Art Therapy and Anxiety in children
I recently had the privilage of working with a fantastic group of children in Laura's Place on a set of workshops. The aim of the workshop was to give children the tools to create a safe and special place. This space was going to enable them to take time for themselves to get calm, to regroup and to 'just breathe'.
We were lucky as the garden is really suitable with lots of green space and large trees- we sat out in this garden to introduce ourselves as a group and I told the children a story about a Prince who had a garden like this one but he was so sad he didnt see its beauty. He learned over time that he could release his sad feelings into this garden and when he had done that he could appreciate the beauty of nature and his surroundings. He would revisit this garden on many occasions to release pent up feelings and always felt better after.
The children (mainly girls) decided to make items for a 'fairy garden'. They decorated and created colourful items out of stones, leaves, seeds they found in the area. They also worked with clay to make bridges, signs, mushrooms and other decorations. When all their creations were complete, they had the opportunity to bring them home or to place them in the garden. Every single one of them found a special place in the garden in which to place their works of art. And they were very happy that other children, who might need this space would benefit from their creative work.
