No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsArts and CultureWhen peace is your game, everyone wins

When peace is your game, everyone wins

Members of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in Costa Rica were looking for a non-competitive game – that is, a game in which players work together to meet a goal – to present at a peace fair. Someone suggested a jigsaw puzzle; others then suggested puzzle themes and ways to make them. Six designs were chosen for a start, and a new project for the League was born.

The designs were printed on photographic paper and plasticized, making them easy to cut into twenty pieces. The pieces can be divided up among two or more players who work together to complete it. There is no picture to show what the completed design looks like, so players have to figure it out together. All designs have peace motifs.

“This started as an experiment,” said Olivia Ramos of the League, established in Costa Rica in 1981. It is the local section of the international organization of the same name founded in the Hague in 1915 to promote peace and human rights. “The idea is to teach working together and having fun doing it.”

Children at home or in a classroom get in an argument? Have them work the puzzle, together and read the peace-inspring message. However, the game is not designed just for children: adults can enjoy putting together a puzzle, tool, and it can be a tool for teaching teamwork or getting to know each other in workshops.

The puzzles were introduced to the public at an environmental fair in Heredia in June.  One teacher said it would be a help in her classroom. Parents asked for more. Adults and young people alike went to work solving the puzzles.

One high-school student offered the ultimate Costa Rican compliment when he and five friends finished a puzzle. “Tuanis,” he said.

“We don’t want this to be a commercial venture but we can make some up for sale [for interested parties], or we can show you how to make them. They are easy to make and you can take any design, a drawing or even a photo of the family or the pets.They make nice presents, too,” said Ramos. “It’s a game that everyone enjoys and nobody loses.”

For more information on WILPF or the peace puzzles, write peacewomen@gmail.com.

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s Crucitas Faces Environmental Disaster from Illegal Gold Mining

Environmental crime in Costa Rica has escalated dramatically, with the illegal gold mining crisis in the Crucitas region now bearing all the hallmarks of...

Costa Rica President Confronts Calls to Strip Immunity

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves denounced today an “attempted judicial coup” as he appeared before a congressional committee that must recommend to the full...

El Salvador Fires School Leaders After Bukele Shares Gang Video

The Minister of Education ordered the dismissal of the director and deputy director of a public institute shown in a video shared by President...

San Jose Airport Achieves Top 5 Global Ranking in Passenger Experience

Juan Santamaría International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica's main gateway managed by AERIS, has earned the prestigious Level 5 Customer Experience certification from...

Guatemala Prisons Erupt in Violence With Guards and Workers Taken Hostage

Gang members rioted this Friday in two prisons in Guatemala and took several guards and civilian employees hostage, a week after uprisings in which...

Major Cocaine Seizure in Costa Rica’s South Highlights Ongoing Cartel Fight

Costa Rican police pulled off a big win against drug traffickers this Sunday, seizing over a ton of cocaine hidden in a tourism minibus...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica