"The Weather in My Head" - Expressive Arts for Grieving Kids

                          Kids grieve through play.                (Fotolia)

One of the most effective tools for helping folks, including children, cope with loss and grief is one that doesn't require any particular verbal skills. Whether it's called "creative arts", "art therapy", or "expressive arts", the focus of this strategy is using non-verbal means to communicate feelings or thoughts: how appropriate for helping children who may have limited vocabulary express their grief.

Expressive arts include music, drawing, dance, drawing, and writing. It's easy to see how any one of these might be considered "play" for a child. This is perfect, as kids process grief the way they learn life - through play.

"The Weather in My Head"

One of my favourite expressive art activities to do with greiving kids is easy, fast, and can be done anytime a child is having difficulty expressing their feelings or thoughts. All you need are markers, or crayons, and some blank paper.

 Introduce the activity by sharing with the child, or teen, that our responses to loss and grief may change moment-to-moment just like the weather (at least in Calgary!) and may seem confusing; sometimes it's easier to express our thoughts or feelings through drawing, instead of talking

Ask the child to close their eyes and picture what their feelings would be like if they were the weather. What do they look like; how do they feel; what sounds do they make; of what do they smell? Then, ask the child to open their eyes and draw what they just experienced.

When they are done, you might ask the child if they would like to talk about their picture however, be sure to ask; expressive art can be very personal and private, and influencing or encouraging a child to talk may undermine the benefit of the activity.

"The Weather in My Head" is one of the easy expressive arts that I am going to introduce to the children in the Bernie's Buddies Kids' Grief Workshop running this month. We're also going to be encouraging safety and security, and confidence through pet therapy with gentle Bernie, the deaf St.Bernard, and special kid's yoga with Angela Blenkhorne.

Our first session is this Thursday, November 7th. To register and for more information please go to adventureswithbernie.com

In the meantime, if you're not here in Calgary, Pilgrim's Hospice in Edmonton has a brilliant program "Expressive Arts for Greiving Children, Teens and Families".

What expressive arts have YOU found helpful?

Talk soon,
Wendy