cheese. "What are you doing?" cried the cats.
"I am going to eat some of this piece to make it even with the other." Soon the piece he was eating was smaller than other piece. He changed over and began to eat the other.
The cats saw that before he was done he would have eaten all the cheese. They said, "Sir Judge, let us have the rest of the cheese, and we will divide it ourselves."
"Oh no," said the monkey, "you might fight over it, and the king of the animals would come after me." So the monkey went on eating, first one piece, then the other. The cats saw that nothing would be left. One cat turned to the other and said, "We should have divided the cheese ourselves."
After the monkey had eaten all the cheese, he said, "Let us all go in peace, and never again let your interest blind your understanding."

The Beggar's Soup (Sri Lanka). Seven wandering andiyas (beggars) once happened to spend the night in the same resting place. They agreed to cook a common pot of congee (rice cooked in water) for their dinner, with each andiya putting in one handful of rice.
One by one, each andiya reached out over the pot to drop in his rice. But they were tricky fellows, and not one of them actually put a single grain of rice in the pot. Each andiya thought the others would provide the promised handful.
When the congee was served, each andiya received a bowlful of hot water!

 

Sending us to the stars

Aim: This imaginative project helps children think about the differences and similarities between human beings.

Learning points:
- Our human similarities are greater than our differences.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five)

Time: One hour, plus homework

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

The Boy with Two Eyes

Aim: This short story gives children a positive picture of "difference".

Learning points:
- Disabled people have the right to be treated in the same way as everyone else.

What you need: The Simplified Version of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (see Part Five).

Time: About an hour

How to do it:

"Way, way out in space there is a planet just like Earth. The people who live on the planet are just like us except for one thing, they only have one eye. But it is a very special eye. With their one eye they can see in the dark. They can see far, far away, and they can see straight through walls. Women on this planet have children just like on Earth.
One day a strange child was born. He had two eyes! His mother and father were very upset.
The boy was a happy child. His parents loved him and enjoyed looking after him. But they were worried because he was so unusual. They took him to lots of doctors. The doctors shook their heads and said "Nothing can be done."
As the child grew up, he had more and more problems. Because he couldn't see in the dark, he had to carry a light. When he went to school, he could not read as well as other children. His teachers had to give him extra help. He couldn't see long distances, so he had to have a special telescope. Then he could see the other planets, like everyone else. Sometimes when he walked home from school he felt very lonely. "Other children see things I can't see," he thought. "I must be able to see things they don't see."
And one exciting day, he discovered he could see something that nobody else could see. He did not see in black and white as everybody else did. He told his parents how he saw things. He took his parents outside and told them about his thrilling discovery. They were amazed! His friends were amazed as well. He told them wonderful stories. He used words they had never heard before...like red and yellow...and orange. He talked about green trees and purple flowers. Everybody wanted to know how he saw things. He told wonderful stories about deep blue seas and waves with foaming white tops. Children loved to hear his stories about amazing dragons. They gasped as he described their skin, their eyes and their fiery breath.

One day he met a girl. They fell in love. She didn't mind that he had two eyes. And then he found that he didn't mind either. He had become very famous. People came from all over the planet to hear him talk. Eventually they had a son. The child was just like the other children on the planet. He had only one eye."

Questions:

Choices:

 

Who, me? -
activities about
responsibility

 

These activities are about our responsibilities to each other. They introduce children to the idea that it is best to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Some of the activities improve listening skills. All of them build trust between children, as part of creating a classroom environment of responsibility and respect for each other's rights.

These activities are continued for older children on page in Part Four.

 

How do you feel?


Aim: This quick game encourages sensitivity to other people's feelings.

Learning point:
- Sensitivity to each others feelings is the basis for protecting each other's rights.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five).

Time: Half an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

To the children who went out of the classroom -

To the whole class -

Choices:


Touch me Gentle

Aim: This quick game generates positive group feelings. (Note: This activity works best with small children. Older children and adults may be reluctant to touch each other in this way. It is up to you to decide whether it is an appropriate activity for your group.)

Learning point:
- "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (i.e : respecting other peoples' rights encourages them to trust you and to respect yours)

What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Time: Twenty minutes.

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Talking Stick

Aim: This sharing activity helps children develop listening and talking skills.

Learning point:
"Children have the right to express their own opinions and to meet together to express their views" (see Part Five).

What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Any knobbly stick, not too big, and without sharp bits.

Time: At least 10 minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Nursery Rhymes go wrong


Aim: This rhyming game helps to develop listening skills (see chapter Living together - activities about respect in Part Four).

Learning point:
- Listening well helps us to respect other people's rights.

Time: Half an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Trust Me

Aim: This exciting and active game helps children to understand the importance of trust and cooperation.

Learning point:
- We need to cooperate to achieve human rights for all.

What you need:
- Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five).
- Blindfolds for half of the children.

Time: Forty-five minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Rights for Life -
activities about the
universality of
rights

 

These activities help children to understand that, like our thoughts, our rights are inalienable - that is to say, they are our own and cannot be taken away from us. They also show how rights have come to be defined and that they are based on the basic needs of all human beings.

These activities are continued for older children in the chapter Rights for Life in Part Four.

 

What's this for ?

Aim: This imagination game with junk helps to introduce children to the concept of universal and inalienable rights. It also raises questions about similarities and differences.

Learning point:
- We all have "inalienable" qualities and also inalienable rights.

What you need:
- Junk objects collected by children from school or home, such as containers, packets, rags...
- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Part Five.

Time: About 20 minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

An important job

Aim: This brainstorming activity helps to show that human rights documents are based on the basic human needs of all people.

Learning point:
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.

What you need: The Simplified Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Summary, from Part Five of this manual. Write the Summary on a large piece of paper.

Time: About an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Big people - little people

Aim: This interviewing activity aims to help children to relate human rights to their own environment and to show that recognition of human rights has been gradual.

Learning point:
- The codification of rights is a late-twentieth century development, but rights themselves have existed and been violated, fought for, and gradually achieved throughout history.

What you need:
- Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five.

Time: Three lessons, spread over several weeks.

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

The Calendar Game

Aim: This activity with photographs helps to explain how all rights are linked. It can be used with children, teenagers, and adults.

Learning Points:
- Rights are "universal" (everyone has them).
- Rights are "indivisible" (you cannot enjoy some rights while denying others)

What you need:
- About 12 photographs or other good quality pictures of people from around the world in as many different situations as possible. Calendars, newspapers and magazines are good sources for these pictures.
- Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Part Five.

Time: About 30 minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

What's fair? -
activities about
justice

 

"It's not fair..." Fairness is something we each think we can judge well. We recognise at once what is not fair and can usually give a quick answer to the question "Why isn't it fair?"

Fair means honest and just, giving the same chances and treatment or the same amount to everyone, according to the rules if there are any. A simple example is running a race; a race is only fair if the rules are the same for everyone. If we all start at the same time, run the same distance, and are all of the same age and ability, that is fair.

Life would be fair if we all had an equal chance: if everyone had enough to eat, and clean water to drink; if everyone could go to school; if everyone were treated equally, regardless of their colour, their sex or their religion; if everyone could vote freely. These are some examples to show what fairness is.

Realizing the importance of fairness in their own lives is important for giving children a better understanding of the need for fairness in the world.

These activities are continued for older children in the chapter What's fair? - activities about justice in Part Four.

 

The Name Game

Aim: This sitting game enables children to get recognition and give it to others.

Learning points:
- We all have the right to a name.
- Everyone benefits from fairness.

What you need: The Simplified Version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five (Especially article 7). Sponge ball or cushion.

Time: Less than half an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Know your Apple

Aim: This observation game raises issues of sharing in the class. This observation game raises issues of sharing in the class, and also teaches children that our perceptions of similarities and differences are very subjective. This basic idea is then linked through the questions to ideas about stereotyping in society.

Learning points:
- Rights are based on fairness.
- Children have the right not to go hungry.

What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five. One apple (or any fruit or vegetable) for each child.

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:


Camouflage

Aim: In this indoor or outdoor game, children learn to identify and question unfairness.

Learning point:
- Rights are based on fairness.

What you need: The Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five). Three balls of wool of different colours. One ball should be a distinctive colour such as red, or yellow, and the others should be colours which blend with the indoor or outdoor surroundings.

Time: About an hour

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

A Definition of Fairness

Aim: This brainstorm activity helps to develop children's natural sense of fairness.

Learning point:
- Rights are based on fairness.

Time: About one and a half hours

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

My rights / Your
rights - activities
about situations
where rights
conflict

These activities about situations where rights come into conflict use roleplay and analysis of conflict situations at home and at school to encourage children to think of alternatives to fighting. They show children that one persons' rights end where the rights of the next person begin, and that when our rights conflict, it is best to cooperate to find a solution which respects everyone's rights.

These activities are continued for older children in Part Four (chapter My rights/Your rights - activities about situations where rights conflict).

(Parts of the activities in this section are adapted from Creative Conflict Resolution by J Kriedler, p. 53-59. See chapter Useful Books in Part Six of this manual).


Andrea and Tony's presents

Aim: This roleplay can help children to identify ways to solve conflicts of rights.

Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.

What you need: The Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see Part Five). Andrea's and Tony's story

Time: About forty minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

Andrea and Tony's story

Andrea and Tony were very happy because their parents bought them each a very nice present. Tony got a tambourine and he was so happy that he started to play on it straight away. Andrea was also very happy because she got a whistle. She started to play too. At first they were both very happy because they had got presents and they could both play at the same time, but after a while they found that they could not concentrate if they were both playing together. Andrea stopped playing and asked Tony if he could stop for a while and let her play. Tony said that it didn't bother him if she played and that he didn't want to stop. Andrea was so angry that she started to play very loudly and then Tony tried to play even louder. They started to compete with each other and because they were making such a noise their parents came into the room."

 

Poor old Wolf!

Aim: This fun and imaginative story-telling activity aims to show children that respecting each other's rights benefits everyone, unlike conflict in which only the victor benefits.

Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.

What you need: One or two short folk tales or children's stories in which there is a conflict between the characters. (If you think about this, you will see that many old tales are based on such conflicts - usually with one character or group of characters stereotyped as "bad" and another character or group of characters stereotyped as "good".

Time: One hour

How to do it:

Choices:

Once the class is familiar with this 'win-win' way of looking at conflicts, use it when real conflicts happen in the classroom. Ask the children involved, or the whole class, to work out a win-win solution.

This does not necessarily have to be a compromise. Often, both people involved in the conflict can gain from a win-win solution. For example, imagine that two children are fighting over an orange. It may be that one wants to eat the insides , while the other wants the peel to make a cake. This conflict can be solved peacefully, and both children can "win"! Of course, not all conflicts are so easily solved, but trying to think in this way can be useful.


Conflict webs

Aims: This drawing activity helps children to analyse conflicts of rights using their own experience.

Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.

What you need: Blackboard, or a big piece of paper

Time: Forty-five minutes

How to do it:

Questions:

Choices:

 

Action! - taking
human rights beyond
the classroom

These activities help children to think of human rights as something which they are able to defend and fight for, wherever they live. There are also suggestions for action in the "Choices" parts of many of the activities in the preceding pages.

These activities are continued for older children in Part Four (chapter Action! - taking human rights beyond the classroom).

 

Advertising our Rights

Aim: This artistic activity aims to encourage children to interpret and promote their rights.

Learning point:
- Everyone needs to be educated about human rights.

What you need:
- Simplified Version of the Convention of the Rights on the Child or any human rights document from Part Five of this manual.
- Poster-making material: Pens, paint, paper

Time: One and a half hours

How to do it:

Tips for designing posters:
  • Have an idea of what you want to communicate before you start. Decide on your message and write it down.
  • Make small, quick drawings at first to test as many ideas as possible.
  • Don't be afraid to scrap an idea at any stage. It's much more important to work hard to get a strong idea than continue working on one you are not happy with.

 

Choices:

        International Women's Day March 8
        International Children's Day June 6
        Human Rights Day December 10

 

Human Rights News

Aim: This project-based activity encourages children to take human rights out of the classroom and into the school.

Learning point: Human rights are part of all human activities.

What you need: Access to newspapers and other media.

Time: This is a project spread over several weeks.

How to do it:

Use the Human Rights News material as a basis for human rights teaching - with your students also looking for interesting material, your job will be made easier!

Choices:

 

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Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
First Steps - a manual for starting Human Rights Education