What is Necessary for Happiness?

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Area: Literature/Language Arts
Grade Level: Middle School, Primary/Elementary School
Topics: happiness, identity, Stoicism
Estimated Time Necessary: 60 minutes

Lesson Plan

Objectives:
Introspection about happiness, our wants, and our needs. 
The happiness game is an activity designed to encourage children to find things that make them happy and live an authentic life.

The Happiness Game 

Materials needed: A paper and a pen. 

The facilitator has to make three columns as follows: 

a. Things I must have to be happy. 

b. Things I would like to have to be happy. 

c. Things I do not require to be happy. 

Participants have to add three things in each column. The facilitator can then engage in a general discussion about their choices asking them the reasons for it. Begin with a discussion of what participants put in the “must have” column, then move to the other two columns. Have students note points of agreement and disagreement.

Deepen the discussion by using some of the provided discussion questions. The facilitator can then allow the participants to change the choices across the columns. Choices in the first column can be moved to second or third, second to first, third to first, etc. 

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Discussion Questions

  • Are the things written in the first column (things one must have) so important to be happy? If so, why are they so important?
  • Are there any moments in your life when you were happy without these things? (It implies that they are not the only essential things to be happy)
  • If you do not get these things, would you always remain sad?
  • If you are happy without them, are they that important? What is the difference between necessary and nice-to-have?
This lesson plan was created for PLATO by: Aaditya Vijay Jadhav, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College, India. .

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

If you would like to change or adapt any of PLATO's work for public use, please feel free to contact us for permission at info@plato-philosophy.org.