Creative Wellness in Schools

Art and Mindfulness

Non verbal activities can be extremely self soothing as they help to regulate the system, calm the amygdala and can lead to an increased sense of self efficacy and vitality. The creation of images composed of repetitive patterns such as mandalas or doodles provides mindful opportunities for people to work within an open structure and allows them to relax into the gentle rhythm of repeated mark making, as they grow their designs. These highly accessible activities are appropriate to all ages and abilities.

Team Building

Visual collaborations allow people the opportunity to create their own artworks and yet contribute a piece to a larger whole ( such as the school or organisation). This can be themed and directed accordingly. This helps people in to better understand and value their peers and can help to build connections, partnerships, and morale. Art-making becomes a means of getting to get to know one another, to identify strengths, and to build collegial relationships while honouring the individuality of each person.

Expressive Activities

These are about making sense and meaning of our world. Finding ways to access personal stories, events, situations or even workplace dynamics through the visual arts can help students and teachers to identify, witness and process stories.  This can be profoundly insightful and can lead to increased self awareness, new group understandings, different perspectives on specific situations and can provide talking points and pathways to change and new solutions.

Mindful Doodles

Repetitive mark making to create pattern allows children the opportunity to work within an open structure and allows them to relax into the gentle rhythm of repeated mark making, as they grow their designs. Using their own hands provides an accessible template and facilitates personal identity on the page as children learn how to construct basic shapes and combine those.

These kinds of images can be assembled as a “whole” to increase the sense of group identity for a group, class or team.

Mindful Doodles Themed

Mindful doodling has become recognised as a way to help children and adults self soothe and relax into the gentle rhythm of repeated mark making, as they grow their designs. Providing a theme or intention for this work provides an opportunity for the mind to dwell and ponder upon subject matter at a subliminal level as children are in their '“ flow state” and can help them integrate strength based ideas or personal ideas as they create. This provides opportunity to regulate the system, lead to an increased sense of self efficacy and vitality. 

Neurographic Activities

“Neurographic art” uses a technique, which comprises drawing freeform lines which connect and grow at the intersections. This can be a simple or complex construct depending on guidance.

Providing a theme or intention for this work provides an opportunity for the mind to dwell and ponder upon subject matter at a subliminal level as children are in their '“ flow state” and can help them integrate strength based ideas or personal ideas as they create.

Inside Out Drawings

Helping students to understand the relationship between who one is (inner self) and how one presents oneself to the world (outer self) can help them to integrate aspects of themselves. Using mask making or drawing in this way helps them towards greater self acceptance, and can provide ways for them perceive that others in the group have similar experiences.

Growing the Good

Using art making to find out how we are feeling on the inside and to recognise strengths’s and resources offers students the opportunity to feel less overwhelmed and to feel empowered. This can also help them grow a sense of calm or peace inside which they can tap into on other occasions and enable them to feel they have capacity they had not previously been able to identify.

Mindful Drawing

Mindful Drawing workshops can offer busy and stressed High Schoolers to take a time out and create without a goal or deadline looming. This provides an opportunity for students to be guided and allow their minds to drift and wander as they draw, play with colour or paint, and enter their '“ flow state”. It can help them integrate feelings and personal ideas as they create.

Tree of Strength Collage

Trees symbolizing attributes such as strength, resilience and the essence of nature. This Mixed Media Collage approach offers people the opportunity to make personal and sometimes complex images without needing specific technical art skills. This helps students to recognize and name their inner resources, which they can't always access in order to build and grow a sense of strength and resilience.

One Day Journal Page

Visual Art Journaling is a way to help students access some inner wisdom to imagine what a thought, feeling or emotional reaction would look like if it were expressed as a colour, shape or image. Combining words and image this process helps students discover ways to take a “Time In” and access their own inner voice and a safe way to express personal material through guided hands on art making and personal reflection.

Loosen Up Painting

Students will be invited to loosen up and play with art materials by exploring line, colour, texture and layering techniques to create intuitive paintings. They will be encouraged through a series of activities to be bold and experimental as they use colour, explore mark making vocabulary, and discover how to take creative risks and decisions, this helps students to build courage and confidence in all areas of life at school and at home.