Creative expression significantly enhances students’ social-emotional learning by fostering self-expression, boosting emotional health, and providing new methods to handle complex emotions. This article presents art activities inspired by art therapy principles. While these activities promote self-expression and emotional reflection, they are not substitutes for professional mental health services.
What is art therapy?
Art therapy is a therapeutic approach that combines psychotherapy with art. Using creative techniques such as painting, drawing, coloring, collage, and sculpting, individuals can express themselves artistically. In a therapeutic setting, certified art therapists assist clients in exploring the emotional and psychological layers of their artwork to better understand and process their emotions and behaviors.
Tammy Shella, an art therapy manager, explains, “The main idea of art therapy is to utilize art as another form of expression, especially for things that might be difficult to express verbally. The art therapist and patient may discuss the art: what is included, the ‘story’ it tells, and/or the emotions it represents which can help the patient gain personal insight or understanding.”
While teachers in classrooms aren’t acting as therapists, art can still support kids in exploring their emotions, boosting self-esteem, reducing stress, and alleviating anxiety and depression. Here are simple art therapy-inspired activities to help students identify and manage their emotions.
Create self-portrait collages
Research suggests that self-portraiture can foster self-reflection and self-acceptance. Encourage students to create collages using magazines, fabric scraps, and other materials to reflect different aspects of their personalities or lives.
Make art from nature
Nature exposure can enhance mental health and cognitive function, as noted by the American Psychological Association. Encourage students to gather natural materials like twigs, leaves, stones, and flowers to create meaningful art.
Weave friendship bracelets
Teach students to make friendship bracelets to reflect on and appreciate their relationships. The process of focusing on intricate designs is believed by some art therapists to alleviate stress.
Make masks
Mask-making in art therapy often leads to exploring various facets of one’s personality. Encourage students to craft masks that express their feelings, decorating them to illustrate the intensity and nature of their emotions.
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These mask templates have everything you need to inspire students, like characters, animals and more!
Create a magazine photo mashup
Dr. Cathy Malchiodi describes magazine photo collage as a way to create a visual narrative that enhances dialogue between client and therapist. Have students cut out images from magazines that catch their eye, arrange them on paper, and optionally narrate their creative process.
Fly a personal flag
Encourage students to design flags that symbolize their identity, values, dreams, and aspirations. This can help them connect with their true selves, personal goals, and sense of identity.
Create mood mandalas
Creating mandala art is a therapeutic method that can alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among students, and it can be especially beneficial for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Make dream catchers
Therapists often use dream catchers to help children who struggle with nightmares or troubling thoughts. Creating dream catchers can be an enjoyable activity that helps children feel more secure at bedtime.
Tell a hero’s story
Storyboarding allows children to use drawing to express emotions and tell stories. Encourage students to create a comic strip or storyboard about a hero—perhaps an alter ego of themselves—overcoming obstacles.
Open up to a worry doll
Worry dolls, rooted in Guatemalan tradition, are valuable for helping kids manage difficult emotions, especially grief. Students can create their own worry dolls using clothespins, twigs, and other materials, offering them a unique ‘friend’ to share their worries with.
Fill a memory box
Memory boxes provide a space to safely store memories, secrets, narratives, and emotions. Encourage students to decorate boxes to hold special memories and treasures from the school year.
Hang gratitude chains
Expressing gratitude can lead to physical and mental health benefits, including reduced anxiety and depression, and improved sleep, mood, and immunity. Create a classroom project by constructing a chain or banner focused on gratitude.
FREE PRINTABLES
These gratitude worksheets will help you inspire your students to recognize and appreciate the positive things (big and small) happening in their lives.
Puzzle pieces
Use a simple puzzle template to create puzzle pieces, with each student decorating a piece to represent themselves. This activity helps children explore identity and what makes each person unique.
Spin a feelings wheel
A feelings wheel can aid children in understanding and processing emotions, increasing self-awareness, enhancing emotional communication, and boosting well-being. Students can create a wheel on paper divided into segments representing different emotions or coping strategies.
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Having a feelings chart helps students identify and name their emotions as they experience them, or as they’re learning how to manage the feelings that they have throughout the day.
Craft a family sculpture
Dr. Cathy Malchiodi suggests art therapy activities that involve creating a family sculpture from clay. The design and arrangement of family members can spark conversations about important people and relationships in a child’s life.
Carve out some feelings
Clay art therapy has been linked to physical, psychological, and cognitive improvements. Give students clay to mold into figures or objects that represent their emotions or significant life events.
Paint or draw the music
Use music as a prompt for artistic expression. Play different types of music and have students paint or draw their feelings as they listen. Art and music therapies focus on self-discovery and healing, rather than creating a masterpiece, so encourage students to embrace the process, even if it gets messy.
Trace silhouette stories
Students trace their silhouettes on large paper and fill them with images and words that tell their story. This “Inside Out / Outside In” idea encourages children to express their internal and external selves.
Guided imagery drawings
Guided imagery has been used for centuries to enhance mind-body connections and reduce stress and anxiety. Lead a guided imagery session or use a meditation app, and have students draw the scenes or feelings they envisioned.
Design personal posters
Research indicates that posters in classrooms can make learning more meaningful. Elevate this by having students design posters with inspirational quotes or messages that resonate with them using art and lettering.
Squeeze stress balls
Studies show that squeezing a stress ball can help manage temporary stress by providing a tactile distraction and promoting relaxation. Create stress balls in the classroom by filling balloons with flour or rice, and allow kids to decorate them with faces or patterns.
Chart a life map
Life maps offer a visual representation of one’s journey, goals, and needs. When feeling stuck, they can provide perspective. Have students create life maps that outline past events, current lives, and future dreams.
