'Continents of Peace'

Peace education is a major component of a Montessori education.  In our class, this topic is highlighted on a daily basis through our interactions with those around us and various materials available to the children.  In conjunction with International Peace Day last month, we began discussing the notion of peace throughout the world.  We looked at the Montessori globe and talked about how people all around the world can work together in creating peace.  The children were moved by the story of the Great Peace March and connected these ideas to the our continent studies.

When I explained that we would be working on a group art project about peace, the children wanted to incorporate the colors of the continents on the Montessori maps and globes.  This, as the children discussed, would be a symbol of peace around the world and they decided that they would work together on a painting called, "Continents of Peace."

The first day we discussed our project and had the children divide a large canvas into seven sections  - one for each of the continents.

Each day, we added a new color and used a different tool for painting.  This picture shows the children's work after the first two days.  Orange for North America - we used regular paintbrushes; Pink for South America - painting with forks!

After a few more days:  Green for Africa - drip painting with spoons;  Yellow for Asia - Do-A-Dot painters;  Red for Europe - sponge painting; and Brown for Australia (in process here) - dot painting with Q-tips.  Later we used white paint to stamp snowflakes for Antarctica.

'Continents of Peace' 
Lastly, we added a white dove and defined the lines with a Sharpie marker.

We will find a special place in our classroom to display our group project and be reminded of how peace begins with each of us!