Working with small groups

I feel so lucky to be learning so much from the kids that I teach. 

Two of our students taught me new games that they had played during their art therapy time. 

The first game involves drawing 6 doodles / scribbles / shapes and numbering them 1-6. 

Then each person takes a turn to roll a die. 

If the die lands on a 6, that person copies the doodle that is labelled '6'. 

This continues until one player draws all 6 doodles on their paper. 

The game seems to help students take turns and interact positively with each other while also creating a drawing in a structured way. 

Another drawing game involves drawing a large circle or square (over most of the paper) and dividing it into parts. If there are 3 players, divide the shape into 3 parts. If there are 4 players, divide the shape into 4 parts. Decide how many minutes you will get to draw your first picture (1-3 minutes seems good). Then each person draws their first picture in one of the sections. Then we all swap pictures and draw the same picture on the next piece of paper. This continues until you have drawn your picture on all the pieces of paper. At the end you can discuss your picture. 

It occurred to me that this would also be a great game to talk about SOLO levels and see if students can make connections between the different pictures (similar to SOLO hexagons). 

During our drumming workshops we created beats to represent different emotions (excitement, happiness, sadness and anger) and we could talk about how all of these emotions are important and valuable. With these seniors we had to be careful to create a culture of no put downs or laughing, so at the end of each contribution we said 'thank you.' After only 3 sessions, it is cool to see the students be willing to share. Each of their personalities is starting to shine through. 

Finally I learned a new game of balloon 'keepie uppie'. Put down some material as a boat, and keep the balloon on the boat. Start with slow, gentle movements. Then go to big fast movements. So great to help kids regulate their energy.