Holiday Ornaments
Suggested Group(s): Young/Middle/Teen
Purpose: To know that the person who died can be included in the holiday and that they can continue to give and receive gifts from the person who died
Task/need: Living on the grief spiral
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Introduce this activity by discussing the upcoming holiday season, and the changes that the children have experienced since the death of their family member, and their feelings about the holidays.
Materials:
- Clear glass Christmas bulbs
- Art supplies such as:
- Glass paint
- Ribbon
- Plastic craft “snow”
- Beads
- Glitter
Description: You can encourage them to think about what message they would like to send to their family members during the holidays, or gifts that they would like to give to their family members if they could.
Give each group member a glass ornament to decorate any way that he/she would like for the holidays. The bulbs can be filled with the snow, glitter or colored ribbon, and painted with glass paint. (The design of the bulbs is limited only by the creativity of group members.) Encourage them to write a message to the family member to put into the ornament.
**Important note — prior to planning this activity, it is important to ask your group members if they all celebrate Christmas. If not, adjust accordingly or skip this activity.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas: Give each group member the opportunity to share their ornaments and discuss the 'types' of things that could have been included in the messages without asking what the messages said.
