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You Gotta “Hear” This Art Therapy Activity
I read a great blog post by a teacher that implemented art therapy in the classroom and so, I had to share the art activity with you as it’s something I’ve been meaning to cover anyway. And what better time to cover it than after reading about someone else successfully implementing it!
For this art therapy activity, you’ll need the following items:
- A stereo/CD player. Something you can use to play music
- Oil pastels, or something to paint or draw with
- White or black paper (as long as your drawing/painting shows up)
- Another piece of paper to write down your thoughts
Turn off the lights as much as possible (or close your eyes) and begin playing your music of choice. You can play the music for as long as you like, but I’d probably keep it to under 5 minutes. 2-3 minutes should suffice. Now think about the thoughts and images that went through your head and when you’re ready, begin expressing these thoughts and images onto your paper using your painting or drawing material.
Once you’re finished, write down a few sentences or a paragraph (or more) that explains what your drawing or painting. If this is difficult, ask yourself (or whoever’s doing the art therapy activity) some open-ended questions with regards to the art until you have something to write down. It doesn’t have to be a thesis or anything like that, just something that captures or describes the artwork.
Try it out, you may be surprised at what you come up with! It’s also worth trying with various types of music.
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[...] effective art therapy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I came across a great story about how a teacher successfully implemented art therapy into the classroom. If you’re interested in the details of the activity, it’s worth the [...]
I just finished reading the blog on “You gotta hear this art therapy activity.” It was really moving to reading the comments highlighted about how the third graders responded to this therapeutic technique, and espcially moving, was reading the teachers reflection… “aren’t third graders suppose to be thinking about rainbows and ponies….” It’s truly so heartbreaking to think that so many of us adults “think” that’s whats going on in their minds, however seldom do we take the time to ask them, let alone really listen to how it is they are currently expriencing the world. Its refreshing to read about how one teacher did. Thank you for sharing this experience.
I’m curious to know what pieces of music people used for this activity?
I been reading quite a bit about art therapy and i guess i will try this activity with my students. However i feel that it would be better if instrumental music be used as lyrics may divert the students from expressing their true self.
Hello,
I tired to “sign up’ to get more information and to stay in touch with Art Therpy Ideas. I thought it would be simple. OMG!!! I was sent to some kind of ‘feed burner’ if I recall correctly, that had so much jargon, I had no idea what it was talking about and it wanted more information (most of which was a duplicate) that I had already given them. I already have a google account and I do not want it changed or reconstructed in a different way. I have never heard of any of these terms and feel very frustrated. This is a very twisted route for what ? I just wanted to stay in touch with updates and find out more specific of Art Therapy.
How can I continue to receive information about Art Therapy ( Mandalas in particular) in the SIMPLEST WAY and most straight forward way ?
Thank you for any help you can give me.
E. Jane Taylor
@Taylor, Feedburner is the easiest way to stay up to date with our articles. That allows you to subscribe to the site through a feed reader of your choice. It also allows you to sign up for email updates…and it only sends you an email when there is a new article. This is definitely the simplest way and shouldn’t change any information on your Google account.
This activity also works well with different types of music. Students get a large piece of white paper.Have students pratice first. Play a heavy metal song and have them draw lines taht represent the sounds they hear. Then the same idea with classical. On the final paper have them assign colors to the sounds. Play 4 very different types of music and have them fill the page with lines.When they are finished they can paint the page or color it in. This activity helps them attach colors and lines to emotions. Pandora radio is great for this. I use instumental hip hop, classical, micheal Jackson(in moderation), and guitar rock. Its an extremely fun activity!