Nightmare Art
Suggested Group(s): Young
Purpose: To explore nightmares and foster a sense of mastery over them through art and verbal expression
Task/need: Approaching the pain of loss (feelings)
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Begin talking about dreams and nightmares
- What makes them different?
- Does anybody in the group ever have nightmares?
- What feelings do nightmares leave?
- How do group members manage nightmares?
- Did you ever want to squash or tear a nightmare to keep it from coming back?
Materials:
- Markers
- Paper or
- Clay or
- Model Magic
Description: Using drawing or clay or model magic, have the children draw their representations of a nightmare. Give wide latitude as to how the children represent their nightmares. Some guiding questions might be:
- What color is a nightmare?
- What words come to mind about nightmares?
- How can a nightmare be sculpted?
- What does your nightmare look like?
- Does it have a texture? A shape?
Activity Wrap Up Ideas: Once the nightmares have been created, give the children the option of taking the nightmare projects home to place by their beds to scare other nightmares away, or finding a way to crush or tear the nightmare to take away some of their power. If the nightmares are destroyed, ask about how it felt to destroy them.
Talk about other ways that they can handle bad dreams and nightmares.
