Peace education includes modeling and teaching life skills, which assist students in solving problems in a nonviolent way. Some of these methods include strengthening a child's self-esteem, teaching students to recognize and name their feelings -- as well as those of others -- and acting as a role model in difficult situations, states Marianne Göthlin in the article "Nonviolent Education in Preschools," published in 2010 by the website Skolande.
Conflict mediation between students is a process in which the teacher asks students to express their feelings and what matters most to them during a particular conflict. During this process the teacher listens in a compassionate way to each student. The teacher then tries to find a mutually beneficial solution whenever possible.
Preschool teachers can set up a corner of the classroom as a "peace corner." This area can have peace symbols, photos of famous peacemakers such as Gandhi or Martin Luther King. Peace-related books and artwork can be featured in this area. Encourage students to add to the peace corner by making peace-related artwork or slogans.
An image of a white dove with an olive branch in its mouth is a widely recognized symbol of peace. Have the students all help paint a large tree. Give each student a simply cut white dove. Each student may decorate the dove in any way she likes. Finally, glue the doves to the tree branches. This can be followed by a short "peace ceremony."
The Kid's Club website, as well as other online resources, lists all of the words for peace in different languages. For example, the word for "peace" in Austrian is "paz," and in Norwegian it is "fred." Challenge your students to learn how to say the word "peace" in as many languages as possible. There is also a list of ways to say "I love you" in a variety of languages. Enhance the exercise by using a globe or atlas to show the children the area where the languages are spoken.