RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS
Their joy was breathtaking as they realized how
fun it was to do Noodle Drumming in all its phases
in a cooperative manner that brought fun feelings
to everyone. After the first round, I told them if
they wanted to do another Noodle Drumming we
would all need to cooperate and pick up noodles
off the floor, placing them back onto the drum. I no
sooner said the words and twenty little hands were
activating noodle pick-up. We repeated our drumming experience then switched with the outer circle, each inner circle child handing a drumstick
in exchange for a rattle or shaker from the outer
circle participants. There were no arguments. No
lack of sharing or cooperating. Every child learned
about the meaning of cooperation and what can
be accomplished together because they were having fun! It was a huge success with children asking
if we could cooperate and do Noodle Drumming
again sometime. You betcha, kiddos!
There is no substitute for 3D learning when children can use more senses learning a lesson than
just hearing words to memorize. In this cooperation lesson they saw, heard and had a tactile feeling experience. A great bonus on teaching cooperation in a fun way was seeing how good the children
felt about themselves. They felt like empowered
Superkids!
Why Cooperation is an Essential Ingredient
in Children’s Lives
Cooperation IS the foundation for world peace.
Children comprise almost 30% of the world population (Global Population Composition https://
www.census.gov/population/international/files/
wp02/wp-02004.pdf). If we as adults profess to
37 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
want world peace, we need allies. We are not accomplishing a settled state of being in a peaceful
atmosphere on this precious home planet by ourselves. Kids are not only tech savvy, they have creative abilities beyond our means to problem solve
world dilemmas.....if we give them a living chance
to participate. That thirty percent of our population needs to be on board with the peace plan or
it will not happen. Children grow into adults. What
are we giving them to be prepared for what they
will inherit? Giving them skill-based experiences
to know for themselves why values such as cooperation are important will serve them in real time
today while creating a solid foundation for their
relationships, choices and doing their part in the
future to assist with planetary changes in a cooperative manner.
Suggestions on How to Proceed with Cooperation in Young Lives
The beginning step is to teach fun ways to cooperate. In any skill-based lessons, waiting until children are squabbling and in crisis, are not cooperating and are upset, beyond being civil, is NOT a time
to teach a new skill. No skill will be relayed and
retained, even if it is forced as a rule, when stressful symptoms are being displayed Unless children
have a good understanding and experience with
the concept being introduced prior to the stress,
they can’t grasp it when upset. Here is what works,
step by step.
Use the word, ‘cooperate’ as you set up fun activities that require cooperation in order to accomplish results that everyone will be delighted by. If
cooperation is taught as a rule that has to be followed without fun as an ingredient, it will not serve
to motivate children as much as something that
brings smiles. If a child likes a jellybean, she will
want to taste its flavor again. It is the same with
fun experiences. Note that children repeat over
and over what they like. A positive, fun approach
brings immediate gratification, happy inner rewards with good feelings, builds confidence and
creates a desire to have more of the same. There’s
plenty of time in childhood to get to more serious
forms of cooperation. Leave a good feeling setting
inside children about cooperation and you will see
results for a lifetime. Not only that, but when they
have been properly introduced to the concept and