Positive Trading Cards! {Creative Therapy Idea}

This project was SO fun, my girls in my 8th grade group begged me to do it again. They loved using all of the different art supplies and getting to be creative. I even had one student ask me if I got paid to do this. I loved that comment :)

Positive Trading Cards:

The purpose of this activity is to increase positive thinking among students. 

Supplies:

A deck of playing cards (I bought mine at Dollar Tree)

Various Art Supplies:

          Scrapbook paper, paints, old magazines, scissors, glue, sparkles (whatever you can find!)

Directions:

I told the girls we would be making positive trading cards. The only guideline was that they needed to create something positive on the cards, it could be a positive quality or something that inspires them. I asked them to make cards for themselves and at least one to give to another person. 

I gave the girls a few playing cards and told them they could make them over however they would like. I found that using glue sticks and scrap book paper did work best. The painting was a little challenging with the texture of the cards.

One thing I loved about this activity was the time we spent talking while they were creating their cards. It was an open, informal dialogue and I got to know a lot about the girls. We turned on music, talked and had fun creating pretty things. 

This lasted 2 group sessions. I asked the girls to present their cards at the end of the last session. 

Photos!

This activity was inspired by something I found on Pinterest, here is the link!

http://gretchenmiller.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/pocket-size-creative-goodness-creating-change-through-small-creative-acts/

Creative Therapy: What do healthy relationships look like?

This has been one of my favorite activities to do with my girls group! It is so interesting to see what kinds of things the girls use to define a "healthy relationship".

I start out the group by talking about healthy relationships.

• What do you look for in a relationship? 
• What does your ideal or "dream" relationship look like? 
• What kinds of qualities will this person have? 
• Is there anything you don't want in a relationship?

After a short discussion, the girls got to work on their collages. I gave them some old magazines, canvases, scissors and glue. 

Here are some of the finished products:

Each girl got to present her collage to the group. It sparked a lot of discussion. 

We discussed things they would want their significant other to do for them, such as cook, clean or work hard. We discussed the topic of presents and gifts. We discussed physical qualities and physical affection.

The girls in my groups always amaze me with their creativity and ideas. This was definitely a fun project! 

Communication Practice with Catch Phrase!

This week, I used the game "catch phrase" to stimulate some communication development in my groups. The kids had a blast!

Summary of play:

I wrote down a variety of words on little slips of paper. I used about 100 words for groups of 6. The words were people, places and things. I picked words that I believed to be the most relevant to high schoolers.

I put the slips of paper into an envelope.

At the beginning of group, we discussed communication and why it was important in friendships. We also discussed what makes communication difficult. Then it was game time!

I had them get into pairs. One member pulls a word from the envelope. Without saying the actual word, they try and get their partner to guess what their word is. When they guess it, the same person pulls out another word and continues. The goal is to see how many words the other person can guess in 60 seconds.

Each pair takes a turn, then the guesser becomes the person who draws a word.

We played for about 30 minutes and then tallied up the points.

We closed the group session by discussing ways that we could improve our communication skills.

You can find full instructions for the game and some great printable word lists at The Game Gal.

Creative Therapy: Why I Won't "Fall" for Drugs

This is a super simple activity I did to kick of the Fall season. The kids had a lot of fun doing this at lunch time. I hung the finished product in the hall at school so the kids could check out why everyone else wasn't going to "Fall" for drugs.

Why I Won't "Fall" for Drugs

Purpose: For students to discover personal reasons why they don't want to use drugs and for students to examine the reasons why fellow students don't want to use drugs. 

Materials: 

Leaf cut outs (I got mine at Dollar Tree, they are actually doilies)

Pens or Markers

Tree trunk and branches cut out from butcher or construction paper

Tape

Directions:

Have the students write a reason why they won't "Fall" for drugs. 

Set up your tree and leaf display where all students can see it. 

Prompts:

If students are having trouble coming up with ideas, the following questions could be used:

What would your family think if you used drugs?

How would your friends feel if you used drugs?

How would you feel about yourself if you used drugs?

Would you be able to play sports or get a good job if you used drugs?

Creative Therapy: Different and the Same

This is an activity I did with my grief and loss group. I have posted the pictures before, but here I will describe the activity in more detail.

Different and the Same

Purpose: To let students express creativity while learning the concept that we are all different, but an important part of something bigger. The "bigger" could be a sense of community, family, group of friends or part of a school.

Materials:
Small canvas tiles for each student
A picture cut into equal pieces for each student
Paints or markers
Block or something to mount your finished product

Directions:
Before the group, cut the photo into equal squares (it helps to number each piece)
Give each student a piece of the picture.
Instruct the students to re-create exactly what is on their piece of the photo onto the tile.
When the students are finished, put the pieces of the picture together and admire your finished product!

Discussion Questions:
What are some ways we are different from each other?
Why is it important to be part of something bigger?
How would our finished product look if we were missing a piece?
List one unique quality about yourself.

Creative Therapy Labels

As most of you know, I work with kids and teens providing substance abuse education and treatment. I have been working hard to incorporate more creative therapies into my group and individual sessions. From now on  I am going to try and post the majority of my activities on the blog.

Some of the activities involve art, others are games. Right now I facilitate groups for grief and loss, social skills, anger management, friendship building and at-risk youth groups. Once a month I try to do a lunch time activity with kids about substance abuse prevention.

I hope some of the teachers, counselors and parents find these activities fun and useful!

Here are the links to posts I have already labeled as "Creative Therapy", enjoy!

The Learning Tree
Halloween Kids Game (Web of Lies)
Valentine's Drug-Free Activity 

Valentine's School Activity

I want to share an activity I did today with the 8th graders at one of the schools I work at. I try to do themed lunch activities once a month, this one is a Valentine's Day theme.

This one is called "I don't use drugs because I love..."

I prepared the poster board with the writing and stickers.

I provided students with ink pads for them to make thumbprint hearts.

I asked each student to write something they love that keeps them from using drugs.

I like these kinds of activities because it gets the kids thinking about the most important things and people in their lives. I do believe that kids need to be reminded of these things and people frequently. It is my hope that the kids think of the people they love, things they love and activities they love when the opportunity to use drugs presents itself (and for most kids, the opportunity to use drugs will happen more than once).

Halloween Kid's Game! Guest Post at Glamorous, Affordable Life!

I absolutely loved to play this game at Halloween parties when I was younger. Truth be told, I still have a blast playing it with the kids I teach! Check out my tutorial for the game over at Glamorous, Affordable Life.

http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com/2012/10/guest-post-and-halloween-kids-craft.html

The Learning Tree

This is a copycat project of a wedding tree guest book. I had so much fun doing one for my friend's bridal shower, I wanted to incorporate this into work. I had one of the kids I work with complete this "learning tree". She and I drew the tree and listed all of the things she had learned in counseling. I blocked out her name for confidentiality purposes. I think this could be a great project for teachers and counselors!

 

Here is the original wedding tree idea, and the link to the free PDF design on Offbeat Bride's website: http://offbeatbride.com/2012/01/downloadable-fingerprint-tree