Nurturing Values with The Little Book of Harmony

It’s not every day you get to author a book, especially a beautiful wisdom book for children. One of my intentions for writing The Little Book of Harmony is to have a way to be able to encourage children to grow in self-awareness, become thoughtful choice-makers and create a deeper sense of meaning of how their virtues and values guide us to live with more confidence and authenticity.  The Little Book of Harmony shares 30 Virtues and 120 ways to practise them. It offers a curious question. How do you choose? Helping children to come up with their own answers.

The Little Book of Harmony creates space to acknowledge and experience the positive influence virtues and values have in our day-to-day lives while supporting parents and teachers to nurture social and emotional wellbeing. How do you feel when you choose kindness?

Just the simple act of reading this book can have a positive effect on your mood, emotions and relationships. It nurtures the bonds of love, belonging and connection. 

So here are some great ways to bring more harmony in the home and classroom. 

6 Creative and Fun Ways to use The Little Book of Harmony

Acknowledgement and Meaningful Praise:  Sharing what you like and admire in others can bring extra meaning and connection.  This helps to actively avoid the ‘good girl’ or ‘good boy’ praise and replace it with meaningful whole-hearted acknowledgement that encourages intrinsic motivation, self-esteem and confidence.  For example: “That was a very kind thing to do, when you shared your last piece of apple with your friend”.  This also reinforces the cause and effect nature of our choices.

Bowl of Affirmations:  Within the book are 120 special messages (positive statements).  A special message is the term we use at Kids in Harmony.  Write each one out on a piece of paper and roll, or fold individually and place in a large glass bowl.  You could choose one every day or once a week, to lift the mood, inspire positive emotions and create a focus.

Focus:  If there is a virtue you are challenged with or want to focus on, reread that page daily for a little while and acknowledge the ways you experience it in your daily life.  For example:  If your child is showing signs of not wanting to do things for themselves that they are more than capable of doing you might like to choose the Independence Card, or choose another card that you feel will best encourage that particular behaviour/virtue.  When you make a particular virtue or page of the book a focus, find ways to use the word and language within your daily experiences as often and as sincerely as you can.

Relaxation space:  One of my all-time favourite things to do and you can get the whole family involved in the space or the collection of items to create this feeling and space for relaxation.  Creating a peaceful place within your home (or classroom) can set a wonderful intention for calm and relaxation.  Use cushions, gentle objects to touch and feel, books that relax and calm and of course The Little Book of Harmony.  Encourage the children to use this special place anytime, not only when they need to relax, but to nurture self-care and calm any time.

Random Acts of… Choose a virtue for the week and practice random acts of a virtue.  For example: random acts of kindness, gratitude, encouragement, friendliness.

Heroes, Heroines and Champions:  Choose a fictional character and ask the children what virtues they feel this champion may have practiced and why.  It is a very meaningful way for your child to appreciate character strengths within others and to be able to recognize them.

There are so, SO many ways to nurture values and virtues within your home.  I hope you enjoy these 6 fun and creative ways and I’d love to hear any stories, experiences that you have as you bring more harmony into your home.

And of course I love receiving photos of The Little Book of Harmony in ACTION so don’t hesitate to share them with me at [email protected] or share on our Kids in Harmony Facebook Page.

Get your very own copy of The Little Book of Harmony here.

Kerry Spina

Author | Wellbeing Educator