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The Giving Zone Game Inspires Children at a Frisco Elementary School.
Based upon the The Giving Zone Book, The Giving Zone Game opens up a whole new world for all of us to explore — a world of unlimited joy where each of us is giving freely, and inspiring others to give freely.
I designed a board game called “The Giving Zone Game,”
for ages 10 through adult, to teach children that giving is fun, that
there is great joy in giving and that values are fun. As author of
The Giving Zone (How to Use the Power of Giving to Make Your Professional
and Personal Dreams Come True), I wanted to develop a game for children
that would help them learn principles of giving, and learn values, in
a board game format that was lots of fun. 
The game format mirrors life because I believe that the people who love
to give and who have strong values, have the most fun and enjoyment
in life. They are the people who work to shape our world into a positive,
harmonious and loving place where we can all achieve our purposes, dreams,
goals and potential.
The first time “The Giving Zone Game was played” was with a group
of 7th graders in a family’s home. The first comment of
a child was, “This game is fun.” The children loved it.
Then my wife and I set up a volunteer project to have six 5th grade
children play the game in a classroom after school. This was in an elementary
school in Frisco, Texas. The game was played in six one-hour segments,
one week in between each segment.
A major part of the game is the questions the children answer that are
designed to get the children to love to give. The questions also are
designed to help the children develop values such as honesty, compassion
and responsibility as well as develop higher self-esteem.
The children loved the game so much that the school principle who watched
the children play the game, made the following comment. She said that
it is rare to see children focus on an activity so fully that they hardly
need any adult supervision.
The children came to life in playing the game. One 5th grade
boy changed dramatically after playing the game twice. Previously, when
he would talk with the adults present, he would look at the floor (no
eye contact) and he talked with very low self-confidence. After playing
the game twice, the school principle noticed along with me, that he
looked at the adults with direct eye contact and talked with high self-confidence.
The following is a comment of a fifth grade girl who played the game.
She said previously to playing the game, she watched a group of girls
who would find a girl to tease. She did nothing about it but watch.
After playing “The Giving Zone Game” a few times, she changed her
action dramatically. On an occasion of seeing the girls tease
another girl, instead of doing nothing about it, she walked up to the
girl who had been teased and became a friend of hers.
The same girl also changed the way she handled her father who one evening
was verbally battling with mother over the phone. The girl, who didn’t
like how father was talking to mother, got him to stop his verbal battle
by sharing with him something she had learned from “The Giving Zone
Game.”
My wife and I also volunteered to have children play “The Giving Zone
Game” at a Game Night at a Frisco, Texas Barnes and Noble store.
One group we supervised in playing the game, was a family of a mother,
father and daughter. We discovered that evening that the game helps
families bond together. The mother and daughter laughed, had fun and
became very close in playing the game. There is a tremendous amount
of truth contained in the “The Giving Zone Game” as a result of
learning to give and in learning values. The experience of profound
truth naturally frees family members to unify with each other.
In watching children play the game, it seems magical in the results
it creates. I believe this magic is in the ingredients that work for
children – the ingredients of play, making giving fun, values fun,
and increasing self esteem. These ingredients help make a better life
for the children who play the game.
I look forward to getting The Giving Zone Game out in the world to help
children, schools and families transform through experiencing the fun
of giving, the fun of values and the increase ofs self-esteem. Please
contact me at bruce@brucepainter.com if you have any questions, suggestions,
or would like to help with The Giving Zone Game. | 
