Our 4th Grade recently started their annual “World Peace Game”! The World Peace Game entails our 4th grade classes being divided into imaginary nations. In addition, there is a World Bank, United Nations, World Court, and Weather Gods/Goddesses who control the vagaries of hurricanes and tsunamis, determine the fate of the stock market, and guide players through the game. WPG is played using a large Plexiglass structure representing our planet. It is an imposing 4 level affair – undersea, sea level, airspace, and outer space – covered with submarines and ships, soldiers and cities, tanks and oil wells, spy planes and satellites.
Students are provided with national budgets, assets, and dossiers,outlining twenty-three global crises. They learn to negotiate, conduct hurried last-minute deals, plot their battles, and draw up treaties. The focus of the WPG is the peaceful resolution of conflict. WPG is a game that rewards compromise and the ability to negotiate. At its heart, the essence of the game is cooperation. Here’s to our young diplomats!
