Activities.
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What is Art Therapy?
"Art Therapy is based on the idea that the creative process of art making is healing and life enhancing and is a form of nonverbal communication of thoughts and feelings' that must be resolved in order to 'achieve an increases sense of well-being" (Malchiodi, 2003; Montpelier, 1970) Our projects and activities are geared towards a flow-like state of mind that can calm and relax your mind just a little bit. We are not Art Therapy professionals but we have done our research and have found a couple of activities that can relax your mind during this stressful time that quarantine and covid-19 has brought to us.
One of the aspects of these activities can be finding underlying feelings through what you are drawing and how you chose to represent them. Art therapy can contribute to a reduction of anxiety symptom severity , art therapy may, "induce relaxation, by stimulating a flow-like state of mind, presumably leading to a reduction of cortisol levels and hence stress and anxiety reduction (stress regulation); make the unconscious visible and thereby creating possibilities to investigate emotions and cognition, contributing to cognitive regulation, and create a safe environment for the conscious expression of (difficult) emotions and memories, what is similar to exposure, recall and emotional distancing, possibly leading to better emotion regulation." (Abbing, 2018).
When researching Art Therapy practiced and people, I found that Hanna Kwiatkowska played a developing role when it came to art in therapy; she “found the creative expression of draw to allow family members to better identity their role status with the family.” (Team) These times are very stressful and families could right now be feeling and experiencing areas where they feel dysfunctional because they are not in their normal roles because they have to find their place in their new ones.
Since all of us are being at home there are some ways to voluntarily and involuntarily release emotions and frustrations that have been bottling up through art. Granted we have provided age ranges for these activities, they are by no means a limit to who wish to create these projects.
"Art Therapy is based on the idea that the creative process of art making is healing and life enhancing and is a form of nonverbal communication of thoughts and feelings' that must be resolved in order to 'achieve an increases sense of well-being" (Malchiodi, 2003; Montpelier, 1970) Our projects and activities are geared towards a flow-like state of mind that can calm and relax your mind just a little bit. We are not Art Therapy professionals but we have done our research and have found a couple of activities that can relax your mind during this stressful time that quarantine and covid-19 has brought to us.
One of the aspects of these activities can be finding underlying feelings through what you are drawing and how you chose to represent them. Art therapy can contribute to a reduction of anxiety symptom severity , art therapy may, "induce relaxation, by stimulating a flow-like state of mind, presumably leading to a reduction of cortisol levels and hence stress and anxiety reduction (stress regulation); make the unconscious visible and thereby creating possibilities to investigate emotions and cognition, contributing to cognitive regulation, and create a safe environment for the conscious expression of (difficult) emotions and memories, what is similar to exposure, recall and emotional distancing, possibly leading to better emotion regulation." (Abbing, 2018).
When researching Art Therapy practiced and people, I found that Hanna Kwiatkowska played a developing role when it came to art in therapy; she “found the creative expression of draw to allow family members to better identity their role status with the family.” (Team) These times are very stressful and families could right now be feeling and experiencing areas where they feel dysfunctional because they are not in their normal roles because they have to find their place in their new ones.
Since all of us are being at home there are some ways to voluntarily and involuntarily release emotions and frustrations that have been bottling up through art. Granted we have provided age ranges for these activities, they are by no means a limit to who wish to create these projects.
I'M GRATEFUL FOR... POST
During these hard time we could forget everything that we are grateful for, download this pdf link and create a little reminder of what your grateful for. It could be one word, a phrase, or a sentence. We wish for people to be reflective during this little project and to try to find a the light at the end of the tunnel. - Don't forget to make it your own and creative. - When you are done, take a picture of it and tag it to us @createinyourspaceproject on Instagram or send it to us to blog at [email protected] |
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Grades K-4
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Activity 1.
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When you are creating with the play dough try to ask yourself these questions as your creations:
What did I depict?
Why did I choose these color instead of that color?
How do I feel after creating?
These question are just here to provide that extra step when making art in any form.
What did I depict?
Why did I choose these color instead of that color?
How do I feel after creating?
These question are just here to provide that extra step when making art in any form.
GRADES 5-8
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Prompt 1:
As a family or by yourself set up a still life in your home.
Sit at your kitchen table or a any flat surface and find 3-5 items around your house and place them together however you want. (Examples: different fruits and vegetables, or a stack of books. Anything that is within reach)
Then take out a piece of paper and pencil (or any medium) and start drawing.
It doesn’t have to be realistic or the same colors that you see.
you can add a nothing you want to into the piece, just use your items as a starting point.
As a family or by yourself set up a still life in your home.
Sit at your kitchen table or a any flat surface and find 3-5 items around your house and place them together however you want. (Examples: different fruits and vegetables, or a stack of books. Anything that is within reach)
Then take out a piece of paper and pencil (or any medium) and start drawing.
It doesn’t have to be realistic or the same colors that you see.
you can add a nothing you want to into the piece, just use your items as a starting point.
Prompt 2:
Activity 3:
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When you are creating try to ask yourself these questions as your creations:
What did I depict? Why did I choose these color instead of that color? How do I feel after creating? |
Grade 9-12
Activity 1:
Questions to ask yourself:
When you are creating your composition, try to reflect on the art making process and ask yourself these questions:
What did I depict and how does it relate to how I am feeling? Why did I choose these colors instead of others? From that color what are its connotations? How does that relate to the composition? How do I feel after creating the composition? These question are just here to provide that extra step when making art in any form. Example:
Prompt 2:
As a family or by yourself set up a still life in your home. Sit at your kitchen table or a any flat surface and find 3-5 items around your house and place them together however you want. (Examples: different fruits and vegetables, or a stack of books. Anything that is within reach) Then take out a piece of paper and pencil (or any medium) and start drawing. It doesn’t have to be realistic or the same colors that you see. you can add a nothing you want to into the piece, just use your items as a starting point. |
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