5 Wishing and Life

Environment

Varying Needs, different wants and advertisement

Help children reflect on which things are essential, and crucial for their well-being, and which things are choices.

Teach children to differentiate their wishes and establish a hierarchy concerning their needs (what we must have in order to survive) and also how to classify their wants (things we’d like to have and why), and help them understand how much control they can have regarding these. This helps them become aware that they may not be able to choose not to eat but will have difficulty choosing not to drink water many days. Also it might be possible (even if also not desirable) to choose not to play for many days. For example, while we all need water and sleep, we can decide how much time we spend watching videos, playing digital games or buying new things. Becoming aware of how people can deal differently with their wishes can help take care of the environment, while simultaneously providing them with a critical stance to deal with the digital transformation.

Making it Inclusive

Make sure you use examples from your own class to point out that different people need different things, and how different people want similar things. For example, some children may not like to play video games and others may already have strict rules for how to spend their allowance, etc. By sharing the different realities they experience, children become aware of the diversity within their own school and that needs and wants can vary, and this increases their ability to imagine beyond the immediate personal experience.

Task 1: Thought Experiment

1. Share the story of Robinson Crusoe to help children differentiate between essential and non-essential things. Ask children to imagine they are on a deserted island and can only bring three things. What would they choose?

   • Why did you choose these items?
   • How would these items help you survive?
   • Are these things essential, good for well-being, or wishes?
2. Ask them what Robinson Crusoe could have done with the objects they selected.

Task 2: Sorting wishes and how much is enough

Materials: Cut-out cards with wants and needs (see the EduSkills+ library).

1. Start by explaining that some things we wish for in life we must have to live (like water, food, and a home). And others can be regarded as things we like to have but don’t need to live, like toys or extra treats. One important element has to do with the quantity of items. It might be very important to have a cuddly teddy bear, but how many is too many?
2. To teach children how to categorise wishes it is possible to frame them in terms of which things are essential and which things we like to have. You can use pictures of items such as food, toys, clothes, and books. Have children sort them into categories of different types of wishes and needs.
3. Then reflect on the notion of quantity of these needs, and which are essential from those that aren’t, to see if they can collaboratively reflect on: What do they need? What do they want which is not necessary for well-being? How much is needed of each of these elements? Do people wish for more than what they need? Why? Can some wishes substitute lack of other needs?

4. Ask students to think about which items are better for the environment as they sort them. For example:

   • “Do we need this item to live?”
   • “If we buy it, will it soon become a waste?”
   • “Could we reuse it or share it to create less waste?”
5. Optional: For this activity you could also use a digital tool such as Padlet or Seesaw to create an interactive sorting activity.

Task 3: Watching Advertisement

1. Help children understand the purpose of adverts and their impact. Begin by explaining that advertisements are designed to make us want things, sometimes more than we need.
2. Show an advert from a newspaper, TV, or YouTube.

Making it Inclusive

Make sure you use examples to point out that advertisements can target different groups of people (advertisement of toys for parents and children; advertisement of cars for people who drive; advertisement of televisions for people who are watching television, etc.). Sometimes advertisements are aimed at the general population: food, clothes, activities to enjoy.

Task 4: Creating an Advertisement

1. Planning

   Have each group brainstorm ideas for their advertisement. What essential thing have they chosen? Why is it important to them? Why is it good for the environment? Why is the alternative less friendly to the environment?

2. Filming

   Use cameras or smartphones to film the advertisement. Teachers must assist with basic video editing.

   • Tip: plan the video ahead. Think of the main parts every good video should have. What is the message you would like to transport?
   • Use the “pause” option during filming to jump between scenes. If necessary, use an editing tool like YouCut Video Editor to create the final version of the video.
   • Optional tools: Free video editing tools like iMovie (for iOS) or Windows Movie Maker can also be used, but need some editing knowledge.
3. Viewing and Discussion
   • Watch all the advertisements together.
   • Discuss the following questions:
     1. How did you like filming an advertisement?
     2. How did the advertisements make you feel?
     3. How would this advertisement work for radio or print?
     4. Did you want to have the things in the advertisements?
     5. Do you need the things in the advertisements?

Variations

• Print Advertisements Children can draw and colour advertisements for print.
• Radio Adverts Record audio commercials using simple voice recording tools.

Further Ideas

• Picture-books about wishes and life Read picture-books about wishes and life (including more specifically about needs and wants): Different countries will have different possibilities depending on their different languages. In Portuguese you can find the book “Quero, quero, quero, quero” de Polly Dunbar (Caminho 2020).
• Real-life Application Have children create a weekly “needs and wants” chart based on their daily experiences.